— I don't know whether I'll have any. What have they got for seconds?
— Fried fish and mashed potatoes, beefsteak, bacon and eggs.
— And for dessert?
— A lot of things. We can have stewed fruit or cranberry jelly or strawberries and cream.
— Then, I'll take cabbage soup with sour cream and... Well, and what about some starter?
We've completely forgotten about it.
— As we are in a hurry I believe we can do without it. I never thought you were a big eater.
— Neither did I. But I wouldn't mind having something substantial now.
— So we'll take one cucumber salad and one tomato salad. That'll do for the time being. I
think I can manage a bit of fish-jelly as well and then chicken soup with noodles. That'll be fine.
ESSENTIAL VOCABULARY (II)36
Words
bacon n
napkin n
snack n
biscuit n
noodle soup n
sociable adj
bread-plate n
omelet (te) n
sour cream n
chips n
pastry n
starter n
cornflakes n
pepper-box (pot) n
(beef) steak n
cream n
porridge n
stewed fruit n
fruit juice n
poultry n
sugar-basin n
jelly n
pudding n
sweet n
jug n
roast beef n
table-cloth n
marmalade n
salt-cellar n
toast n
mustard-pot n
sauce-boat n
Word Combinations
to boil meat (potatoes, cabbage,
to fry bacon, eggs, potatoes,
eggs, water, milk, etc)
fish (cod, perch, pike, had
to stew fruit (vegetables, meat)
dock, trout, salmon)
crust of bread
to taste good (bad, deli-
to sit at table (having a meal)
cious, etc.)
(cf.: to sit at the table writing
to be done to a turn (over
a letter, etc.)
done, underdone)
to have (take) smth. for dinner
crisp toast
(for the first, second course,
to help oneself to smth.
or dessert)
to pass smth. to smb,
to butter one's bread (roll, etc.)
to dine in (out)
to have a snack (a bite of food)
it's to my liking
to have another helping of smth.
there's nothing like ice
to roast meat (mutton, pork,
cream (steak, etc.)
beef), fowl (chicken, duck,
there's nothing else coming
goose, turkey), potatoes
for a change
Study the meanings and use of these items of your Essential Vocabulary:
1. Food and Meal. Food is a general term for anything that people eat: bread, meat, fish,
vegetables, fruit, milk, tinned goods, sweets, etc.
е.g. Man cannot live without food. The doctor said that the patient needed good nourishing
food. Where do you buy your food?
Meal is a generalizing collective term for breakfast, lunch, tea, dinner and supper (cf. the
Russian arch, трапеза).
е.g. How many meals a day do you have? Supper is an evening meal. I don't want any hot
meal; I think I'll do with a snack.
36 Compare Essential Vocabulary given in this lesson with the first-year vocabulary on the same topic.