Eating and drinking

More than anything else, visitors to another country are confronted with differences in eating and drinking. Some countries have a good reputation for food. Others have no reputation at all. In some countries peope find raw herring delicious, in other countries one finds toad in a hole on the menu; some people eat frog's legs, and others are happy with smorgasbord. More and more people get a chance to try in their own country the things they get during a package holiday abroad.

Toad in the hole

Toad in the hole is a traditional British dish. It consists of sausages in Yorkshire pudding batter, usually served with vegetables and gravy.
(Source)

A toad is normally an animal, a kind of frog.
Yorkshire pudding is a sort of a souffle and not at all like a pudding.
Batter is a mixture, usually containing flour, milk or water, eggs.

Table manners

Although the food in different places in Europe may be different, eating customs do not vary a lot in Europe. So if you ever have to share a meal with other nationalities, there shouldn't be a real problem. Everyone eats with knife and fork, at least in a restaurant and usually also at home. (You can use your hands for frog's legs and bread.) If you check websites on "table manners" you'll find that in various countries the same advice is given:

• don't start before the host/hostess indicates it
• use cutlery from the outside inward; i.e. start use the outside fork/knioe etc.
• don't make too many noises when eating
• don't use toothpicks
• don't smoke between courses.
• compliment the hostess (who may also be the cook) afterwards

And don't burp, of course. Eating times, however, are different in different countries. The evening meal (called dinner or tea, depending on the region) in the UK is often between 6 and 7 p.m. In other countries it may be much later. In some southern European countries (Portugal, Greece), restaurants do not even open until 9 o'cock at night. In Spain, people usually have lunch between two and three o'clock and dinner between nine and ten; about 25% of the Spaniards have dinner after ten. On the other hand, in more northern countries (Germany, Finland) it may be difficult for a tourist to find a place where one can have dinner after nine at night.

Open your worksheet. As soon as you have opened it, save it in your own account on your (or the school's) computer, preferably in your portfolio. Keep it open all the time you work on this unit.

Please do task 1 and 2.