Fish, Rice or Turkey?

The Many Flavours of Christmas

Roast turkey and all the Rice pudding Gingerbread
trimmings Risgrynspudding: A favourite This is perhaps the most well-known
Ask any Englishman what he is Swedish Christmas dessert is this filling of all Christmas foods. Most countries
having for his Christmas dinner and the rice pudding, made with milk, rice, have some kind of gingerbread. As we
answer will be the same: roast turkey cinnamon - and an almond*. By say in Britain, Bon Appétit!
and all the trimmings*. But, of course, tradition, whoever gets the almond will
every country has its own traditional food get married in the next year. GLOSSARY
at Christmas... turkey and all the trimmings -
Beetroot soup turkey with roast potatoes, vegetables
Christmas logs Clear beetroot soup - Barszcz - is the
and gravy (sauce)
A Buche de Noël: not a log* to go on most traditional Christmas dish in
a log - a thick piece of wood from a
the fire, but a kind of cake’ made with Poland. This tasty red soup is often
tree
eggs, almonds and cream and popular in served with ‘ears’ - small ravioli stuffed*
a dish - food cooked or prepared in a
France at Christmas. The cake is rolled with mushrooms or cabbage.
particular way as a meal
and covered in chocolate so it looks like
a log - but a very sweet one!
Shortbread almonds - a sweet flat nut with a
These very simple but delicious brown skin, used to make marzipan
Fish soup Scottish biscuits are made from only served with - give the food to
somebody with something else (a
Halászlé is a spicy traditional three ingredients*: flour, brown sugar
drink, something else to eat)
Christmas Eve dish* in Hungary. Fish and butter. Easy to make and very tasty.
stuffed - filled with a mixture of bread
(usually carp), potatoes, onions, and
tomato, plus green peppers (it is
Three Kings’ Cake or rice, onion etc before cooking
This is a very rich German Christmas ingredients - one of the foods that
Hungary, after all) are the ingredients. you use to make a particular food or
cake made with flour, sugar, butter, eggs
The soup is often served with* dish
and a lot of dried fruit, especially raisins*
homemade noodles. raisins - dried grapes

Milad Majid! Sretan Bozic!

Merry Christmas and a 350,000 ...people in Gloucestershire without water
Feliz Navidad! Nollaig Shona Dhuit!
5,000,000 ...litres of bottled water handed out each day
Happy Newunder
England Year!water: Idah Saidan
1947 Wa SanahJadidah! Sung
...the last time there wasTan Chuk
similar Ha! in England
flooding
Melkin Yelidet
metresBeaal! Kung His Hsin Nien bing Chu Shen
The
But floods
what in numbers
languages are 1.82 ...the height of the flood waters in some areas
Tan! affected by the rain
32 ...the number of counties
these wishes in? 400mm s prazdnikom
Pozdrevlyayu ...the Rozhdestva
estimated amount of rainGodom!
is Novim from May to July in England.
© Pearson Education Polska 2007 Jutdlime pivdluarit ukiortame pivdluaritlo!
PHOTOCOPIABLE
1
 activities sheet

Starting off
What is your favourite food? Do you eat it often?
Can you remember the names of meals in English? Try to solve the anagrams - the first one is done for you

© Pearson Education Polska 2007 PHOTOCOPIABLE

2
1. N R N D I E ___________________
4. E P U P S R ___________________
2. C B H U R N ___________________
5. E A T ___________________
3. C H U L N ___________________
6. S A R A B E T K F ___________________
Now try to put them in order. What time is each one?

Before you read

You’re going to read about Christmas food in different countries. Take a look at the examples below. Can you
guess which country they come from?
Christmas Logs Rice Pudding Shortbread Biscuits
Fish Soup Beetroot Soup Three Kings’ Cake
First reading
Read the text quickly and check your guesses.

Second reading
Look at the sentences below. True or false?

1. Gingerbread is a German speciality.

2. Turkey is the traditional English Christmas supper.
3. Three Kings’ Cake is made with fresh fruit.
4. A Buche de Noël is a dark brown colour.
5. Anyone can make shortbread.
6. Risgrynspudding has only two ingredients.

Read the text again and check your answers. Careful - the questions are not in the same order as the information in the
text.
 Vocabulary 1
1. MEAT a. eggs, cheese, milk...

2. DIARY FOODS b. oregano, basil, paprika...

3. FRUIT c. beef, sausages, chicken...

4. VEGETABLES d. potatoes, carrots, cabbage...

5. SPICES e. apples, oranges, pears...

Vocabulary 2
Work in teams of three or four. You have four minutes - add as many words as you can to each list.

Vocabulary 3
There are some adjectives in the text used to describe the dishes (underlined). Match them to the definitions.
containing or having a taste like sugar containing a lot of butter, cream, or eggs, which make you
feel full very quickly

having a good taste not difficult or complicated to do or understand

known by a lot of people having a pleasantly strong taste, and gives you a pleasant
burning feeling in your mouth

it makes your stomach feel full very pleasant to taste or smell

(all definitions from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English)

Speaking
What are your favourite foods for each meal? Plan your perfect day’s menu:
“For breakfast I would like… For lunch… For dinner… For supper...
A crossword puzzle
PUZZLE A

You have half of a crossword puzzle. Work in a group to finish the clues for the words you have. The first one has been done for you:
MAKE EASIER - YOU CAN USE THESE
CLUES DOWN
1. A tasty dessert. It can be in many colours and flavours. It is made with gelatine.
2. This can be _____________, yellow, _____________or green. It is spicy and popular in _____________and Mexico.
4. This is meat from a _____________.
5. A _____________ very popular in Poland and _____________.
7. This can be white or _____________. You need it to make _____________.
8. This is _____________ and is very popular in _____________. Tortoises love this!
10. This is a _____________ fruit (most people think it is a vegetable, though) and is very popular in _____________.
11. There are many different kinds of this: chocolate, toffee and _____________ (ketchup) for example.

Project work
Prepare a poster introducing your country’s Christmas traditions to a visitor. Think about the following:
food music decorations
drink places to go Christmas symbols
Think about the design of your poster before you create it. When it is finished, present the poster to the class.
A crossword puzzle
PUZZLE B

You have half of a crossword puzzle. Work in a group to finish the clues for the words you have. The first one has been done for you:

CLUES ACROSS
3. Very sweet. We get it from bees.
6. This can make you _____________!
7. A very _____________ food from _____________.
9. A small red _____________, very _____________ with cream or ice-cream.
12. Meat from a _____________. Very good in scrambled eggs
13. This comes from _____________ and there are many kinds - _____________ is the most popular.
14. _____________ usually needs this. It’s very important in _____________ and biscuits as well.
15. If you don’t like _____________ then you can have this. It is very popular in _____________ and _____________.

Project work
Prepare a poster introducing your country’s Christmas traditions to a visitor. Think about the following:
food music decorations
drink places to go Christmas symbols
Think about the design of your poster before you create it. When it is finished, present the poster to the class.