The English

of
Food and Drink
2
Georgeta Raţă Oana Boldea

The English
of
Food and Drink

3
 Editura MIRTON
Timişoara - 2008
Referenţi ştiinţifici:

Profesor univ. dr. Ioan PETROMAN

U.S.A.M.V.B. Timişoara
Conf. univ. dr. Reghina DASCĂL
Universitatea de Vest Timişoara
Lector univ. dr. Codruţa GOŞA
Universitatea de Vest Timişoara

Tehnoredactare computerizată:
Georgeta Raţă
Oana Boldea

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 Table of Contents

Table of Contents 5
Foreword 7
Unit 1 - Menu 9
Unit 2 - Diet 15
Unit 3 - Meal 21
Unit 4 - Meals: Breakfast 27
Unit 5 - Meals: Elevenses 33
Unit 6 - Meals: Brunch 39
Unit 7 - Meals: Lunch (I) 45
Unit 8 - Meals: Lunch (II) 51
Unit 9 - Meals: Lunch (III) 57
Unit 10 - Meals: Afternoon Tea & High Tea 63
Unit 11 - Meals: Dinner (I) 69
Unit 12 - Meals: Dinner (II) 75
Unit 13 - Meals: Supper (I) 81
Unit 14 - Meals: Supper (II) 87
Unit 15 - Other Types of Meals: Airline Meal 93
Unit 16 - Other Types of Meals: Buffet 99
Unit 17 - Other Types of Meals: Coffee Break 105
Unit 18 - Other Types of Meals: Full Breakfast 111
Unit 19 - Other Types of Meals: Picnic 117
Unit 20 - Other Types of Meals: Potluck 123
Unit 21 - Other Types of Meals: TV Dinner 129
Unit 22 - Leftovers 135
Unit 23 - British Table Manners (I) 141
Unit 24 - British Table Manners (II) 147
Bibliography 153
Annexes 155

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6
 Foreword

This practical course of English is intended for advanced

students whose major is ‘Hotel & Restaurant Management’. It
contains the most important elements necessary to the acquisition of
English in the field of food and drink.
The course contains 24 themes adapted to the study of the
most important aspects of food and drink: menu, diet, types of meals
(breakfast, elevenses, brunch, lunch, afternoon tea & high tea, dinner,
supper, airline meal, buffet, coffee break, full breakfast, picnic,
potluck, and TV dinner), leftovers, and British table manners. The
themes are presented mainly with the help of conventional texts
meant to improve the students’ knowledge of English.
Each lesson contains lexical and grammatical exercises
meant to facilitate the consolidation of proper language skills (oral
comprehension, speaking, reading, and writing) and the acquisition of
a rich vocabulary necessary for both oral communication and
understanding reference literature in the English of food and drink.

The authors

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8
 Unit 1
Menu

In a restaurant, a menu is a printed brochure or public display

that shows the list of options for a diner to select. A menu may be à la
carte or table d’hôte. “Menu” can also be used in a more general
sense, as synonymous with diet, the selection of foods available
generally to a particular location or culture.
The word menu, like much of the terminology of cuisine, is
French in origin. It ultimately derives from Latin minutus, something
made small; in French it came to be applied to a detailed list or
résumé of any kind. The original menus that offered consumers
choices were prepared on a small chalkboard, in French a carte; so
foods chosen from a bill of fare are described as à la carte,
“according to the board.” Along with the development of the earliest
restaurants catering largely to the middle merchant class, the menu
also found its origins in China during the Song Dynasty (960–1279).
The original restaurants had no menus in the modern sense; these
table d’hôte establishments served dishes that were chosen by the
chef or the proprietors, and those who arrived ate what the house
was serving that day, as in contemporary banquets. The
contemporary menu first appeared in the second half of the 18th
century. Here, instead of eating what was being served from a
common table, restaurants allowed diners to choose from a list of
unseen dishes, which were produced to order by the customer’s
selection. A table d’hôte establishment charged its customers a fixed
price; the menu allowed customers to spend as much or as little
money as they chose.
As a form of advertising, the prose found on printed menus is
famous for the degree of its puffery. They frequently emphasize the
processes used to prepare foods, call attention to exotic ingredients,
and add French or other foreign language expressions to make the
dishes appear sophisticated and exotic. Part of the function of menu

