Food
Daily meals usually start with breakfast. An English breakfast differs greatly from ours. Traditional British breakfast consists of a glass of fruit juice, cornflakes with sugar and milk and buttered crisp piece of toast with marmalade or jam or honey. Quite a lot of British people eat müsli for their breakfast or some other ready-made cereals or porridge. Of course they drink tea in the morning or coffee. Tea has been called the national beverage of the English and it is still their favourite drink. They usually put milk in their tea, but seldom put any sugar in it. Sundays are reserved for their big cooked breakfast (which is sometimes called "brunch" - breakfast and lunch together) consisting of e.g. hard or soft boiled, scrambled, poached or fried eggs, fried bacon, sausages, tomatoes, fried bread. Their breakfast is taken at eight or at nine o'clock. They have elevenses. It is taken at eleven o'clock. The second meal is lunch taken between 12 and 1 o'clock, which is a light meal. People may eat in the office or factory canteen some kind of meat or fish, potatoes and vegetables and fruit or take a sandwich to work, which is the most current. The origin of the world "sandwich" is interesting. An 18th century aristocrat, the Earl of Sandwich, loved playing cards. He used to play all day and night and hated having to stop for his meals. So he thought of a way of putting meat between two slices of bread. In this way he could eat and play at the same time. The typical British break is 5 o'clock tea, which is called high tea. The tea is usually fairly strong and eaten together with some cakes or biscuits. About 6 o'clock most families have their evening meal or "dinner". Dinner is the principal meal of the day. It may be cooked or cold depending on the time of year. There is sometimes soup as the first course then some meat, vegetables and almost always potatoes, which is rather boring. The English are fond of cakes and pies. And there is often a sweet - some kind of pudding or a fruit pie. Supper is a meal, which the English sometimes have when they come home from the cinema or the theatre late at night. It is always lighter meat. The traditional perception of British cuisine is of overcooked vegetables, tasteless meat and a lot of potatoes. Many families now prefer to eat out at restaurants or cafés or to buy take-away Chinese or Indian meals to eat at home. The selection of foreign food is larger now and there are lots of hamburger chains. They are a nation with a very "sweet tooth". Like desert they usually have pudding. There are hundreds of variations of sweet puddings in England but each pudding begins with the same basic ingredients of milk, sugar, eggs, flour and butter. Many of the puddings involve fresh fruit such as raspberries or strawberries, custard, cream and cakes. Fast food is a typical feature of both British and American life styles. In a restaurant you can eat national dishes, but there are food stalls and places where you can either buy various types of food to eat as you walk along the streets or take it away and eat at home. The Americans call fast food restaurants "cheapies". These places - McDonald s, Burger King, Wendy's, Kentucky Fried Chicken (in America also Mrs. Winner's) usually offer beverages (Coca-Cola, Pepsi-Cola, tea, coffee, milkshakes...), some solid food like roast chicken and chips, hamburgers, sandwiches, pizza, salads or deserts (apple, cherry pie). The oldest types of fast food are seafood stalls or shops - usually fish and chips. Many types of fish are sold (cod, hake, plaice). Another typical feature of British and American lifestyle is popcorn. You can buy it when walking the streets. Various types of popcorn are sold - either sweet with sugar or other flavours, or cooked with salt.
In our country daily meals usually start with breakfast, which consists of something to drink - tea (with milk or with lemon) or cocoa, warm or hot milk, black coffee - and something to eat, e. g. one or two slices of bread and butter and cheese or eggs, ham, salami, jam etc. Instead of bread we can eat rolls or buns or we can have something sweet - cakes, doughnuts or gingerbread. Quite a lot of people eat cereal for their breakfast - either cornflakes or porridge or muesli - they also sometimes add various ingredients like yoghurt, raisins, chocolate, stewed fruit, walnuts, hazelnuts etc. Breakfast usually takes place between 6 and 7 o'clock. Around noon (but in our school sometimes at half past two p. m.) we have our lunch, which is warm and consists of some soup, a main dish, something to drink and salad or dessert. Most people go to a school, office or factory canteen