English as a Foreign Language for B2 students. Topic: Food, restaurants, cooking, kitchen stuff... Linguistic contents: modal verbs, making suggestions, word formation, proverbs... All the resources are mentioned in the bibliography.

1. Food, restaurants and cooking
by Biel Calvó and Isabel Pascual

2. Vocabulary
Let's start with some vocabulary!

3. Use of English
1. If you are requested to ask for something, to order or to suggest something, you will probably
need to refresh the use of the modal verbs.
A. Choose the most suitable response to each comment or question
1. What did I do wrong?
a. You shouldn't have eaten such amount of doughnuts!
b. You didn't have to eat such amount of doughnuts!

4. 2. You forgot my birthday again!
a. Sorry, I should have looked in my diary.
b. Sorry, I had to look in my diary.
3. Where were you yesterday? You didn't turn up!
a. I had to go to London.
b. I must have gone to London.
4. There's a lot of food left over from the party, isn't there?
a. Yes, you couldn't have made so many sandwiches.
b. Yes, you needn't have made so may sandwiches.
B. Complete the second sentence so that it has a similar meaning to the first
sentence, using the word given. Do not change the word given. You must use
between two and five words, including the word given.
1. It wasn't necessary for me to go out after all.
Have
I.....................................................................................................after all.
2. It was a mistake for you to eat that piece of cake.
Eaten
You.................................................................................................that piece of cake.
3. It's possible that I left my wallet at home.
Could
I.......................................................................................my wallet at home.
4. I think you were wrong to order that meal.
Shouldn't
You.................................................................................that meal.
2. Complete the following exercises.

6. 3. Read the quotes and proverbs about food and answer these questions:
• What is the meaning or implication of each proverb/quote?
• Which proverbs or quotes do you agree with?
• Are there any which you disagree with?
• Which is your favourite?
• Do you have any proverbs in your own language which refer to food or diet?

7. Food Proverbs
‘To eat is a necessity, but to eat intelligently is an art.’
La Rochefoucauld
‘Stomach: A slave that must accept everything that is given to it, but which avenges
wrongs as slyly as does the slave.’
Emile Souvester
‘Part of the success in life is to eat what you like and let the food fight it out inside.’
Mark Twain
‘The discovery of a new dish does more for human happiness than the discovery of
a new star.’
Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin
‘When diet is wrong medicine is of no use.
When diet is correct medicine is of no need.’
Proverb
‘An apple a day keeps the doctor away.’
Proverb
‘You are what you eat.’
Proverb
‘Hunger is the best sauce in the world.’
Cervantes
‘Strange to see how a good dinner and feasting reconciles everybody.’
Samuel Pepys
‘Kissing doesn’t last: cookery does.’
George Meredith
‘Cooking is like love. It should be entered into with abandon or not at all.’
Harriet Van Horne
‘Fish, to taste right, must swim three times – in water, in butter and in wine.’
Proverb
‘Even were a cook to cook a fly, he would keep the breast for himself.’
Proverb
‘One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.’
Virginia Woolf
‘There is no such thing as a little garlic.’
Proverb

8. ‘A smiling face is half the meal.’
Proverb
‘Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day.
Teach a man to fish and you feed him for life.’
Proverb
‘There is no sincerer love than the love of food.’
George Bernard Shaw
‘I didn’t fight my way to the top of the food chain to be a vegetarian.’
Unknown
Speaking
1. Bring all you dramatic skills out, you are about to perform a role play!
Play 1. Imagine you are the chef of a famous restaurant and you have to order to the cooks
how to prepare a dish. Give them the proper instructions to have the meal ready for the
customers.
* As a cook, you should make sure you understand the whole process and prepare
the meal properly.
Play 2. You are the waiter in the above-mentioned famous restaurant . You have to suggest
the guests the special meal the cooks and the chef have prepared for this evening; to do so, you
can explain the ingredients, the preparation, the taste... and you must convince them to select
your choice.
* As a guest, you can ask for all the information you need. Your waiter is there to
serve you! He/she must work out his/her tip!

