Speak about table manners as seen by the food editor Craig Claiborne

Talk about the kinds of fast food that are popular today and the eating places where British people can find it.

First of all, I’d like to point out that nowadays fast-food has become extremely popular. As a rule, fast-food is served in the form of a “take-away” in restaurants. Today there are many different types of restaurants, ranging from fast food to family-run ones. The choice of items on the menu is very extensive and the dishes are usually cooked on the premises. In fast-food restaurants the menu is rich for a variety of hamburgers which are served with a generous helping of French fries. It includes also various beverages, for instance, milkshakes, soft drinks and hot beverages. But there can be no doubt that the hot dog is the most popular snack. The hot dog first appeared in Germany and at that time it was called the frankfurter. In the USA frankfurters started to be sold in the 1860s, and Americans called them “dachshund sausages”, as they reminded of a dog with a very long body and short legs. One day a newspaper cartoonist went to a baseball game. When he saw the men with the dachshund sausages, he got an idea for a cartoon. The next day at the newspaper office he drew a bun with a dachshund inside. Under the cartoon, he wrote “Get your hot dogs!”.

Speaking of the various drinks that are sold in fast-food places, I can say without any hesitation that Coca- Cola is a true leader on the market. In 1880s a druggist made a syrup by mixing coca leaves and cola nuts. First Coca-Cola had been sold as a medicine to cure all kinds of diseases and then it started to be sold as a soda-fountain drink. World War I helped make Coca-Cola popular outside the United States. The Coca-Cola Company sent free bottles of the drink to U.S. soldiers fighting in Europe. After the war, these factories continued to make Coca-Cola.

And in conclusion I’d like to say that if you eat in fast-food restaurants it’s not good for your health, because this type of food may cause obesity, cardio-vascular diseases, fatigue and many other health problems.

 

Talk about English food and the qualities it is often criticized for.

Many people from other countries believe British food tends to be bland, boring and unadventurous but this is simply not true! Great Britain has a huge selection of tasty dishes and while many recipes are traditional, others are newly arrived from around the globe. Historically, the most common foods that British people ate were fish and chips, sandwiches, pies, trifles and roast dinners. Moreover, it is really very difficult to find English food in England. Actually, the British have always imported food from abroad and foreign trade has influenced British cooking.

Weather is one of the factors that has influenced English cuisine a lot. Ancestors of the British sat in the plenty many centuries ago. The good British rain gives them rich soil and green grass, which means that the Englishmen are able to produce some of the finest varieties of meat, fruit and vegetables. And there’s no need to add sauces to disguise their natural taste. Actually, the British believe that basic ingredients, when fresh, are so full of flavour that there’s no need to invent complex recipes. For instance, nothing can be compared with fresh peas or new potatoes just boiled and served with butter. So, I am absolutely convinced that there’s the only explanation why most visitors consider British food awful: they simply haven’t had an opportunity to sample English home cooking.

 

Speak about the problem of food additives in the world.

Much of our food today is not natural, but processed. Natural foodstuffs are much more expensive, but processed food contains additives. Additives are special substances which are added to food for a number of reasons, for example, to keep it fresh, to improve the flavour or add more colour.

Most of these additives have a number. Many of the numbers have an E in front of them. Some of these E numbers are colours, some are preservatives, others are thickeners, or sweeteners.

The E in E numbers stands for The European Economic Community, which had already started to look at the problem of additives. The EEC intends to establish a list of additives which are acceptable. However, it won’t have completed the list for some time, and many additives are still without a number. If an additive has no E before the number, it may mean that the EEC has rejected it.

Of course, in the modern world you can’t avoid consuming food with additives at all. Doctors advise to avoid eating food with a large amount of additives and cut down salt and sugar intake. It is much better to eat fresh vegetables and fruits or just home-made food because it fills us up and is good for our health.

Share the recipe for “Irish Oatmeal”.

This dish is a wonderful example of simple, good, healthy breakfast. This recipe comes from Scotland and Ireland. It’s called “Irish oatmeal”. I tried to cook it myself at home and I can say that I like this recipe because it is made of the simpliest ingredients and there is no need to go to four gourmet shops in order to gather foodstuffs to prepare it.

First of all, you should take a cup of oats and pour 1 and a half cup of boiling water over it, with a little salt in the water. Then stir it in, cover it, and let it stand overnight, preferably in a very low oven, 200 degrees, all night long. In the morning, simply heat it as hot as you wish, and stir and serve. During this long period of sitting and resting your oatmeal becomes very translucent, oatsy tasting and has a nice creaminess. But if you aren't able to do that, just pour boiling water in it, cover and let it stay overnight. By the way the rolled oats very rarely lump. If they lump, it’s because not enough liquid was added

 

Speak about table manners as seen by the food editor Craig Claiborne.

Whether you're eating at a fancy restaurant, in the cafeteria, or at home with friends and families some basic table manners should never be forgotten. It's important to make a good impression at mealtime on the people.

According to Craig Claiborne, the food editor of the New York Times, you should never go in public with dirty fingernails and without brushing your teeth.

When you set in the table you should never put candles or flowers on a table that will impair the flow of vision. If your partner and you are sitting opposite, the candles should be low enough for you to look at each other and not to play peek-a-boo.

Nevertheless, eating out is another story, especially if it concerns posh restaurants or black-tie parties. Since the situation is far more formal, there’re quite a lot of rules to be complied with. Firstly, you should use a napkin, putting it on the lap and another one to dab your lips every time before taking a sip of wine.

Secondly, it is necessary to use the cutlery in the order it is placed on the table. Never reach across the table, but ask someone to pass you what you want, and don’t forget to take the spoon out of your cup when drinking tea or coffee. And after each course the knife and the fork must be laid side by side in the middle of the plate, which shows you’ve finished and the plate can be removed.

Craig Claiborne pays a lot of attention on wine service. When people setting a table taking their fingers on the rim it is not only unsightly, but also it's terribly unsanitary. You must always hold the wine glass by the stem, and you should never touch the rim with another part of your body except your lips.

It's one important thing when you pour out wine: you should always hold the wine bottle by the label, because especially if it's a red wine and if it drips down onto the label it's very unsightly. Moreover, you should always show the label of the wine to your guests before they start to drink.

In conclusion I’d like to say that table manners are a very important part in the culture of any country. That is why whenever you travel abroad it would be a good idea to learn as many etiquette rules, specific for the destination, as possible in order to show respect for another nation.