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?