9. Reading
Are Brits becoming more adventurous in the kitchen?
What comes into your mind when you think of British food? Probably fish and chips, or a Sunday
dinner of meat and two vegetables. But is British food really so bland and uninteresting? Despite a
reputation for less-then-spectacular cuisine, Britain is producing more and more top class chefs
who dominate our television screens and whose recipe books frequently top the best seller lists.
It’s thanks to these TV chefs rather than any advertising campaign that Britons are turning away
from meat-and-two-veg and ready-made meals and becoming more adventurous in their cooking
habits. It seems that TV programmes have the power to bring a higher profile to cooking and are
wielding real influence on what people cook at home.
According to a new study from market analysts, 1 in 5 Britons claim that watching cookery
programmes on TV has encouraged them to try different food. Almost one third say they now use
a wider variety of ingredients than they used to, and just under 1 in 4 (24%) say they now buy
better quality ingredients than before. One in four adults say that TV chefs have made them much
more confident about expanding their culinary knowledge and skills, and young people are also
getting more interested in cooking. With an increasing number of male chefs on TV, it’s no longer
‘uncool’ for boys to like cooking. The UK’s new obsession with food is reflected through television
scheduling. Cookery shows and documentaries about food are broadcast during prime time
evening slots.
Many of the new celebrity chefs promote modern ‘fusion cuisine’, which blends classic ‘British’
cooking with international and exotic influences. Even the chefs themselves are younger, more
beautiful and much more experimental, such as Nigella Lawson and Jamie Oliver. Jamie Oliver was
only 23 when he first appeared on British television screens. More than 4 million people tuned in
to his popular show ‘Jamie’s Kitchen’. The show began as an experiment and turned into a
phenomenon. Jamie gave himself nine months to take a team of unemployed 16 to 24-year-olds,
with virtually no previous experience of cooking, and transform them into top class chefs to work
in his new restaurant in East London, ‘Fifteen’. Jamie left school himself without formal
qualifications and believes that with a passion for food, anyone can become a good cook. ‘Fifteen’
has become a hit in London and is booked up months in advance.
Jamie Oliver has proved to be a huge inspiration for British people. The recent survey finds that the
number of those sticking to a traditional diet is slowly declining and around half of Britain’s
consumers would like to change or improve their cooking in some way. There has been a rise in the
number of students applying for food courses at UK universities and colleges, such as those offered
by the School of Culinary Art at South Trafford College. Having been ridiculed for centuries for its
mediocre cuisine, is Britain now competing with countries such as France and Italy in the field of
culinary excellence?

10. 1. Decide whether the following statements are true or false:
1) Britain is starting to get a reputation for bad
cuisine.
2) Advertising campaigns are encouraging British
people to try new foods.
3) The most popular TV chefs in Britain are younger
and more charismatic than they used to be.
4) ‘Jamie’s Kitchen’ is a TV programme about
ordinary people who set up their own restaurants
with no cooking experience.
5) Jamie’s restaurant ‘Fifteen’ will be opening in
several months time.
6) The traditional British diet may be dying out.
Listening
1. Pay attention to the dialogues you are about to hear and fill in the gaps.
Conversation 1 - http://www.eslfast.com/robot/topics/restaurant/restaurant04.htm
A: Can I start you ____ with anything to drink?
B: Yes, _____ I have some water, please?
A: Sure, ________ you like any appetizers today?
B: May I get an order of barbeque ______?
A: No problem, can I get you anything else?
B: No, thank you, that'll be all for now.
A: ____ me know when you're ready to ______ your food.
B: I'm ready.
A: What can I get you?
B: May I have the fettuccini Alfredo?
A: Will that be _____?
B: Yes, that's it.
Conversation 2 - http://www.eslfast.com/robot/topics/restaurant/restaurant05.htm
A: I am your __________, Mary.
B: Hello, Mary. We are all _______ ___________tonight!
A: __________you are looking over the menu, can I interest you in an ____________?
B: An appetizer sounds good. Do you have a special menu?
A: They are listed on the first page of the menu.
B: The coconut ________ looks good. Have you ever had that?
A: Yes, it is excellent!
B: Good, I'll take that then.
A: ________ ____ _______ to split that and choose another appetizer for _____ _______to share?
B: Good. In that case, we'll also take an order of onion rings. Thank you!

