Unit 3 Food, Cooking and Chinese Cuisine

Objectives: 1. To introduce the language of cooking.

2. To talk about menus and restaurants.

3A How do you cook that?

Teaching steps:

I. Warm-up questions.

1. Do you know some proverbs about food and cooking?

For Reference:

What is food to one man may be fierce poison to others. /One man’s

meat is another man’s poison. 兴趣爱好因人而异。

He was a bold man who first swallowed an oyster.

One cannot think well, love well, sleep well if one has not dined well.

—Virginia Wolf.

Fashion is in Europe, living is in America, but eating is in China.

Food is our common ground, a universal experience.

Part of the secret of success in life is to eat what you want and let the

food fight it out inside. –Mark Twain.

There is no sincerer love than the love of food.

One can say everything best over a meal.

We may live without friends, we may live without books. But civilized

men cannot live without cooks.

1
Life is like an onion. You peel it off one layer at a time, and

sometimes you weep.

Better wait on the cook than on the doctor. 食补胜过药补.

Eating is top priority. Or: Bread is the staff of life. 民以食为天。

When wine is in truth is out. 酒后吐真言。

Since food is so important in our life, people draw many lessons

from food and cooking, some of them are very instructive:

You cannot unscramble an egg. 蛋炒了，不能还原。有失才有得。

Too many cooks can spoil the soup. 人多反倒误事。

Teach one’s grandmother to suck eggs.

Never offer to teach fish to swim. 不要班门弄斧。

2. Do you know some idioms related to food? Here are some:

chicken-and-egg 鸡与蛋孰先难定的，因果、先后次序难定的

count one’s chickens before they are hatched 指望的过早

have your cake and eat it too 两者兼得

sell/go like hot cakes 畅销

put all your eggs in one basket 孤注一掷

2
 out of the frying pan into the fire 刚出狼窝又如虎穴

bread and butter 生计

packed in like sardines 极度拥挤

The fat is in the fire. 现在要出麻烦了

cry over spilt milk 作无益的后悔

have one’s finger in every pie 插手一切事情

like a fish out of water 如鱼离水

a peach of (a girl, a book) 美好的人物或事物

everything from soup to nuts 从汤到干果一应俱全

3. What’s your favorite main dish/ vegetable/ beverage/ dessert/

snack/ ethnic food?

Ten most-liked foods among US college students: ice cream, rolls,

beef steak, cookies, milk, orange juice, roast turkey, roast beef, apple

pie, fried chicken,

4. What do you like to cook?

5. What’s your specialty?

6. What's your favorite restaurant? What is important for a restaurant:

food, price, service or atmosphere?

7. What’s your least favorite main dish/ vegetable/ beverage/ dessert/

snack/ ethnic food?

Ten least-liked foods among US college students: chicken liver,

turnips 萝 卜 , liver, tried eggplant, cabbage, pickled beans, baked

3
 squash 南瓜 , stewed tomatoes, carrot salad, stewed rhubarb 大黄叶

梗,

II. Word-builder.

1. vegetables: cabbage, cauliflower, carrot, lettuce, mushroom, bean

sprouts, leeks, scallions, spinach, eggplant, celery 芹菜， tomato,

potato, onion, pepper, squash, bamboo shoots,

2. seafood: squid, tuna, oysters, shrimp, anchovies 凤 尾 鱼 , clams,

freshwater fish, jellyfish 海蜇, eel, crab, lobster,

3. meat: beef, lamb, pork, chicken, mutton, game 野味 , roast duck,

turkey, liver, sausage, minced meat 肉末， meat filling 肉馅, ham,

steak, sliced meat 肉片，

4. seasonings: curry, cinnamon, garlic, ginger, nutmeg 肉豆蔻, 肉豆

蔻种子中的核仁, pepper, soy sauce, mustard,

5. snacks: pop corn, chocolate, candy, cookies, biscuit, cracker,

sweet, ice cream, chips, French fries,

6. staple food: cooked rice, steamed bread, noodles, porridge,

dumpling, hamburger, bread, toast, rolls 小 圆 面 包 ， 面 包 卷 ，

bun 小而圆的甜面包或点心， loaf 大面包， cereal, oatmeal,

cake, hot dog, pie, pizza, sandwich,

7. ways of preparing food: peel, slice, stir, beat, whip 把…打起泡

沫：将（奶油或鸡蛋）搅成泡沫状 , marinate (做色拉时将肉鱼

等在调味汁中)浸泡, blend, chop, mix, pour, spread 覆盖一层,

4
 8. ways of cooking: fry, deep-fry, broil, grill, bake, steam, melt,

roast, boil, barbecue, panfry 用炸锅炸, poach 在煮沸的液体中烹

调，或在热水中煮, stew, pickle, stir, simmer 文火慢炖，

9. equipment: frying pan, skillet 煮锅, 长柄浅锅, roasting pan, pot,

oven, burner, steamer, cutting board, food processor, grill, knife,

rice cooker, spoon, stove, saucepan 长柄而有盖子的深锅 , 炖锅 ,

toaster 烘烤器, wok 锅，炒菜锅,

10. eating places: restaurant, cafeteria, buffet, café and snack bar,

canteen, fast food restaurant, drive-in (a restaurant where one is

served without leaving one’s car), take-away/take-out (a

restaurant where food is bought for eating elsewhere)

III. Role play: Suppose you are the distinguished guest for “You are

chef” program tonight. Explain how to prepare the most popular dish

in your family.

