American food and their manner of eating

The speech of the Americans ~ The observance of holidays. Not only did the Europeans find the American manner of eating uncouth, they also found the manner of service to be less than they had expected. Fanny Kremble thought her food good enough, but not its presentation: "...the things were put on the table in a slovenly outlandish fashion, fish, soup, and meat all at once, and puddings and tarts and cheese all at once. No finger glasses, and a patched tablecloth--in short a want of style and neatness which is found in every hotel in England".

"The dinner at Niblo's--which may be considered the London Tavern of New York--was certainly more excellent in point of material than of cookery or arrangement...There was no attempt to serve this chaotic entertainment in courses, a fashion, indeed, but little prevalent in the United States".

Food in the United States varied considerably for the travelers. At times they were offered abundant fruits vegetables and meats and in other instances, it was only bread and cheese. The consensus among the travelers was the same however: American food was not prepared well. It was too greasy and rich, with "rivers of butter and fat." Margaret Hall remarked that "'God sends meat and the Devil send cooks' is a saying which applies with full force to this country. There is food in abundance, but it is dressed after a manner that is enough to appaul even a hungary stomach". Traveling through the boarding houses of Cincinnati, Gustorf simply remarks, "I have learned to live without good food and clean beds".

It must be kept in mind the situation of the tourists, lest we think that all 1830's Americans nearly stabbed themselves with a fork trying to shovel the food into their mouths. All of the travelers are eating their meals at a common table in a hotel or boarding house. The food was served family style with many people trying to fill their plates from a minimum of common dishes. No doubt, this setting does not equally reflect the average American family around the dinner table, a scene many of the travelers experienced through their letters of recommendation. Harriot Martineau see this relation clearly and disagrees with the other travelers.

"I need only testify that I do not think the Americans eat faster than other people, on the whole. The celerity at hotel tables is remarkable; but so it is in stage coach travellers in England, who are allowed ten minutes...for dining. In private houses, I was never aware of being hurried".

If the other travelers eventually saw that table manners differed in the private homes of Americans, as Martineau did, they never account for them. Their first impression of Americans eating at a common table in a New York hotel never quite diminishes and few of the writers realize that they have only observed one segment of "eating Americans."

Ex 2. Questions:

1. What did you know about the table manners before reading the text? 2. What table manners can you name after reading the text? 3. What does proper eating include? 4. How does the timing of eating distinguish up the class from the lower orders? 5. What ways do people use to know more about food? 6. What kinds of food do you know? Give as many nouns denoting food as you can. 7. Speak on the order in which foods are eaten. 8. Speak on the Russian and British table manners. What are they? 9. Is there difference between Russian and British table manners?

Vocabulary practice

Ex 3. Match the methods of cooking with their definitions:

a) roll out; b)pour; c)brown; d)roast; e)marbling; f)rub in; g)bake; h)line; i)beat; j)drain; k)mix; l)boil; m)drain; n)simmer; o)skim.

1.To cook in an oven. 2.To agitate an ingredient or combination of ingredients vigorously, using a spoon, whisk, electric mixer or fork. 3. To place a layer of pastry in a baking tin. 4. To stir food ingredients together until they are combined. 5. To transfer a liquid from one container to another. 6. To reduce the thickness of pastry or dough by applying equal pressure with a rolling pin. 7. A method of incorporating fat into flour by rubbing the fat with the fingertips until it combines with the flour to form a mixture with a breadcrumb-like consistency. 8. To cook food until it has a brown-coloured appearance, this is usually achieved by grilling, frying or baking. 9. Marbled meat is meat (especially red meat) that contains various amounts of intramuscular fat, giving it a marbled pattern. 10. To cook in the oven, usually with the addition of fat or oil. 11. To cook in a liquid at a temperature of 100°C. 12. To remove water from ingredients cooked in liquid or from raw ingredients that have been washed in water by placing them in a sieve or colander, eg drain the washed strawberries. 13. To keep a liquid just below boiling point, usually in a pan on the hob, eg simmer the sauce until it starts to thicken. 14. To remove a layer of scum or fat from the surface of a food, eg skim off the surface of a liquid to remove any excess fat. 15.Use a spoon, kitchen paper or a basting bulb to skim scum or fat.

Language Development

Ex 4. Look through the following recipes, choose one and present it to your group mates, be ready to answer the questions.

Russian Cuisine Recipes

Abbreviations: ea - Each, tb - Table spoon, sm - Small, c - Cup, ts - Tea spoon, lg - Large. Recipes coutesy of RusCuisine.Com

Russian Borstch recipe

Ingredients: 3/1/2c. canned tomatoes, 5or6 med.size potatoes cut in halves,1 large carrot cut fine, 1 small peeled beet, salt to taste, 1 small onion chopped, butter, 4c. shredded cabbage, 3/4c. sweet cream,1/2c. fresh green pepper chopped, 2tbs. fresh or dried dill

1 celery chopped fine, 2/1/2 qts. water, 1/1/2c. diced potatoes, black pepper.

