Chinese Food

Perhaps the two most important things that China has given to civilization are its language and its cuisine. It is not an exaggeration to say that Chinese cuisine is the most refined and sophisticated in the world, with a very large number of cooking techniques and combinations of ingredients, sauces (salsas) and spices (especias). There is probably a Chinese restaurant in every city in the world and what they all have in common are their extensive menus. The Chinese love variety and are famous for eating anything that moves. It is difficult to simplify this complex cuisine in a post, but we will try to explain the essence of Chinese food.

 

Hot Wok

 

The wok is a symbol of Chinese cuisine and an ancient and very versatile cooking implement (utensilio).

The essence of Chinese cooking is making food tender (tierna) quickly, retaining all its flavours (sabores)

and nutrients. The wok is ideal for this purpose and is used for stir-frying (sofreír)any type of food. It is also used for stewing, (guisar) steaming (cocinar al vapor) and boiling. An incredible sight (espectáculo) in China is to see chefs cooking with several extremely hot woks. The best thing to do is to try every dish and guess what is in it! 

 

 

 

       

Hot with Hot

The ritual of tea drinking is another part of Chinese life, and is associated with relaxation and purifying the spirit.With a meal, it is common to drink tea, not water, usually from small cups. This is because it is important not to mix (mezclar) hot and cold elements together: hot food needs a hot drink to accompany it. Now the West has discovered that green tea helps prevent cancer and ageing (envejecimiento) and doctors are recommending it. This is another example of ancient Chinese customs incorporated into modern life.

 

Sweet and Sour (agridulce)

 

The Chinese are not famous for their desserts, which are only served at banquets. This does not mean that they do not like sweet things. Instead of (en vez de) having the sweet flavours separately at the end of the meal, they prefer to have them in their main dishes. Many recipes contain a little sugar, and sweet soups are always served at banquets. Sweet and sour sauces, which combine very well with pork, vegetables and fish, are also popular

A taste of Ireland

The Irish are a hospitable nation who love socializing and good food and drink form part of this. They believe in simple, hearty (copiosa) cuisine with lots of meat, potatoes and root vegetables. (tubérculos) Visitors will remember the big breakfasts and tea and cakes in the afternoon, plus the salmon, trout (trucha), oysters (ostras) and a glass or two of a certain stout (cerveza negra) beginning with the letter G.

Ballymalloe

You cannot underestimate (subestimar) the importance of the potato in Irish history. It was introduced in the sixteenth century and soon became the most important crop (cultivo) in the country. But when the potato crop failed, poor farmers (granjeros) died of famine (hambruna) and millions more emigrated to the United States. It is eaten almost every day, and used in cakes too. It is an essential ingredient in classic stews,(estofados) for example Irish Stew, Ballymalloe in Gaelic. This is made with lamb chops,(costillas de cordero) potatoes and onions and cooked slowly in the oven.(horno) This was left cooking when everyone was working in the fields. When they returned home it was ready to eat.

Pub Culture

You have probably noticed (fijarse) that there seems to be an Irish bar in every town in the world. But these are often poor imitations of a real Irish pub. Pub culture is a very important part of society and in rural communities the village pub is the centre of all social life. Men (and many women) drink pints of stout (only tourists ask for half a pint (media pinta). Make sure you buy a round (ronda) for everyone in your group. Smoking was banned (prohibido) in all pubs in Ireland last year, but the effects were not as apocalyptic as many people had predicted, and has made them more pleasant places for non-smokers.

Oysters and Guinness

With its long coastline,(litoral) it is not surprising that Ireland has excellent fish and seafood.(marisco) Salmon, trout, prawns,(gambas) mussels (mejillones) and oysters are some of its specialities. In fact there is a festival dedicated exclusively to oysters. The Galway International Oyster Festival is more than fifty years old and attracts visitors from different countries.

Barmbrack

The Irish love cakes, and one of their favourites is Barmbrack. It is made with dried fruit soaked (frutos secos en remojo) overnight (toda la noche) in tea. Originally it was a cake that was eaten at Halloween and contained a pea,(guisante) a piece of cloth,(un trozo de tela) a stick (palillo) and a ring.(anillo) The person who received a piece with the ring would be married before a year had passed! Now it is served all year with butter and lots of tea. Maybe you will still find a ring in your slice!

  Try our recipe of Barmbrack and surprise your guests with a delicious Irish dessert!    

National Geographic

The National Geographic Society, a non-profit organization, “has been inspiring people to care about the planet since 1888” by spreading “geographic knowledge while promoting the conservation of the world's cultural, historical, and natural resources.” Its renowned magazine has been captivating [1] readers for years. Although you may have never read this magazine, you should have no problem recognizing its logo, the yellow rectangular frame.

If you were one of those people who only read the captions [2] underneath the breathtaking [3] photos, now it’s time to take advantage of National Geographic’s website where you can find various videos related to adventure, environment and wildlife, among others, in order to tune [4] your ear while learning interesting stuff!

Take this video, called Bear Attack, further down for example. Before listening to the video, familiarize yourself with the words below that will appear in the video.

hiking, hacienda senderismo

startled, asustado

surprise, pillar desprevenido

run away, fugarse

fight back, contraatacar

play dead, finger la muerte

charging, arremeter contra

swipes, golpes

move away, alejarse

bruised and bloody, magullado y ensangrentado

[1] cautivador, [2] pie de foto, [3] impresiopnantes, [4] afinar