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prose is to impress customers with the notion that the dishes served
at the restaurant require such skill, equipment, and exotic ingredients
that the diners could not prepare similar foods at home.
The Romanian meniu comes from the French menu. (After
Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopaedia)
 Vocabulary

à la carte = à la carte, la comandă

according to the board = conform tăbliţei
add (v.) = a adăuga
advertising = publicitate, reclamă
allow (v.) = a permite
along with = împreună cu
as much / little as = la fel de mult / puţin ca (şi)
be chosen (v.) = a fi ales
bill of fare = listă de bucate, meniu
call attention to (v.) = a atrage atenţia asupra
catering = deservire, servire
chalkboard = tablă (de scris cu creta)
charge (v.) = a cere, a încărca la socoteală, a pune pe nota de plată
chef = bucătar şef, şef bucătar
choice = alegere
cuisine = artă culinară, fel de alimentaţie
customer = client(ă)
degree = grad
diner = persoană care ia masa
dish = fel de mâncare, veselă
emphasize (v.) = a accentua, a pune acceptul pe
establishment = stabiliment
instead of = în loc de
largely = în bună măsură
make appear (v.) = a face să pară
middle merchant class = clasa de mijloc a negustorilor
of any kind = de orice fel
printed = tipărit(ă)
produced to order = pregătit(ă) / preparat(ă) la comandă
proprietor = proprietar(ă)
public display = expunere în public
puffery = pricepere de a face anunţuri înşelătoare

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 skill = meşteşug, pricepere
something made small = ceva făcut (să pară) mic
spend (v.) = a cheltui
table d’hôte = meniu fix
ultimately = în cele din urmă, în ultimă instanţă
 Exercises

1. Answer the following.

- What is a menu?
- How many types of menu are there?
- What is menu synonymous of?
- Where does the word menu come from?
- How were the original menus offering consumers choices
prepared?
- What did the original restaurants serve?
- When did the contemporary menu first appear?
- What did restaurants of the 18th century allow diners?
- What did the menu allow customers to do?
- What do you understand by puffery?
- What do printed menus emphasise?
- What do they call attention to?
- What do they add and why?

2. Match the following specific types of menu with their definitions.

a. a canned or pre-packaged meal, easily

1. airline meal prepared and eaten, transported by military
troops on the battlefield
b. a meal served to passengers onboard a
2. combat ration
commercial airliner
3. fast food menu c. airline meal
4. field ration d. combat ration
5. garrison ration e. food served to military personnel
f. menu sold in a restaurant or store with low
quality preparation and served to the
6. hospital menu
customer in a packaged form for take-away /
take-out

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 7. in-flight meal g. the menu of an institution for health care
h. the menu of wheeled vehicles specially
8. military ration
designed to run along railways or railroads
i. the quantity and type of food served to a
9. railroad menu
soldier when they are stationed somewhere
3. Group the following words related to serving food, as in the model.

banquet hall – best piece – buffet – butler – common dish –

delicacy – dining room – dish up – ladle – last piece – piece –
portion – pot – restaurant – salad bowl – servant – serve – serving
dish – serving line – serving platter – serving spoon – share – slice
– soup bowl – soup line – tureen – waiter – waitress

Words referring to
utensils
the best where who
pieces of serving used to
pieces of food is serves
food food serve
food served food
food
portion

4. Fill in with the proper nouns from below, and then put the text into
Romanian.

courses – cutlery – dishes – eating-house – guests – meal – menu

– prices – restaurant – table

Table d’hôte is a French phrase which literally means “host’s … “. It is

used in … terminology to indicate a menu where multi-course meals
with limited choices are charged at a fixed price. Such a … may also
be called prix fixe (“fixed price”). Because the menu is set, the … on
the table may also already be set for all of the courses, with the first
course cutlery on the outside, working in towards the plate as the …
progress. The phrase table d’hôte originally meant literally a particular
table, “a common table for guests at a hotel or … “. The meaning
transferred thence to “a public … served (at a common table) at a
stated hour and at a fixed price”. Eventually, the elements required for
a meal where … eat together, that is, at the same table at the same
time, fell away so that the phrase persisted where only the fixed price
element remained. Forms of the phrase (such as ‘Table de l’hoste’ in