11. 2. Listen carefully to the speech and answer the questions.
http://www.eslfast.com/robot/topics/restaurant/restaurant10.htm
a. Where did he/she get the recipes from?
b. What did the guest enjoy the most?
c. What's there in the soup?
d. What did the guest bring to complement the meal?
e. Do you think they have a positive or a negative impression of the dinner? Why?
Speaking II
1. Free conversation. Do you think that there are some stereotypes concerning food and cooking
across cultures? Discuss with your partners.
Other questions for discussion
• Apart from popular cooking programmes, can you think of any other reasons
why people may be changing their cooking and eating habits in Britain?
Think about the following factors:
- Travel
- Health
- Vegetarianism
- Ingredients available
• Have there been many changes in your country? Are there any ‘new’ foods?
• Do you ever cook? If so, what do you like to cook?
• Would you like to train to work in Jamie Oliver’s restaurant, ‘Fifteen’? Why/why
not?
Writing
1. Share with your fellow students the recipe of your favourite meal.
Remember to be accurate while writing the ingredients and the
preparation!

12. Food, restaurants and cooking
Key to the exercises
Vocabulary
Ex.1 Ex.3 Ex.4
Ex.7
Ex. 8
Tastes Textures
Adjective Translation (Spanish) Adjective Translation (Spanish)
sour agrio soft blando
sweet dulce hard duro
salty salado chewy gomoso, correoso
bitter amargo crunchy crujiente
bland soso, insípido crispy crujiente, crocante
strong fuerte smooth fino (liso)
hot (muy) picante creamy cremoso (espeso)
spicy especiado,
condimentado
flaky hojaldrado

13. Use of English
1. A B
1. a 1. needn't have gone out
2. a 2. shouldn't have eaten
3. a 3. could have left
4. b 4. shouldn't have ordered
2.
Ex.5 Ex.2 Ex.6
Ex.8
1. B
2. A
3. D
4. B
5. C
6. C
7. A
8. B
9. D
10. A
11. D
12. C
13. D
14. C
15. B
Reading
Ex. 1
1. Britain is starting to get a reputation for bad cuisine. (false – British cuisine has often been
criticised as being bland and uninteresting but this is starting to change)
2. Advertising campaigns are encouraging British people to try new foods. (false - TV chefs,
not adverts, are the new inspiration)
3. The most popular TV chefs in Britain are younger and more charismatic than they used to
be. (true)
4. 'Jamie's Kitchen' is a TV programme about ordinary people who set up their own
restaurants with no cooking experience. (false - the programme is about young unqualified
people who train to work in Jamie's restaurant, not set up their own restaurant)
5. Jamie's restaurant 'Fifteen' will be opening in several months time. (false - it is already open
and proving very popular with the public)
6. The traditional British diet may be dying out. (true)

14. Listening
Ex. 1
Conversation 1
A: Can I start you off with anything to drink?
B: Yes, may I have some water, please?
A: Sure, would you like any appetizers today?
B: May I get an order of barbeque wings?
A: No problem, can I get you anything else?
B: No, thank you, that'll be all for now.
A: Let me know when you're ready to order your food.
B: I'm ready.
A: What can I get you?
B: May I have the fettuccini Alfredo?
A: Will that be all?
B: Yes, that's it.
Conversation 2
A: I am your waitress, Mary.
B: Hello, Mary. We are all pretty hungry tonight!
A: While you are looking over the menu, can I interest you in an appetizer?
B: An appetizer sounds good. Do you have a special menu?
A: They are listed on the first page of the menu.
B: The coconut shrimp looks good. Have you ever had that?
A: Yes, it is excellent!
B: Good, I'll take that then.
A: Would you like to split that and choose another appetizer for half price to share?
B: Good. In that case, we'll also take an order of onion rings. Thank you!
Ex. 2
A: What a wonderful dinner!
B: Thank you. I am glad that you are enjoying it.
A: Where did you get your fantastic recipes?
B: I grew up cooking. My mother shared her recipes with me. - A
A: I especially like the wonderful chicken dish. - B
B: That is a special coconut ginger chicken with rice dish.
A: Is that shrimp in the soup? - C
B: Yes, do you like it? I added a little extra lemon grass and some sea vegetables.
A: I am happy that the wine I brought for you works well with this meal.
B: Yes, thank you for bringing the wine. It really complements the meal. - D

15. Bibliography and resources
Besides the links displayed on the worksheets (listenings), these are the resources from which the
materials have been taken of:
• VINCE, Michael. First Certificate Language Practice (with key). MacMillan.
ISBN: 978-0-230-44406-5
• https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/cooking-britain-today
• Listenings:
◦ http://www.eslfast.com/robot/topics/restaurant/restaurant.htm