but some prefer going to a restaurant or having a fast lunch in a buffet or a snack bar or buying something at street stalls. Soups are either vegetable soups (potato, tomato, pea, bean, carrot, parsley, celery, mushrooms) or meat teas (beef tea, tripe, chicken, hen or goulash soup etc.). Some people cook fruit soups (e. g. strawberry soup).The main dish can be either sweet - e.g. strawberry or plum dumplings, pancakes with jam and cream, baked yeast dumplings, doughnuts etc. Or we can have some meat or fish or poultry with some vegetables such as potatoes, chips, rice, Czech dumplings, pasta or bread. We distinguish the following types of meat: beef, pork, veal, mutton, lamb, game and we can prepare it in various ways - roast it, grill it, boil it, bake it or stew it - we can mince or smoke some kinds of meat. Poultry is things like chicken, hen, duck, turkey and goose. Lots of people in our country eat rabbits. The main fish cooked in our country is carp (it s a traditional Christmas meal - battered carp and potato salad) and trout. While cooking we may add various spices so that the meal will have a unique flavour - e. g. garlic, sage, rosemary, thyme, marjoram, curry, pepper, ginger, red pepper, mace, cinnamon, clove, cumin, bay leaf, allspice, ketchup, Soya sauce, Worchester, sugar, vinegar, mustard, peanuts, onions, flour, semolina, etc. After the main dish we may drink tea, lemonade, cider, juice, Coca-Cola, mineral water syrup and water, while the adults like beer and black coffee after their dinner. An evening meal may be either warm or cold. Cold and quick supper may consist of some pâté on bread or rolls, kippers or some spread. We can cook a ready-made dish from a tin or have soup or potato pancakes. Typical Czech meals include: Tripe soup, potato soup, "kulajda" soup (mushrooms and potatoes boiled in a little bit of sour cream soup), roasted goose and sauerkraut and Czech dumplings, Moravian sparrows (roasted fat pork off cuts) and dumplings, Spanish birds (rolled beef steaks filled with salami, pickle, egg and mustard), potato pancakes, fruit dumplings with cream, baked yeast dumplings, potato or "hairy" dumplings, fried cheese etc.
Traditional Czech cuisine is however a bit unhealthy and people can get fat. Many families prefer to cook more vegetable meals, they become vegetarians or try some kind of foreign (Chinese) food.
Cutlery = příbor Iced water, plain water = čistá voda Soft drink = nealko to drink a toast = připít to propose a toast = pronést přípitek second helping = přídavek stewed fruit = kompot tough meat = tuhé maso lean meat = libové maso fat meat = tlusté maso
Fruit and vegetable: pineapple, gooseberry, banana, bilberry (blueberry - US), peach, cranberry, lemon, date, fig, grapefruit, pear, apple, strawberry, rowanberry, coconut, raspberry, tangerine (mandarin), almond, mango, watermelon, apricot, blackberry orange, plum, cherry, grapes, cherry, sweet cherry, nut, peanut, hazelnut, walnut, cashew-nut, brazil nut, chestnut, artichoke, kohlrabi, cleric, celery, onion, beetroot, garlic, lentils, beans, lettuce, mushrooms, peas green peas, asparagus, savoy, cabbage, dill, horse radish, pop corn, cauliflower, aubergine (egg-plant), carrot, cucumber, pickle (gherkin), olives pepper (green, red), paprika, chives, parsley, leek, tomato, radish, spinach, squash, pumpkin, sauerkraut, stewed cabbage, corn (barley, oats, wheat, millet,), lien, lot kinds of seeds, elderberry, broccoli, soya, raisin, currant, sprout, chicory, turnip, rhubarb, core, stalk…
Spices: mustard, marjoram, vinegar, pepper, sprinkle with pepper, cinnamon, spicy (hot) food, baking powder, yeast, Worcester sauce, soya sauce, allspice, caraway, curry powder, paprika, chilli powder, cloves, bay, basil, nutmeg, sage, rosemary and a clove of garlic, thyme, cumin, ketchup, ginger, semolina…
Dishes and food: dressing, fat, margarine, oil, bacon, cake, fruit pie, toffee, tart, tripe soup, cream of mushroom, chicken bouillon¸ fish soup, steak, seafood, cereals, giblets, trimmings, Vienna steak (Wiener schnitzel), goulash, oysters, liver, venison, custard, fillet of plaice, jelly, rice, spaghetti, pasta, noodles, roast potatoes, clear soup, thick soup, chocolate cake, gingerbread, sundae, trifle, porridge, vanilla ice scrambled eggs, grilled chicken, bread and butter, soft boiled eggs, sponge cake, cheese cake, pistachio ice cream, plain water, rum, soft drink, dry wines, black coffee, strong tea, aperitif, champagne, scotch and soda, cognac, vodka, bottled and draught beer, instant coffee, buttermilk, Turkish coffee, jelly and cream, pizza, risotto, fried carp and potato salad, vegetable soup, salami, sausages, prawns, shrimp, rabbit, doughnuts, kipper, pâté, frankfurter, ham, bacon, roast mat loaf, veal cutlet, sirloin with cream sauce, mackerel, gammon rolls, apple strudel, macaroni, smoked salmon, vitamin, mineral, balanced diet, fibre intake, protein deficiency, dairy products, carbohydrates, heavy food, fat X fatty food, chips, poached eggs, pancakes, omelette, batter, yeast dough, whipped cream…
