Discuss the questions.

• Are you any good at cooking? If you are, how did you learn?
• What is the best dish you can cook?
• What kind of thing do you usually eat: in the morning? for lunch? in the evening?
• Are you a fussy eater, an unadventurous eater or an adventurous eater?
• Do you prefer to eat out at a restaurant or at home? Why?

Food Origins

You might consider yourself a foodie, but do you know as much about food origins as you think you do? During this quiz, you will take a quick trip around the globe for a sampling of the world’s finest and most unique foods. While you might have an easy time locating the origin country of some of our food items, others might be a little trickier.

• You will watch a section of a video clip. 

• Guess where each of these foods originated. What surprised you?

• Which foods had you never heard of before?

TRADITIONAL IRISH FOOD

Traditional Irish food is simple but hearty. Ireland is home to an abundance of locally grown produce and fresh fish and seafood caught from the surrounding waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

Bread and potatoes form an important part of the Irish diet. Bread usually accompanies the main meal while potatoes have been an important part of Irish cuisine since the 18th century. 

Ireland does not grow much fruit, but it does have a thriving meat and dairy industry. Its temperate climate allows pastures to grow grass for about ten months a year making it an ideal place to raise cattle, sheep, and pigs. Western Cork is a big farming area.

A Full Irish Breakfast

Also known as an Irish fry, a full Irish breakfast is a traditional cooked breakfast in Ireland that contains some or all of the following: bacon rashers, black pudding, white pudding, pork sausages, baked beans, mushrooms, grilled tomatoes, fried eggs, and leftover potatoes. It is usually served with tea, orange juice, toast, butter, and marmalade.

 The full Irish breakfast was created for farm workers to fill them up and get them ready for a full day’s work. It was comprised of locally sourced produce and ingredients, all of which were cooked together with butter in a frying pan.

Black and White Pudding

This is a type of sausage – not a dessert! It is given its name based on whether or not it has been made with blood. Black pudding – which actually has a purplish hue – is a type of blood sausage while white pudding is simply made without the blood. Black and white pudding are often served in a traditional Irish breakfast. Clonakilty is famous for its black pudding.

Boiled Bacon and Cabbage

This is one of the most popular favourites across the land – It is not as boring as it sounds.  

Salted pork shoulder is the base of the dish, boiled with onions, carrots and herbs. Cabbage is added  for the last ten minutes of boiling. It is finished off with a light and creamy parsley sauce.

Irish Stew

Meat and potatoes are likely the two foods that come to mind when thinking of Ireland. And these are to be found in one of the most popular dishes in Ireland –  a good old hearty Irish stew. 

Made with what most Irish would find in their pantry or growing in their garden all tossed into one single pot, Irish stew ( made with either beef or lamb) is a simple yet satisfying meal that’ll fill the belly and warm the soul. 

With a base of root vegetables and beef, it’s the perfect dish for a cold day. 

Vocabulary: Describing food

Exercise 1

Work in pairs. Label the picture with these cooking verbs:

steam, marinate, deep-fry, mash, slice, stir-fry, grill, boil, roast, grate

Here are some of the utensils you can see in the picture.

a)

(b)

• What would you use these for?

Methods of Cooking

Taste and Texture

Sometimes we are asked to describe the taste or the texture of food.Follow the link to see how many of the words you know.

https://quizlet.com/join/up4dCMJB5

Describing Dishes

Work in pairs. Here are the words from the Quizlet. Divide them up into words describing taste and words describing texture.

DEVELOPING CONVERSATIONS

When we have to explain different foods or dishes, we often use the patterns below:

It’s a kind of vegetable / side dish / spice

It’s a bit likean oyster, but smaller/ but not as big.

It’s made from plums or pears / a special kind of bean.

It’s cooked with tomatoes and onions and spices.

It’s often served with ….

It tastes a bit like…….

When it’s cooked, it looks a bit like …..

It has a ……………….flavour.

Work with a partner. Decide on a dish to describe.