The English Food
English Food A meal is an occasion for taking food; it is also the food that is taken. Meal-time is the usual time for taking a meal. Meals and meal-times in England are not the same in all families. The usual meals in England are breakfast, lunch, tea and dinner or in simpler homes, breakfast, dinner, tea and supper. Breakfast is generally a bigger meal than we have on the Continent, though some English people like a continental breakfast of rolls and butter and coffee. The traditional breakfast is porridge or cereal, bacon and eggs, buttered toasts and marmalade (made of oranges) and tea or coffee. Very few people like chocolate or cocoa for breakfast. For a change they can have a hard or soft boiled egg, cold ham or fish, some coffee and a roll. British may eat this breakfast at week-ends or on special occasions but prefer a smaller, healthier meal to start a normal day. The most popular choices are: a bowl of cornflakes and a cup of tea, a bowl of muesli and fresh orange juice, a peace toast with marmalade, yoghurt and fresh fruit with black coffee or tea. In hotels and cafes you can order either English (full) or Continental breakfast which vary in size and correspondingly in price. At about one o’clock comes a meal which is called lunch. It takes 30-40 minutes. At lunch time you can easily find in numerous cafes and restaurants a mutton chop or steak and chips or cold meat (left over probably from yesterday’s dinner) or perhaps fish with potatoes, salad and pickles, then a pudding or fruit to follow. Some people like a glass of light beer with lunch. Salad is a little different from ours. You only get the clean green leaves and the so-called “salad-dressing”, a mixture of oil, vinegar, salt, pepper and mayonnaise that you take according to your taste. But the most popular lunches which are eaten at schools and work are: a salad or sandwich, a baked potato, beans on toast. Sunday lunch in Britain is associated with the roast beef and