How to eat healthy - Spanker



Cuisine

Attitudes to food

People have many opinions on healthy food and the opinions are often different. For many people food is pleasure, for others it is necessity. It is important for us to eat healthy. Some people think that the best way to be healthy is to be vegetarians. They avoid fat meat, spice, sugar and flour. Some of them don’t eat everything what comes from animals but this is extreme. The other people eat everything what they have at hands and don’t reflect on it, whether it is harmful or not. They may be sweet-teeth and be overweight but they don’t mind it. The Czechs are used to eating a lot of dumplings, sausages and other floury, sweet and fat meals. I think that the best is not to overeat and eat more vegetables, fruits, lean meat, poultry and fish which would supply our bodies with more vitamins and minerals. There is no expression in English for ‘dobrou chuť’, which perhaps reflects the English attitude to food.

Daily scheme of meals

In different countries people have different eating habits but the daily scheme of meals is usually following: breakfast, elevenses (a morning snack), lunch, tea, dinner and later perhaps supper.

In our country breakfast usually consists of something to drink - tea or coffee with or without milk, cocoa or some juice, and something to eat - a roll or slice of bread, some cheese, salami or butter and jam or a cake. Today lots of people eat cereals for their breakfast - cornflakes or muesli with various ingredients like yoghurt, raisins, chocolate, nuts and so on. Breakfast usually takes place between 6 and 8 o’clock.

The British don’t like eating in hurry and their traditional breakfast is sufficient very much. They like to begin the day with a cup of tea in bed early in the morning. Then they start with some cereals, usually cornflakes with milk or cream and sugar, or porridge. This will be followed by scrambled eggs, fried or grilled bacon and eggs, sausages and grilled tomatoes or spicy beans in tomato sauce, or kippers. They round off with many cups of tea or coffee and buttered toasts and marmalade. But this breakfast is not as common as it used to be, it is served in restaurants if you ask for it or at weekends when people have more time.

In the middle of the morning British people have elevenses which is usually not more than a cup of coffee and biscuits. Sometimes, often at weekends, when they get up later, they have brunch, a combination meal which is eaten for breakfast and lunch.

The midday meal is called lunch. Lunch consists of a soup, a main dish, something to drink and salad or desert. The soup can be clear (beef, chicken or vegetable) or thick (potato, tomato, cauliflower, goulash or cream of mushroom). The main dish can be sweet (dumplings with fruits, pancakes) but usually it is some meat (pork, beef, chicken, fish) with potatoes, dumplings, rice or cabbage. The main fish cooked in our country is a carp. It is a traditional Christmas meal - buttered carp with potato salad. Czech beer or any of the soft drinks (mineral water, coke, lemonade or juice) are served with it.

Around four o’clock it is teatime. While in our country an afternoon snack is not common, in Britain it is a special occasion. The traditional tea consists of slices of bread and butter with cheese, fish or ham, perhaps some vegetables, cakes or biscuits and tea or coffee which in England are drunk with milk unless you ask for black coffee or only tea.

About 7 o’clock most families have a dinner. In Britain dinner may have three or four courses. It consists of a soup, followed with the main course. The meat may be a stew, chops, a meat pie, a roast joint or fish, with potatoes and one or two of the other vegetables (carrots, beans, peas, broccoli). As a dessert they may have fruitcake, fruit salad or pudding. With the meal they may have beer, cider or wine. The Czech evening meal is not so nutritious if people have a hot meal at midday. It may be cold or cooked. Some people may have a similar dish as at midday except soup, although some thick soup with bread may be a separate evening meal.

Some people who stay up late at night may eat something as supper. It consists of sandwiches, cold meat, vegetables, some milk, tea or coffee.

Fast food - restaurants

The British and Americans never eat much for lunch; they eat some soup, salad or sandwiches, so they have a lot of fast foods. It is not like an ordinary restaurant. There are no waiters, no plates, no knives and forks. You order your food at the counter and pay it at the same time. You get your food in a paper or plastic bag or box. Some of these places have tables, but many don’t. The fast food is preferred mainly by the young people. Their ideal lunch is hamburgers served with ketchup and French-fries. There eat also people, who have little time and then they eat in their cars or take it to their offices or to parks. The Americans call the fast food restaurants ‘the cheapies’. These places are Mc Donald’s, Burger King or Kentucky Fried Chickens. They are usually less expensive and dressy than restaurants. People go to restaurants mostly at some specials occasions. There are waiters who give you menu and you can choose what would you like to eat. The food is better there but it’s much more expensive.

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