A traditional English breakfast includes bacon, sausages, fried mushrooms, eggs, tomatoes, toast and baked beans. Porridge is made from oats cooked with milk. A roast dinner, often had on Sundays, features roasted meat like beef or chicken with vegetables and gravy. Fruit crumble topped with a crunchy mixture and served with custard is a popular dessert. Fish and chips can be bought wrapped in paper or on a polystyrene tray from fish and chip shops found around England.

1. A bit about food…

2. Breakfast
Porridge
Full English breakfast

3. Breakfast
Full English breakfast
A very popular, traditional breakfast is a ‘full English breakfast’. It is not something you eat
every day because it’s very big and it takes time to prepare. English people usually only have a
full English breakfast at the weekends, or when they are on holiday. You can always find it on
the menu in a hotel for example! This kind of breakfast usually includes: bacon, sausages, fried
mushrooms, fried or scrambled eggs, grilled tomatoes, toast and baked beans.
Porridge
Porridge is made by cooking oats with milk until it becomes thick. You then add something
sweet to it, like sugar or honey or jam. Traditionally it was considered to be food for poor
people, because it used to be made with water instead of milk. Porridge is also popular in the
USA, although they call it ‘oatmeal’.
Every day breakfast
Although ‘full English breakfast’ and ‘porridge’ are both traditionally British, English people
usually adopt a more continental style for their daily breakfast. This usually includes cereal,
toast, fruit and yoghurt.

4. Yorkshire
puddings
Hot
meals
Roast dinner,
or Sunday
lunch
Gravy (meat
sauce)

5. Hot meals
‘Roast dinner’ or ‘Sunday lunch’
This is a very British meal. It is often called a Sunday lunch because traditionally it was
eaten for lunch on a Sunday afternoon after coming back from church. Some families in
England still do this. However it is often just called a ‘roast dinner’ and people eat it at
the weekends, or when they are together with their families, or for special occasions
and festivals. The traditional meal to eat at Christmas is a very big roast dinner for
example.
A roast dinner is made with a big piece of roasted meat, which is cooked slowly in the
oven for a couple of hours. This could be a big piece of beef, or lamb, or a whole chicken.
The meat is then served with vegetables, roasted potatoes, gravy and sometimes
yorkshire puddings. ‘Gravy’ is a meat sauce made from the juices of the roast meat.
Yorkshire puddings are like chewy bread cakes that taste really good when you soak
them in gravy!

6. Pudding/dessert
+
Fruit crumble
Custard
=
Crumble and custard!

7. Pudding/dessert
Fruit crumble and custard
Fruit crumble is a very popular desert in England. It is like a hot fruit pie but it has a sweet
crunchy topping instead of pastry. The topping tastes like crushed biscuits, although it is
made with sugar, flour and butter. The fruit used is usually apple and berries (mixed with
sugar) although you could use any kind of fruit.
Custard is a popular desert sauce in the UK. It is very sweet and thick, and it’s a pale yellow
colour. You can eat custard on its own… it doesn’t have to be eaten with the desert!

8. British
pubs

9. British pubs
Pubs in England are like the equivalent of bars in Spain. They are a great place to have a
drink with friends or family, and during the day they serve really tasty British food. So
you can often buy the food we have looked at in this presentation (such as a roast
dinner).
Usually, British pubs have names which start with the word ‘The’ and include an
important animal, symbol or person. For example: The Red Lion, The Royal Kings Arms,
The Horse and Crown.
Pubs are usually quite dark inside and they tend to have low ceilings and lots of wooden
furniture and decoration.

10. Fish, chips and mushy peas
Wrapped in paper…
Pie, chips and gravy
Or served in a polystyrene tray!

11. Fish and chips
You can buy ‘fish and chips’ all over England – there are shops in nearly every town. It is
a very low-bugdet kind of food, and it is not something the Queen would eat!
The chips are always big and chunky, and the fish is covered in batter and deep-fried.
Traditionally you eat it with salt and vinegar, with a side portion of mushy peas.
If you buy this kind of food at a restaurant it is always served on a plate. However, if you
go to a ‘fish and chip shop’ it is either wrapped in paper, or served on a polystyrene tray.
You can also buy other kinds of food in a fish and chip shop, such as sausages, pies,
doner kebabs and hamburgers. In the north of England it is more popular to buy pie and
chips with gravy. The fish and chip shops in the south of England often don’t sell gravy.

12. Fish and chip
shops
(chippies)

13. Fish and chip shops
(chippies)
You can find fish and chips shops all over England. The food is displayed in a counter
with a glass front, so you can see it before you buy it. In these pictures you can see
what the shop staff usually look like – they always have to wear an apron and a cap. I
worked in a fish and chip shop for two years, and I had to wear a blue and white apron
and a blue cap! I always used to come home afterwards smelling of food!
In the bottom left photo you can see behind the counter; there’s the till (where the
money is kept) and the big pieces of paper which are used to wrap up the food.

14. •Scones with jam
and cream
•Cakes
•Mini sandwiches
•Tea!
Afternoon tea

15. Afternoon tea
‘Afternoon tea’ is an English tradition which dates back to the 1800’s, although it is
unfortunately not as popular in England nowadays. However, English people still like to
enjoy the food that is associated with afternoon tea. Sometimes they still like to eat it
in the traditional way, with a whole range of snacks to eat, but this is considered to be a
special treat. The most popular food to eat for afternoon tea is ‘scones with jam and
cream’ (the top right photo). This is particularly popular along the south coast of
England. Other food includes mini sandwiches, cupcakes, slices of cake and small pieces
of fruit. Also, afternoon tea ALWAYS includes drinking tea!

16. Tea Rooms

17. Tea Rooms
A tea room is a special kind of café where you can eat the kind of food that you have for
afternoon tea, or you can simply enjoy a hot drink such as coffee or tea. Tea is a very
popular drink in England, and most English people like to add milk to their tea. You can
also add sugar if you like your tea to be sweet.
The traditional way of making tea is by using a teapot, and drinking from a cup and
saucer. Sometimes English people still do this at home, but usually it is easier to just
boil a kettle of hot water and make your tea in a mug!

19. Questions
1. What kind of meat is in a full English breakfast?
2. English people only eat a full English breakfast from time to time. What
do they usually eat for breakfast?
3. What’s the name of the meat sauce that is used in a roast dinner?
4. ‘Crumble’ is made with two layers of food. Can you remember what they
are made of?
5. When you buy ‘fish and chips’ in a restaurant it is always served on a
plate. How is it served when you buy it from a fish and chip shop?
6. Where can you buy fish and chips (or pie and chips) in England?
7. How long did I work in a fish and chip shop for?
8. Can you name some food that you would eat for afternoon tea?
9. What do English people like to put in their tea?
10.Sometimes English people drink tea from a cup and saucer, but usually
they use something else. What do they usually use?