Eating

Are you a healthy eater?

Yes, I think I am. I try to follow a sensible diet (észszerű étrend), I mostly eat white meat, whole-
meal bread (teljes kiőrlésű) and low-fat (zsírszegény) dairy products. I try to eat five portions (adag)
of fruit and vegetables every day. I don’t eat between meals, I have given up snacks. “We eat to live,
not vice versa”, as the saying goes (Azért eszünk, hogy éljünk, és nem fordítva-tartja a mondás).

Healthy eating
It’s important to take time to chew your food, avoid eating while working, driving, arguing
(veszekedés) or watching TV. Light candles (gyújts gyertyát) and place soothing (nyugtató) music to
create a relaxing atmosphere. Eat small, healthy meals rather than the three large meals thus (így) you
can help keep your metabolism (anyagcsere) going.

Genetically modified food (génkezelt étel)

GM foods are mainly crop plants (termény) which are created for human or animal consumption
(fogyasztás). Genetic engineering alters (módosít) the genetic material (DNA=DNS) of an organism
(élő szervezet). In EU countries there is a strict regulation (szabályozás) on GM foods and they are
labelled (címkézik őket). The problem with GM food is that people do not know anything about long-
term effects (hosszú távú hatások) of these products.

When food can be dangerous

We just have to think of mad-cow disease (kergemarha kór), bird flu (madár influenza) or salmonella
infection (fertőzés). Factories use preservatives, colouring agents, flavourings and improve the
texture (állag) of food. They may cause death, cancer, headache or even obesity (elhízás). Processed
food contains starch (keményítő), dangerous types of fat (trans fat) and they are high in salt.

To be a conscious shopper (tudatos vásárló)

When I go to the market, I always buy vegetables and fruit directly from the farmers or when I go to
a supermarket, I always check the labels (címke) on tins, cans and all types of dairy products. I look
for the expiry date (lejárati idő), I usually check the ingredients. I try to support Hungarian products
and the local farmers.

Vegetarianism
People become vegetarians when they suffer from a serious disease, for example cancer or heart
problems. Other reasons for vegetarianism are the following, some people believe that a vegetarian
diet is healthier than a meat-eating diet because it contains little fat. Secondly, some think raising
animals in factory farm conditions can be cruel. They feel sorry for animals as animals are also
able to feel pain.

However, research has shown that nutrition we get from vegetables is not enough for a normal
person’s body system. Consequently (ennek következtében), unbalanced diet can lead us to muscular
issues and even neurological problems.

As both sides have advantages and advantages, it is in our own free will (szabad akarat) to decide if
we are in favour of eating a vegetarian diet or not.

My meals
I have meals five times a day. These meals are breakfast, elevenses, lunch, afternoon tea/snack and
dinner. For breakfast I usually have a sandwich, bread and butter, bread and salami, toast, eggs, such
as hard-boiled, soft-boiled eggs, fried eggs, scrambled eggs, ham and eggs. Some people eat muesli

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Eating

with milk or yoghurt, cornflakes. Others eat sausages or frankfurters, toasted sandwiches, bakery
products: rolls, crescent-shaped bread (kifli) or Danish pastry (kakaós csiga).

For lunch I have two or three courses. For the first course I have some soup for example fruit, meat,
pea, bean, tomato, potato. For the second course I have some meat, such as pork, beef, duck, turkey,
fish, chicken with some garnish (köret) (rice, mashed potatoes, jacket potatoes, chips, pasta). For the
third course I have some sweets, chocolate, ice cream in summer. I am usually satisfied with the food
at the school canteen but there are some students who complain about (panaszkodni vmi miatt) the
food: they say it is often greasy (zsíros) and tasteless.

For dinner I sometimes eat a hot meal, if there is left-over (maradék) from lunch but I like cold food as
well: some slices of salami or ham with bread and butter and some vegetables like tomatoes or green
pepper.

Cooking
I can’t cook but I sometimes help my mother with cooking, for example wash and peel the vegetables,
cut meat into pieces and things like that. We always have a decent meal on Saturdays and Sundays and
it takes four or five hours to prepare this three-course meal. On the other days of the week we eat at
the school canteen.

If I want to lay the table for lunch or dinner I put a tablecloth (asztalterítő) on the table, then I put the
plates (soup and dinner plates), cutlery (forks, spoons and knives) and glasses on it. I also put napkins
next to the plates. And if it is a special occasion, I can decorate the table with a vase full of flowers
and candles.

