Meals in Britain

The usual British meals are breakfast, lunch, tea, dinner and supper.

Traditional breakfast is a very big meal - sausages, bacon, eggs, tomatoes, mushrooms, etc. But nowadays many people just have cereal with milk and sugar, or toast with marmalade, jam, or honey. Marmalade and jam are not the same! Marmalade is made from oranges and jam is made from other fruit. The traditional breakfast drink is tea, which people have with cold milk. Some people have coffee, often instant coffee, which is made with just hot water. Many visitors to Britain find this coffee disgusting!

For many people lunch is a quick meal. In cities there are a lot of bars, where office workers can choose the kind of bread they want - brown, white, or a roll - and then all sorts of salad and meat or fish to go in the sandwich. Pubs often serve good, cheap food, both hot and cold. Schoolchildren can have a hot meal at school, but many just take a snack from home - a sandwich, a drink, some fruit, and perhaps some crisps.

Afternoon tea means two things. It is a drink and a meal! Some people have afternoon tea with sandwiches or cakes. Cream teas are very popular. You may also have scones (a kind of cake) with cream and jam.

The evening meal is the main meal of the day for many people. They usually have it quite early, between 6 and 8 pm, and often the whole family eats together.

On Sundays many families have a traditional lunch. They have roast meat, either beef, lamb, chicken, or pork with potatoes and gravy. Gravy is a sauce made from the meat juices.

The British like food from other countries, too, especially Italian, French, Chinese, and Indian. People often get takeaway meals - you buy the food at the restaurant and then bring it home to eat. Eating in Britain is quite international.