Theme: "Food" Student: Sophy (IX form) Teacher: Smirnova T. V. Kostanai, 2002 P L A N: 1. Food celebrates life. 2. Food nourishes language. 3. Food for different cultures: a. From land and sea b. From high in the mountains c. Meals in Britain d. American food and drink e. Kazakh traditional dishes 4. Food is symbolic. 5. Food as a fad or cult. 6. Plan a healthful diet. 7. Food is the staff of life. "Every man is the builder of a temple called his body (1817-1862) " Thoreau, Henry Davia
    English will have become an important tool for communication and discovery rather than just another class to attend. And we would like to look at the all-important topic, Food. Food Celebrates Life.1
    Have you ever noticed how much of our life is centered on food? Look at all the meetings held, decisions made, and mergers consummated over a meal: power breakfast, power lunch, dinners, banquets, receptions, and those endless toasts. Consider all the celebrations where food is all-important: weddings, birthdays, religious feast days, national holidays, etc. Food is the great icebreaker when people meet for pleasure or business. Food is at the center of many of our important activities. Food Nourishes Language.2
    Because of this importance, much of our language (regardless of the language) contains references to food. These references conjure up images worth a thousand words each. The idiom page contains several references to food and shows how these are used in a non-food-related discussion. Think about the idioms and expressions in your native language related to food and how and when you use them. Do you use food expressions to describe someone's physical characteristics (e.g., He's as skinny as a string bean; his belly shakes like a bowl full of jelly.); or, to describe someone's personality (e.g., Harry is a cre3am puff; she's as sweet as sugar.) or, to describe a situation or activity (e.g., Something is fishy here; That crossword puzzle is a piece of cake.). How we use food expressions depends on how we perceive the food, or the culture associated with the food. Food For Different Cultures.3
    Have you ever stopped to really think about what you and your family eat everyday and why? Have you ever stopped to think what other people eat? In the movie Indiana Jones and Temple of Doom, there are two scenes in which the two characters are offered meals from a different culture. One meal, meant to break the ice, consisted of insects. The second meal was a lavish banquet that featured such delicacies as roasted beetles, live snakes, eyeball soup, and chilled monkey brains for dessert. Some cultures eat such things as vipers and rattlesnakes, bush rats, dog meat, horsemeat, bats, animal heart, liver, eyes, and insects of all sorts.
    Often the differences among cultures in the foods they eat are related to the differences in geography and local resources. People who live near water ( the sea, lakes, and rivers) tend to eat more fish and crustaceans. People who live in colder climates tend to eat heavier, fatty foods. However, with the development of a global economy, food boundaries and differences are beginning to dissipate: McDonalds is now on every continent expect Antarctica, and tofu and yogurt are served all over the world. Mexico: Beans and rice4 Corn tortillas (2 servings) Black beans (2 servings) Rice (2 servings) Salsa Morocco: Couscous4 Couscous (wheat pasta) Carrots Zucchini Peppers Chickpeas Lamb India: Sag paneer4 Indian cheese (2 servings) Spinach Peppers Oil Onion Rice (2 servings) Chapati (wheat bread) Italy: Spaghetti5 Spaghetti (2 servings) Tomato sauce (2 servings) Parmesan cheese Chicken breasts, baked Japan: Tempura5 Shrimp Eggplant Peppers Mushrooms Flour Oil Egg white Rice (2 servings) USA: Barbecue chicken and potato salad5 Chicken breast, barbecue Potatoes Mayonnaise Onion Peppers Corn (1 ear) What do people eat?
    Many factors determine the foods that people eat. Geography and climate, tradition and history: They all go into our meals. In European country of Spain and the Asian country of Nepal, different cultures and customs affect what people eat. From Land and Sea.6
    Spain occupies most of the Iberian Peninsula, on the western edge of Europe. It is nearly surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea.
    Spain's dry climate and poor soil make farming difficult. Extensive irrigation allows farmers to raise strawberries and rice in dry areas. Vegetables and citrus trees grow on the coastal plains, and olives and grapes grow in the river valleys.
    The grasslands of the large dry central plateau are used for grazing sheep, goats, and cattle. People in this region eat roasted and boiled meats. They also raise pigs for ham and spicy sausage called chorizo. And people all over the country eat lots of seafood from the Atlantic and the Mediterranean.
    One classic Spanish dish, paella, includes sausage, mussels, lobster, or chicken, plus red pepper, peas, tomatoes, and saffron rice. Peasants were the first to make paella, using whatever food was available. But this dish and others also reflect Spain's history of traders, conquerors, and explorers who brought a variety of food by land and by sea.
    Phoenicians from the Middle East introduced grapes to Spain in about 1100B.C. Hundreds of years later, Romans brought olives from what is now Italy. In the 8th century A.D., Moors (Muslim Arabs and Berbers from Africa) introduced shortgrain rice and za faran, or saffron - the spice that colors rice yellow. And in the 1400s, 1500s, and 1600s, Spanish explorers and traders returned home with nutmeg and cloves from the East Indies: and peppers, tomatoes, potatoes, and chocolate from the Americas. ............