A recipe
I can tell you the recipe for pancakes. You need some flour, milk, mineral water, sugar, a bit of salt
and eggs. You put the ingredients into a bowl, mix them with a fork, pour some oil into a frying pan
and heat it. When the oil is hot, put some batter (palacsinta tészta) into the frying pan. Fry it until it is
golden brown on both sides. Then put some jam, cocoa powder, cottage cheese or pudding on it and
roll it.
My favourite dish is stuffed cabbage. We mix minced pork (darált sertéshús) with finely chopped
onion (apróra vágott) and garlic, then we add spices, salt, red paprika and black pepper, ground
caraway seed (őrölt köménymag), we also add some eggs and rice. Then the mixture will be put in
pickled cabbage leaves (savanyított káposztalevelek) which will be rolled up. We simmer (lassú tűzön
párol) the rolls in a covered pot (lefedett edényben). It is best if we serve it with sour cream.

Traditional Hungarian dishes

The most popular national dishes are fish soup, Újházi chicken soup, Jókai bean soup, stuffed
cabbage, stews, goulash and chicken paprika, chicken broth with liver dumplings (zöldséges
húsleves májgaluskával), stuffed green pepper, pancakes stuffed with meat in Hortobágy style,
layered potatoes or cabbage (rakott krumpli vagy káposzta), noodles with cottage cheese, Gundel
pancake, strudels (rétesek), Somló sponge cake, Dobos and Eszterházy cake.

Hungarian cuisine has a good reputation (hírnév) because culinary experts (étkezési szakértő) say
that Hungary is a true country of flavours (ízek). Hungarian food is rather spicy (meglehetősen
fűszeres) because we use a lot of salt, pepper and paprika. In the past decades it has become a bit
healthier because instead of lard (zsír) we started to use sunflower oil, however, the Hungarians like to
deep-fry (bő olajban sütni) meat, cheese and vegetables in breadcrumbs, which is not too healthy.
Hungarian cuisine uses all kinds of meat, beef, pork, chicken, turkey, lamb and fish.

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Eating

Eating out

Eating out has got advantages and disadvantages as well. When you eat in a restaurant, you don’t have
to bother with (bajlódni vmivel) shopping the ingredients, cooking, doing the washing up after the
meals. You just sit at a table and wait for meals. However, it is quite expensive not just the meals but
you also have to give some tip (borravaló) to the waiter if you are satisfied with the service.
Sometimes it happens that you don’t find an empty table so you have to wait.

When I eat out, I usually go to fast food restaurants, traditional restaurants, sandwich bars, canteens,
grills or coffee shops. The differences between traditional and fast food restaurants are the following:
in a traditional restaurant there are waiters and waitresses who serve the customers, you usually eat
with traditional cutlery (evőeszközök) made of metal but in a self-service restaurant you have to queue
(sorban állni), pay at a cash desk, take your food to a table and there is plastic cutlery.

Fast food restaurants

I know that it’s not healthy to eat junk food too often but I like its taste. However, I know that it
contains a lot of fat and carbohydrates (calories). Fast food restaurants are especially popular with
young people because not only can they eat there but listen to music and talk.

These restaurants regularly offer some kinds of discount or bonus service or small gifts for children.
They are usually cheap places in other countries, however, in Hungary they seem to be fairly
expensive.

Home-cooking is always fresh and the ingredients are healthy. At a fast food restaurant, they use
frying oils which I wouldn’t use at home.

The British cuisine

There are some often mentioned opinions (gyakran emlegetett vélemény) about the British cuisine
including overcooked vegetables, bloody steak and fish and chips soaked in oil (olajban tocsogó).
Furthermore, it is said to be unimaginative (fantáziátlan) as even the names of the meals are plain
(egyszerű): roast beef, fish and chips, steamed or boiled vegetables.

On the other hand, each meal has its own characteristic flavour (jellegzetes íze) which is not destroyed
by various spices or herbs. Nowadays the immigrants to the British Isles have influenced (hatással
van) the British cuisine and there are international influences from the Far East, Italy or Spain. Spicy
Indian cooking is said to be England’s second national cuisine.

Dishes from English-speaking countries

A truly American dish is the hamburger. It started in America and has travelled around the world.

Haggis is a famous Scottish dish. It’s a kind of sausage with chopped or ground (felkockázott vagy
darált) liver, mixed with oatmeal (zabdara/zabliszt), onions and spices boiled in a sheep’ stomach.

A traditional substantial (kiadós) English breakfast consists of fried sausages, fried tomatoes, black
pudding (pig blood fried with onions), fried beans, bacon, eggs and toast. They usually drink tea or
orange juice for breakfast. For Sunday it is popular to eat roast beef with Yorkshire pudding,
cottage pie/ Shepherd’s pie, steak and kidney pie.