ESL WORKSHEET - Food and British Culture (II)

LESSON PLAN FOR ENGLISH TEACHERS

FISH AND CHIPS

LinguaHouse

Apr. 5, 2021

Level: Intermediate (B1-B2)
Type of English: General English
Tags: Food and Drink; British Culture; Ordering and Paying for Food and Drinks; Passive Voice; Situation Based; Vocabulary Lesson
Publication date: 04/05/2021

Students look at iconic images of the British seaside and then listen to a podcast about fish and chips. The lesson includes vocabulary development and briefly looks at how the passive is used to talk about food and cooking. There is a choice of two activities to conclude the lesson: a menu activity and a discussion. The lesson also includes an optional extension about common binomial (2 part) expressions (fish and chips, salt and pepper, etc). (by Stephanie Hirschman)

• CLICK HERE to download the student’s worksheet in American English.
• CLICK HERE to download the teacher’s lesson plan in American English.
• CLICK HERE to download/listen to the audio in American English.
• CLICK HERE to download the student’s worksheet in British English.
• CLICK HERE to download the teacher’s lesson plan in British English.
• CLICK HERE to download/listen to the audio in British English.

AUDIO TRANSCRIPT

Presenter: Hi listeners! Welcome to another edition of the Life in Britain podcast. We’re in Brighton today and we’re having fish and chips on the beach! What could be more British? I’m talking to food historian Charlotte Mullet about this iconic British food. Charlotte, tell us, first of all, what exactly is fish and chips?
Charlotte: Of course. Fish and chips is a meal that consists of white fish that is fried in batter and accompanied by fried potato pieces. The most popular types of fish are cod and haddock.
Presenter: So, are chips the same as fries?
Charlotte: Not really. Fries are often thinner than chips. And while you normally have ketchup with your fries, chips are usually served with salt and vinegar. You eat the chips with a special plastic or wooden chip fork that comes with your meal. Or you use your hands!
Presenter: These chips are delicious! Tell me about this green stuff we got with our meal.
Charlotte: You mean mushy peas! A portion of mushy peas is often included with fish and chips. Mushy peas are a beautiful green color, so they look like a fresh vegetable, but they’re made with a kind of dried pea, so it’s more like having beans with your meal.
Presenter: I also have a pickled onion here.
Charlotte: Yes, the sharp taste of pickled onion goes really well with the fried fish and chips. Some people also like a pickled egg with their meal!
Presenter: What’s the history of fish and chips?
Charlotte: We think that it developed from the cooking of Jewish immigrants, who came to England from Spain and Portugal in the 16th century. They brought a tradition of frying fish with them. We’re not sure exactly how the fried fish came together with the chips, but we know that in the 1860s people were selling fish and chips to-go in London and in the north of England. These were the first “chippies”.
Presenter: And who was buying fish and chips?
Charlotte: It was a really popular food for working people. In fact, it became so popular that the government made sure it was available during wartime. This really kept people’s spirits up during those difficult years.
Presenter: And fish and chips is still a great comfort food, and that’s been important during the pandemic. Now, tell me, is it true that fish and chips used to be served in old newspapers?
Charlotte: That’s right. Recycling isn’t a new idea! This continued until the 1980s, but it stopped because people were worried about safety. However, chippies are now part of another type of recycling. Waste vegetable oil from frying is now being used to make biodiesel, a fuel for cars and buses.
Presenter: Interesting. How do you see fish and chips in the future?
Charlotte: Well, fish and chips will be as popular as ever, but some things will have to change. Cod and haddock are becoming more difficult to catch and more expensive. The British need to learn to appreciate other types of fish. And chippies use too much plastic to wrap and serve fish and chips. We need to find other types of packaging. Maybe we should go back to using newspapers!
Presenter: Maybe we should! Thanks so much, Charlotte. I really learned a lot about fish and chips.

Adapted from: https://www.linguahouse.com/esl-lesson-plans/general-english/fish-and-chips. Accessed on October 14, 2024. © 2008–2024 LinguaHouse.com. All rights reserved.