Method: Put water to boil in large kettle.Add 1/2 c. canned tomatoes. When water is boiling drop in 5 or 6 med. size potatoes,chopped carrot and the beet. While this is cooking add 3 tbs butter in frying pan. When melted add chopped onion,cook tender but do not brown. Add 3c. canned tomatoes and let simmer with onion and butter until a thick sauce. Set to back of stove. Into a separate frying pan put 2-3 tbs. butter to melt. Add 2c. shredded cabbage and fry.Cook tender but do not brown.Shred

another 2c. to add later to the borstch. When potatoes are tender remove them to a bowl.Add 2tbs. butter, mash well,then add 3/4c. sweet cream and mix well and set

aside. Add 1/1/2c. diced potatoes to the stock and the remainder of the shredded cabbage. When diced potatoes are tender, add the onion-tomato- sauce, then add the cooked cabbage,and the potato-cream mixture. Add 3 tbs. butter to the borstch. Stir well. Add fresh chopped fine green pepper. Add 3tbs fresh or dried dill. The more fresh dill the better the flavor..Remove beet, one hour later after borstch is ready. Borstch is ready to serve. Serve hot. Serve with chopped garlic in your soup bowl and a fresh piece of bread and butter...

Vegetable Okroshka recipe

Ingredients: 1 l kvas, 300 g potatoes, 60 g carrot, 30 g turnip, 60 g red radish, 70 g onion springs, 160 g cucumbers, 90 g sour cream, 3 eggs, dill, salt, sugar to taste.

Method: Okroshka is a summer vegetable soup, but can also be made with sausages or meat. It is very refreshing in hot sunny days, served right from the fridge. Peel potatoes, boil them, cool down and cut into cubes. Cut carrot, turnip in cubes and stew in the pan with a little water until they are soft. Cut radish and cucumbers in cubes, chop onion springs. Put all vegetables in a bowl. Add salt and dress with kvas. Add sugar to your taste. Serve with chopped dill and sour cream.

Ukha recipe

Ingredients: 400 g small fishes, 300 g pike-perch, 300 g burbot, 6 ea small potatoes, 3 ea small onions, 1 ea parsley root, 1 1/2 l water, pepper, salt, parsley, dill, spices.

Method: Clean small fishes, put in gauze and tie up. Pour cold water over, bring to boil, take froth away, add 1 onion, parsley root, salt, bay leaf, and leave on a very low heat for an hour. Take the gauze with fishes out. Put chopped potatoes, green parsley and boil until potatoes are ready. 15 minutes before soup is ready, put fish slices in it. Ukha, decorated with greens, is served with Vodka.

Rassolnik recipe

Ingredients: 300 g beef (with or without bones), 4 ea potatoes, 50 g rice, 1 lg carrot, 2 sm onions, 2 ea pickeled cucumbers, 1 sm tomato, 20 g parsley, salt to taste, sour cream

Method: Prepare meat broth: Put beef into a large saucepan and cover with 3 l cold water. Bring to a boil; reduce heat. Remove the grease and froth from the broth surface with a spoon. Add one onion. Cook at low heat for 1 hour. Pan-fry vegetables: Melt one tablespoon margarine in a frying pan. Add chopped onions, carrots and parsley cut into sticks. Cover and saute at low heat for 15 minutes stirring occasionally. Add chopped tomato and saute for another 5 minutes. Simmer pickled cucumbers: Put chopped pickled cucumbers into a saucepan. Add meat broth covering cucumbers. Cover with lid and simmer at low heat for 15-20 minutes. Add rice to boiling meat broth. Bring to a boil. Add potatoes cut into bars and sauted vegetables. Boil for 10-15 minutes. Add simmered pickled cucumbers and boil for another 5 minutes. Salt can be added by taste. Served with sour cream.

Okroshka recipe

Ingredients: 3 ea hard boiled eggs, 4 ea boiled peeled potatoes, 2 ea cucumbers, 300 g boiled meat,3 tb chopped spring onions, 1 c sour cream, 1 l Kvas, salt to taste, sugar to taste, pepper.

Method: Chop all ingredients in 1/4 inch dices, add salt, sugar and spring onions. Stir very well. Put in the fridge for 1-2 hours. Add Kvas, sugar, salt on your taste, sour cream. Don't pour all Kvas and sour cream if you are not sure you will eat everything. " Okroshka" is kept very well in the fridge without Kvas during several days. " Okroshka" is served chilled down with greens.