3B Going out to eat

Teaching steps:

I. Do Activity 1 in the textbook.

II. Do Activity 2 in the textbook.

Possible answers: 1. A table for two? / Good evening. Do you have a

reservation? / Welcome! Nice to see you again.

2. Are you ready to order?/ Would you like to hear about today’s special?

3. What they’re having looks good! /Ooh, that looks good!/ That must be

5
today’s special. / I am going to get that.

4. Can you explain what this is, please?/ Does this dish come with…./ I

will have the steak, please.

5. Is everything all right? / Can I get you anything else? / How is

everything?

6. Excuse me, I don’t think this is correct. / I think there’s a mistake on

the check.

III．Role-play the situation.

Student A: You are a customer in a coffee shop.

This is what you want to order for lunch:

Tomato and cucumber salad, garlic bread,

Spaghetti and meatballs, iced tea with lemon

Student B: You are the waiter or waitress. Take your customer’s order.

III. Free discussion.

1. What kind of restaurants do you like? What kinds don’t you like?

2. How often do you go out to eat? Who do you usually go with?

3. What’s the best meal you’ve ever had in a restaurant?

4. What foods do you think of as being “Chinese”?

5. What foods do you think you would miss most when you are abroad?

/What foods bring back your best memories?

6. Do you remember what you and your family ate when you were in the

primary school, middle school and at college? How about now? Are

6
 there any great changes?

7. What do you think are the factors which contribute to the popularity of

Chinese food?

8. Are there any disadvantages of Chinese cooking?

9. Many people are vegetarians. Can you understand them? What do you

think the reasons are?

10. Have you found any similarities in Chinese and American eating

habits? And any differences?

IV. Homework.

As a Chinese, how would you introduce Chinese cuisine to foreign

people? Prepare a 2-minute’s speech on the following topic:

On Chinese Cuisine

For reference
Chinese cuisine has a long history, and is one of the Chinese cultural treasures. It is
famous all over the world. Chinese cookery has developed and matured over the
centuries, forming a rich cultural content. It is characterized by fine selection of
ingredients, precise processing, particular care to the amount of fire, and substantial
nourishment. Local flavors and snacks, and special dishes have formed according to
regions, local products, climate, historical factors, and eating habits.
The development and diversity of the delights of Chinese cuisine are also
representative of China's long history. With each dynasty new recipes were created
until the art of food preparation reach its peak during the Qing Dynasty (1644 - 1911).
The dinner called Man Han Quan Xi that incorporates all the very best of Man and
Han Cuisine is held in high esteem involving as it does countless dishes, each with its
own distinctive flavor and appeal. This veritable banquet in its preparation and
presentation typifies all of the culture and culinary arts that have been perfected over
centuries and is a comprehensive amalgam of taste, instruments, and manners.
It is no exaggeration to say that Chinese cuisine is dainty, in its items, esthetics,
atmosphere, and effects.
Eight Cuisines: The diversity of geography, climate, costumes and products have
led to the evolution of what are called the 'Four Flavors' and 'Eight Cuisines' but as

7
catering is a living art sub-classifications continue to increase. For example in each
field of cuisine, adept chefs can utilize something as simple as a melon to create
dozens of dishes with dozens of flavors. Meanwhile, local specialties and snacks with
their origins steeped in the mists of time are also an important progeny and indicate a
profound philosophy and taste. As well as the cuisine of the majority Han people, the
many minorities have their own fantastic traditions and appeal.
Cuisine in China is a harmonious integration of color, redolence, taste, shape and
the fineness of the instruments. For the cooking process, chefs pick choice and
various ingredients and seasonings while employing unparalleled complicated skills
handed down from their fathers, ever aspiring to their ideal of perfection for all the
senses. Among the many cooking methods they use are boiling, stewing, braising,
frying, steaming, crisping, baking, and simmering and so on. When they finish their
masterpieces they are arranged on a variety of plates and dishes so that they are a real
pleasure to view, to smell and ultimately to savor. The facility to partake of these
delights is also distinctive - chopsticks! To see even the smallest child eat with such
dexterity is quite amazing for many foreigners. The use of two simple sticks in this
way is an art in itself and chopsticks have determined the way in which Chinese food
is presented at table.
Cuisine can rise to many different occasions from luxury court feasts, fetes, holy
sacrificial rites, joyous wedding ceremonies to simple daily meals and snacks. The art
of a good cook is to provide a wholesome and satisfying dish to suit the occasion.
Chinese Medicinal Cuisine: Good cuisine has the effect of prolonging life,
sustaining the constitution and promoting energy and in this respect bears some
relationship to Chinese medicine.
Food Culture: Just as the ingredients of each dish and presentation is important,
table manners and courtesy among diners are very much part of the Chinese cultural
tradition. Only by combining excellent food with good manners can the high art of
Chinese cuisine be truly enjoyed to the full.
Minority Cuisine: It also has their own flavor and appeal in our ethnic groups,
which is quite distinctive.