Gastronomy is a term which means the art of food eating. Gastronomy includes the preparation of meals, dining, eating customs and everything related to food and drinks. Gastronomy – eating and drinking are some of the most important things that influence our health.
The first meal of the day is breakfast. Some say that a rich breakfast is the best way to start the day. Others prefer their breakfast to be healthy, light and easy to digest. The majority of people eat a breakfast that consist of bread, bread rolls and bagels, with butter, salami, ham, honey, cheese or jam. Instead of bread we can have something sweet – cakes, doughnuts or gingerbread. Those who prefer a healthy breakfast might have yoghurt with fresh fruit, muesli with milk etc. Many people accompany their meal with tea, warm or hot milk, coffee, hot chocolate or glass of juice.
10:00 a.m. is the usual time for a mid-morning snack. At this time it is good to eat something light and healthy, like fruit or vegetables.
At midday, it is lunchtime, usually the time for the main meal in our country. 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. Often lunch consists of soup a main course, something to drink and salad or a dessert.
Soups are either vegetable soups (tomato, potato, pea, bean, carrot, mushrooms) or meat teas (beef, chicken, and hen). Some people cook fruit soups (strawberry soup).
The main course is usually cooked meat, fish, poultry with side dishes of potatoes or rice, Czech dumplings, pasta or bread.
The dessert could be cake, ice cream, or fruit.
Snack at 4:00 p.m. – sandwiches or fruit cakes with tea or coffee.
The last meal of the day is dinner served between 6:00 and 7:00 p.m. In many families the menu usually consists of another warm meal. But another possibility is a cold dinner it may be cheese, salami, ham, vegetables and bread.
Czech cuisine
Czechs, in general, like fatty meals with lard and flour. Our typical dish is roast pork, sauerkraut and dumplings, goulash with dumplings or roast sirloin of beef in cream sauce again with dumplings. Czechs often eat meat loaf and many kinds of smoked-meat products, the same as Germans. Wiener schnitzel, which is a pork steak, coated in flour, egg and breadcrumbs and fried, is a popular dish as well. The typical Czech soup is tripe soup. Here are some more traditional Czech dishes: bread dumplings with bacon or dumplings filled with plums or stuffed pork ribs. Our traditional dishes are certainly attractive to foreign visitors and everyone should have the opportunity to taste them.
Sweets and cakes are typical of Czech cuisine as well. Most of them we can buy in normal shops, such as doughnuts, stuffed cakes, apple pies, marble cake, Christmas cakes or Easter cakes. The Czech food manufacturing industry can boast excellent Carlsbad Waffles or Pardubice gingerbread.
Typical Czech meals include: tripe soup, potato soup, "kulajda" soup (mushrooms and potatoes boiled in a little bit of sour cream soup), roasted pork with dumplings and sauerkraut, roasted goose and sauerkraut and dumplings, Wiener schnitzel with potato salad, roasted sirloin beef in sour cream sauce and Czech dumplings, Moravian sparrows (roasted fat pork offcuts), Spanish birds (rolled beef steak filled with salami, pickle, eggs and mustard), potato pancakes, fruit dumplings with cream, baked yeast dumplings, potato or "hairy" dumplings, fried cheese etc. Most meat is served with potatoes or dumplings. At present many families prefer to cook more vegetable meals, they become vegetarians or try some kind of foreign (Chinese) food.
Czech beer is famous all over the world for its taste and potency. Bohemian and Moravian wines are well known as well. The most popular spirit drink is "Slivovice", a plum brandy, but best of all is the herb-based drink, wonderfully aromatic "Becherovka"
British cuisine
The traditional perception of British cuisine is of overcooked vegetables, tasteless meat and a lot of grease, but British eating habits have changed over last thirty years.
Many families now prefer to eat out at restaurants or cafes or to buy take-away Chinese or Indian meals to eat at home.
Traditional English breakfast (sometimes called full or cooked) is quite rich and hot. You start with orange juice, then you have cereal (e.g. cornflakes with milk and sugar), fried eggs and tomato, bacon or sausages. Baked beans in tomato sauce are also popular nowadays. Then there is a crisp piece of toast with butter and marmalade (which is made from oranges), and tea with milk. Continental breakfast is much lighter. It starts with orange juice followed by a croissant (a French roll) with butter and jam, and coffee or tea. Sundays are reserved for their big cooked breakfast called BRUNCH - breakfast and lunch together.
Lunch is a midday meal. It is not the main meal of the day. It is very common to have something light - like sandwiches, pizza, hamburgers, salad or pies. A sandwich consists of two slices of bread with different fillings in between and it usually has a triangular shape. (The origin of the word "sandwich" is interesting. An 18th century aristocrat, the Earl of Sandwich, loved playing cards. He used to play all day and night and hated 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.) A pie can be sweet -e.g. apple pie or savoury - e.g. chicken pie. It is meat or vegetable or fruit baked in pastry. School children do not usually have their lunches at the school canteen. They bring packed lunch from their homes in special lunch boxes. You can find there: popular sandwiches, some fruit or vegetable, something sweet, some biscuits or a chocolate bar, a soft drink and a small packet of crisps (we use the American expression ,,chips" for them in our country). The most popular are those with salt and vinegar or cheese and onion. Only some children have a hot meal in the school canteen. Because it is big and hot, it is called a ,,school dinner".
Tea is Britain's favourite drink. People usually drink quite strong tea with milk. But tea is also a meal in the afternoon at around 5 o'clock. You can expect cucumber sandwiches and scones (plain cakes with jam and cream), or chocolate cakes.
