Wednesday, February 05, 2014


This is the Introduction to a Video Podcast resource for my colleagues in Kostroma, Russia.

The text below is the text for the video link above.


[1]   An introduction.

In the wake of the recent horsemeat scandal in January 2013, British food has been under the spotlight for all of the wrong reasons.
‘A specialist food crime unit should be set up’, says the government!
‘Food fraud!  Not food safety! Says the BBC.’
At a time where obesity is at a record high in the UK, British food is yet again under scrutiny.
‘All of a sudden my mind goes back to being a 16 year old.’
‘ I remember my interview as clear as day.’
‘What is your favourite food to cook? Asked the Landlord of the Public House/ Restaurant where I was to work as a chef for almost 30 years.’
‘ Soup’, I replied. It was true, I loved making soup, but then again only at school, home was a different matter in those days.
There were 4 young boys, no father at home and a mother who was barely coping with it all.’
We lived off chips and patties, scraps and sandwiches. Maybe once a week we had a cooked meal, on a Sunday. Because I am the eldest I had to learn to cook to survive!
Back in the 1960s, when I was a kid, the U.K. was a much different place than it is today.
Nobody could afford to go to restaurants; foreign travel was for the rich.
As far as foreign food was concerned, people thought spaghetti came from a tree!
The basic diet in the North East where I was born and still live, was heavy, stodgy and tasteless.
 The diet was designed for workers in the heavy industry in the area, such as Iron and steel, shipbuilding and the Chemical Industry.
It consisted of Stews, dumplings, pies, potatoes and fried food and people had no idea of a balanced diet.
Yet, I don’t remember Obesity!
How times have changed!
As I progressed through my career in catering, I became interested in France and French cuisine.
The first time I visited France and introduced myself as a chef, the reply came back ‘ça existe?!’
Does that exist?!

TASKS [1] An Introduction.

a)      Explain, ‘In the wake of’.
b)      Explain, ‘ Under the spotlight’.
c)       Explain, ‘ Under scrutiny’.
d)      Discuss your diet as a child.
e)      What is your favourite food to cook?