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1617) are used by writers in English (who indicate that they are
borrowing it from French) from the early 17th century. In Japan a
similar practice is referred to as Teishoku. This has a fixed menu and
often comes with side … such as pickles and miso soup. Typical …
can range from 800 Yen to 1500 Yen.
5. Imagine two possible orders following the distinction below.

À la carte is a French expression meaning “from the menu”, and it is

used in restaurant terminology in one of two ways:
- It may refer to a menu of items priced and ordered separately
rather than selected from a list of preset multi-course meals at
fixed prices.
- It may designate the option to order a main course item along
with the choice of an accompanied side dish included with the
dish, at no extra charge.

6. Correct the following text. There is one mistake in each line.

Food cost refer to the menu price of a certain dish in comparison to

the cost of the food used to prepared that same dish. In other words,
how much you pays for food will determine how much you need to
charge for it. Generally, food cost shoulds be around 30-35%. This
mean that if you pay $1.00 for something, you need to charge
minimum of $3.34. It may seems like you are charging a lot more than
necessary, but kept in mind that you aren’t just paying for the food
itself. You are paying someone to prepares the food, serve the food,
and cleans up after the food. Everything in your restaurant, from
payroll to the electric bill, need to be covered by the food you serve.

7. Unscramble the underlined words and then turn the text into
Romanian.

A British restaurant that serves bacon and egg ice cream best been
the has voted place in the world to eat. The Fat Duck restaurant, near
London, was at the top of Restaurant magazine’s list of The World’s
50 Best Restaurants. The owner and head chef Heston Blumenthal
opened his restaurant ten years ago. He has a reputation developed
quickly for experimental and unique dishes. His menu includes
leather, oak and tobacco chocolates, sardine on sorbet, and snail

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porridge. He himself to cook taught how and is now famous for this
new style of cooking, which is called “molecular gastronomy”. It mixes
chemistry, physics, food and flavour combinations to unusual taste
make. Britain, the home of fish and chips, is usually famous for
tasteless and boring food. However, changing things are it seems.
8. Provide the plural form for the nouns in the singular in the text
below and vice-versa.

A good restaurant menu design is the key to any restaurant’s

marketing plan. It expresses your eatery’s personality, promotes
profitability, and keeps your brand fresh in your customer’s mind.
Your menu is your primary means of representation. It says exactly
who you are. It also must create enough of an impression so that it
stays with your client long after the waiter or waitress walks off with it.
Also, it must convey your restaurant’s brand in a manner that makes
diners excited to be there, want to come back and recommend it to
family and friends. As with most creative endeavours, proper results
cannot be achieved without sufficient research. In the case of
designing the right menu, that means collecting data from various
sources. Examine your own numbers first, such as your restaurant’s
prospective financial and marketing numbers and its sales mix. Then
look at your competitors: examine their web sites, menus and
marketing efforts and see where they went right and how you could
compete successfully with those traits.

 Let’s Laugh!

Customer: Waiter, do you serve crabs?

Waiter: Sit down, sir. We serve anybody.

Customer: Waiter, there’s a fly in my soup!

Waiter: I’m not surprised, sir, our chef used to be a tailor.

Customer: Waiter, there’s a hand in my soup!

Waiter: That’s not your soup, sir, it’s the finger bowl.

Customer: Waiter, there’s a strange film on my soup!

Waiter: Well, what do you expect for one dollar, Star Wars?

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Customer: Waiter, waiter, you’ve given me a wet soup plate!
Waiter: That’s your soup, sir.

Customer: Waiter, what’s this fly doing in my ice-cream?

Waiter: Looks like he’s learning to ski.

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