The Taste of English - introduction

Każdy, kto kiedykolwiek był za granicą, wie doskonale, że sztuka kulinarna jest nieodzownym elementem kultury danego kraju lub regionu. Zapraszamy na wycieczkę do kuchni krajów anglojęzycznych — pełną smaków, zapachów, ciekawostek i najlepszych przepisów.

Fattening, disgusting, overcooked, bland, and genetically modified – this is what you might hear when you ask for an opinion on British and American food. Whenever I have a class on international cuisine, I ask my students to come up with as many dishes they associate with either country as possible and the result is invariablythe same: they tell me "fast food is American, and fish and chips is British". Those who had been to the UK on vacation probably stuck to "safe" food anyway (hamburgers and fries), while those who had visited the States were either treated to Polish food in Chicago or fast food on the way from California to New York in a rented car. Luckily, there are more and more celebrity chefs and presenters who do their best to convince us that real British and American food still exists. Amongst my favorite are Jamie Olivier, who tries to persuade Britain to adopt a healthier diet, and Anthony Bourdain as well as Andrew Zimmern (http://www.travelchannel.com/TV_Shows/Bizarre_Foods), the fearless consumers of bizarredishes.

One of the episodes of Bizarre Foods had Zimmern enjoy a taste of haggis, jelliedeels, and offal in the UK. If you ever wondered what offal means, the answer is – everything that you would not normally want to eat as this culinary term refers to the entrails and internal organs of an animal, such as liver, brain, or kidneys. Offal became popular in Britain during the Second World War as it was an invaluablesource of cheap yet still nutritiousmeat.

Today, with the revivalof traditional dishes, even the fanciest restaurants offer kidney pies, trotters, sweetbreads, and tongue sandwiches.

America, on the other hand, is a land of great variety when it comes to home cooking as well as eating out. New York itself boasts of more than 20,000 restaurants (according to the official statistics of the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene), each of them being a culinary world of its own.

When it comes to "traditional" food, it is best to describe a Thanksgiving table laden with turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, and pumpkin pie. The turkey, stuffed with bread-based stuffing, is roasted and served with cranberry sauce and has become a true centerpieceof every Thanksgiving table all across the United States. Other "turkey day" dishes include corn on the cob, green beans, a choice of salads, and regional varieties of desserts. My favorite part of the holiday was the day after when you could have skillet-baked cornbread with left-over turkey and a glass of mulledapple cider.

NBC (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8392312/) once pooled America's top ten foods; amongst them you will find pastrami, Smithfield's ham, po-boys, and Chicago hot-dogs. Embark on the journey to discover all the unique flavors of America, Britian, and other English-speaking countries and find out what these mysterious dishes really are.

Enjoy!

Glossary:

bland– without taste – mdły

cuisine– style of cooking – kuchnia (np. kuchnia amerykańska)

invariable– not changing – niezmienny; invariably — niezmiennie

stick to – to hold fast to – tu: pozostawać (np. przy swoim zdaniu)

celebrity chef – a popular chef, especially one who runs their own TV show

bizarre– very strange — dziwaczny

haggis— a traditionally Scottish dish that consists of the heart, liver, and lungs of a sheep or a calf minced with suet, onions, oatmeal, and seasonings and boiled in the stomach of the animal – tradycyjna szkocka potrawa: gotowany żołądek barani wypełniony podrobami i przyprawami.

jellied– in jelly  - w galarecie

eel— węgorz

entrails– internal parts – tu: wnętrzności

invaluable– priceless — bezcenny

nutritious– nourishing — bogaty w składniki odżywcze

revival– here: renewed attention in something — odrodzenie

trotters– pig's foot used for food – świńska racica (kulin.)

sweetbreads– pancreas of a young calf used for food – trzustka (kulin.)

gravy– thick meat sauce – sos pieczeniowy

centerpiece– 1. of most interest 2. occupying a central position – tu: najważniejszy element

corn on the cob – kukurudza (gotowana, w kolbach)

skillet-baked cornbread – chleb kukurydziany smażony na patelni

mulled– (drink) heated, sweetened, and flavored with spices – (o napoju) grzany (mulled wine)

apple cider – w Stanach Zjednoczonych to bezalkoholowy napój jabłkowy (w Wielkiej Brytanii "cider" to fermentowany napój alkoholowy, szczególnie popularny na południowym zachodzie, np. w hrabstwie Somerset)