Meat: pork, beef, veal, mutton, lamb, salami. Leg of pork, roast loin of pork and cabbage, gammon of bacon, white pudding, black pudding, liver sausage, slice of bacon, filler of fish, seafood, carp, trout, pike, crayfish, mackerel, sardines, kipper, salmon, shrimp, sharp, whale, venison, hare, rabbit, pheasant, partridge, turkey, chicken, stuffed chicken, poultry, vegetarian dish…
Meals: breakfast, brunch, elevenses, lunch, afternoon tea, high tea, dinner…
Courses: starter, appetiser, d'oeuvre, fish course, main course, dessert, first course, afters, sweet, coffee
Tools: cup, saucer, bowl, plate, glass, knife, fork, spoon, teaspoon, bottle and tin opener, garlic press, lemon squeezer, kitchen scales, corkscrew, whisk, wooden spoon, soup ladle, lid, pressure, cooker, saucepan, frying pan, casserole, pot, teapot, dish, baking tin, kettle, gas (electric) stove, oven, microwave oven, coffee-maker, (hand-held) electric mixer, wash up, wash dishes, grater, sieve, blender, rolling pin, strainer, mincer…
Ways of preparing: put, add, wash, use, make, cover, pour, cut, peel, slice (cheese, meet), chop (vegetable, wood), fry, roast, stew, heat, stir, mix, knead, rise, work with dough, roll out with a rolling pin, boil, simmer, melt, dissolve, sprinkle, garnish, grate, strain, mince, season, warm up whip, whip, mash, grease, grill, smoke, poach, rinse, shell, steam, bake, core, grind, pour, marinade…
Useful collocations: a pint of beer, milk; a bag of potatoes; a packet of cigarettes; a pound of chocolate, apples; a roll of toilet paper; a bottle of whisky, wine, milk, Coca-Cola; a carton of cigarettes; a cup of tea, milk; a sack of flour, apples; a box of tissues, margarine; a measure of whisky; a slice of bread, ham, apple pie, meat; a joint of meat; a tube of toothpaste; a bar of chocolate; a pair of tights; a tub of jam, yoghurt, margarine; a tin of sardines; a portion of potatoes; a loaf of bread; a jar of jam; a can of beer, Coca-Cola
Offers and requests: What would you like to drink? Will you pass me the salt, please? Another piece of cake? Shall I make a cup of coffee? Another slice of bread? Help yourself to some more cake. One lump, or two? Cocktail? Or whisky? Some more gravy? Would you care for some cheese? What would you like have? How do you like it? I would like to have some more cake?
Responds: What does this fruit taste like? It is tasty (very nice, too hot, too thick, much too spicy, rather cold, overcooked, rather bitter, sour, just fine, right, slightly off, much too sweet, too rich, tender, tough, too fat, slightly burnt, well done, underdone). It tastes nicely. It is absolutely tasteless. There is not enough salt in it. I will. That would be lovely. No, thank you. Yes, please. I think I have had enough. I would rather have beer. Here you are. Yes, please, it is delicious. Two please. I would like some mineral water.
At the restaurant: cafeteria - restaurace se samoobsluhou, inn - hostinec, café - kavárna, pub - hospoda, wine bar - denní bar, ashtray - popelník, can of beer - pivo v konzervě, champagne - šampaňské, dry wine - suché víno, draught ale - čepované pivo, gin - pálenka, ginger beer - zázvorové pivo, knife and fork - příbor, lager - ležák, mineral water - minerálka, mustard - hořčice, orange squash - oranžáda, plate - talíř, spirits - lihoviny, sweet wine - sladké víno, spoon - lžíce, teaspoon - čajová lžička, toothpick - párátko
Let's go and have a bite to eat. - Dáme si něco k jídlu.
I need a table for..... persons. - Potřebuji stůl pro... osob.
Can I take your order ? - Máte vybráno ?
Have you any specialities ? - Máte nějakou specialitu ?
What can you recommend me ? - Co mi můžete doporučit ?
I'll have............. - Dám si.......................
I'd like................. - Rád bych.....................
I'd like a bill. - Účet prosím.
Could we have............ - Mohli bychom si dát...........
What will you have ? - Co si dáte ?
It's on me. - Platím já.
Cheers ! - Na zdraví !
předkrmy - starter: smoked salmon - uzený losos, filled patties - plněné paštičky, lobster salad - humrový salát
polévky - soups: cauliflowers soup - květáková polévka, pea soup - hrachová polévka, mushrooms soup - houbová polévka
ryby - fishes: carp - kapr, fried carp - smažený kapr, trout - pstruh, haddock - treska