Dinner is a hot evening meal and it is more filling. It can be served from 6 to 8 p.m. It is usually eaten when the whole family is together. It usually includes meat, sauce and green vegetables cooked in hot water. It may be also cold - depending on the time of the year. The English are fond of cakes and pies. They are a nation with a very "sweet tooth". Later at night, after a theatre or cinema performance, you can have your supper - something light like cheese and biscuits before you go to bed.
The original British fast food is ,,fish and chips". Many types of fish are sold (cod, plaice). It is a piece of fish fried in batter and served hot with chipped fried potatoes. People in Britain like chips with salt and vinegar.
British people eat pancakes on Shrove Tuesday in February or March. In some parts of Britain there are pancakes races on Shrove Tuesday. People race with a frying pan in one hand. They have to '"toss" the pancake, throw it in the air and catch it again in the frying pan.
Roast beef and Yorkshire pudding - it is the traditional Sunday lunch from Yorkshire in the north of England. It is popular all over Britain now. Yorkshire pudding is not sweet. It is a mixture of eggs, flour and milk.
Some people make Christmas pudding months before Christmas. A lot of families have their own Christmas pudding recipe. Some, for example, use a lot of brandy. Others put in a lot of fruit or add a silver coin for good luck. Real Christmas puddings always have a piece of holly on the top. Holly bushes and trees have red berries at Christmas time, and so people use holly to decorate their houses for Christmas. The holly on the pudding is a part of the decoration. Also, you can pour brandy over your pudding and light it with a match.
Cuisine of the USA
When most people think of American cuisine, the first meal that comes to mind is hamburgers, French fries, and Coca-Cola. Thanks to the spreading of American fast food restaurants around the world, these meals have gained international popularity. The Americans call fast food restaurants "cheapies". These places -McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's, Kentucky Fried Chicken and Mrs. Winner's usually offer beverages (Coca-Cola, Pepsi-Cola, tea, coffee, milkshakes ...), and some solid food like roast chicken and chips, hamburgers, sandwiches, pizza, salads or desserts (apple, cherry pie). You can put pickles, mustard, ketchup, onions or tomatoes on your hamburger, too.
Another typical feature of American lifestyle is popcorn. You can buy it when walking along the streets. Various kinds of popcorn are sold - either sweet with sugar and other flavors, or cooked with salt.
However, the American diet is much more rich and diverse than the standard fast food menu would lead you to believe.
Original American food dates to the pre-Columbian era when indigenous people ate meals of corn, squash, pumpkin, and turkey. Today, these foods remain a regular part of the American diet and are especially celebrated at the Thanksgiving celebration in November. On Thanksgiving Day, American families gather together to share the national meat of turkey, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, cranberries, and pumpkin pie.
The arrival of immigrants throughout the centuries has expanded American cuisine to include a wide array of international dishes and tastes. Today, ethnic foods are very popular and the weekly menu of a typical American family may include pizza (Italian), Tacos or burritos (Mexican), stir fry (Chinese), and American steak and potatoes.
The Americans across the continent share a love of sweet desserts. The favourite American dessert is fruit pie served with vanilla ice cream. The Americans enjoy peach pie, blackberry pie, chocolate pie, and pumpkin pie. Apple pie, however, is considered the mist typical American dessert. A common saying in the US is , "It is as American as apple pie."
As many Americans, both men and women, work long hours outside the home, convenient processed and frozen foods have become a staple of the diet. TV dinners are common among many families. These complete frozen meals include a main dish, cooked vegetables and dessert and they can be bought ready-made at the supermarket. Heated up in the microwave, TV dinners provide an instant meal to be eaten while watching TV.
Take-out food from restaurants is also popular. After work, the Americans often stop by a restaurant to pick up Chinese food, deli sandwiches, fried chicken, ribs, or fish and chips to bring home and eat with their family at the dining table. Another alternative is home delivered pizza. The Americans regularly phone the local pizza parlour to place an order, and within a half an hour, a fresh pizza is delivered to their house.
In addition, the Americans enjoy snacks throughout the day. Doughnuts, sweet rolls, and muffins are eaten during the morning hours, along with the newly favourite Jewish bagels. Later in the day, the Americans like to munch on popcorn, cookies, or potato chips.
Breakfasts are usually quick and easy meals eaten before school or work. Many people have a bowl of cereals and milk as a quick start to the day. Others may have toast spread with butter or jam and a glass of juice or milk. Most Americans begin their day with a cup of coffee. A common saying is, "Don't talk to me until I've had my cup of coffee," because coffee gives people the boost they need to participate in the fast working world.
At the weekends, when people have more time, families prepare a heavy breakfast of scrambled eggs and bacon, egg omelettes, or pancakes with maple syrup. On Sundays, families often enjoy going out to restaurants for a large brunch (served between breakfast and lunch, hence the name - BRUNCH) served with champagne.
Lunch is also commonly a simple light meal. Sandwiches are a favourite lunch meal - easy to make at home and bring to work or school in a paper bag. Tuna, salami, cheese, or peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are eaten with a piece of fruit, some potato chips or crackers, and a bottle of juice or soda. Many schools and workplaces have a cafeteria serving lunch. Some people like to eat out at a restaurant for lunch.
Dinner is the large hot meal of the day served between 6:00 and 7:00 pm. The Americans like to eat a complete meal at dinner that includes a main meat or vegetarian dish, salad, cooked vegetables, and potatoes, pasta, or rice.
The Americans drink juice, water, or wine with dinner. Children usually have a glass of milk. Beef and pork used to be the most popular meat dishes served at dinner. However, as the Americans are becoming more health conscious, they often prefer white meat such as chicken and fish and try to avoid eating red meat.
A favorite pastime on summer weekends is to grill meat with family and friends in the backyard, at the park, or on the beach. These events are called barbecues and the grilled meat is served with fresh salad, garlic bread, beer or lemonade.
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