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FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Look around most big cities and you'll find a wide range of restaurants serving  foreign food and shops selling specialist products from abroad. Some of them have perhaps been set up by adventurous locals trying to introduce something fresh and new.

However, in most cases they were probably set up by foreigners who simply couldn't cope with the food of their host country. These places represent everything their owners miss about their home countries. Essentially they say 'I may love your people, your job opportunities, your climate, but let me show you what real food is!' In fact, maybe we can say that you have only fully integrated into your new country when you have accepted its food culture. So if you're living abroad, how are you finding its food culture? Are you used to it yet, or is full integration some way off?

IAN (American)

I moved to Taiwan five years ago because my wife is from Taipei, and Ilove it here. We eat out a lot and there are lots of good, cheap restaurants and street snacks. I'm vegetarian and there's a long tradition of veggie food here so it's great for me. Having said that, I'll never get used to 'stinky tofu' The name is very accurate - it smells like sweaty socks mixed with rotting fish! I tried it once. The sauce was actually OK, but that smell is just so off-putting!

When you go to restaurants here, generally speaking, you all just order lots of different dishes and then everyone shares, which is nice. The first time I went out with my wife's family, my father-in-law insisted on paying, which is pretty normal I suppose. What is still a bit strange for me, though, is when you go out with people of your own age and all the men always offer to pay for everything.There's sometimes almost a fight to get hold of the bill first! Generally speaking, back home we just split the bill between everyone.

One final thing I find a bit annoying here is how surprised everyone is that I can use chopsticks. I mean, just because you're foreign, it doesn't mean you can't learn how to use chopsticks!

ISABELLA (Spanish)

I've been studying in Glasgow for two years now, and it's a great city. When 1 first moved here, I spent six months living with a host family and they provided me with my first experience of the food. British food has got a bad reputation, but they served great stuff. They introduced me to some really interesting things like the Scottish national dish, haggis. It's a bit like a Spanish blood sausage called morcilla, but bigger.

There were a couple of things I just couldn't get used to, though. The first thing was that they always ate everything with bread and butter. It really made me miss olive oil! The other thing was that they used to have dinner at six o'clock every evening. I was starving by bedtime and it didn't give me time to do anything beforehand!

Another cultural difference is that lots of people here go for a drink after work. They tend not to eat while they're drinking, and only get something to eat when the pub finally closes: usually fish and chips, pizzas, that kind of thing. I've even seen deep-fried bars of chocolate! With food like that, it's no wonder there are so many foreign restaurants here!

Having said that, I think I was actually quite unadventurous before coming here, but the Scottish have introduced me to food from other countries - Indian, Thai, Mexican - all of which I love now.

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Wordwall - Create better lessons quicker

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Match up - Drag and drop each keyword next to its definition.

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All games (Yes or No): Cultural Food Facts - Players will answer with ✅ for true statements and ❌ for false ones.

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Food quiz for Professional Development. Find other quizzes for English and more on Quizizz for free!