Eating habits in the family

On weekdays normally I eat four times a day. These meals are breakfast, elevenses, lunch and
dinner. At weekends I have a substantial breakfast when I get up, lunch at one o’clock, and
dinner at seven. For breakfast I usually have a slice of bread and a cup of tea that my father
prepares. At weekends I usually have a bigger breakfast, not only a piece of toast but also
fried or scrambled eggs and some yoghurt and sometimes some fruit, a banana or an orange.
Unfortunately my whole family has only dinner together because we are very busy on
weekdays. This is when we discuss the day’s happenings and make plans. But at weekends
we always spend more time together. Occasionally we go to a restaurant to celebrate a
birthday, a nameday or a wedding anniversary and we have a special meal. In my family the
main meal is lunch when we eat more courses. But the most important thing is breakfast,
because we have to gather enough energy for the day. Usually my mother does the cooking in
our family. She is a real “gastronome”. I quite often help her though. I like it but I can only
prepare some of the basic dishes such as scrambled eggs, and pancakes. I don’t think it’s
difficult to learn it if you are interested in it. There are a lot of cookery books with detailed
instructions and TV programmes where it is shown how to cook. But I must admit the
cooking isn’t my cup of tea. In my family nobody has got special eating habits. Nowadays
there are more and more vegetarians, who live on dairy products, eggs, vegetables and fruit.
Vegans don’t eat any animal products at all. This selection isn’t characteristic oy my family.
We are so called “omnivorous”. We aren’t on a special diet, we have never taken care of our
weights. It isn’t necessary. As for me I haven’t got a sweet tooth but I love junk food such as
hamburgers and chips. It is full of preservatives and additives, which are very harmful for
your health.
A typical Hungarian Sunday lunch consists of three courses: first comes soup ( vegetable,
meat, or fruit soup). The second course is either some meat (pork, beef, veal, chicken, duck,
turkey or fish) with potatoes, rice or some vegetable dish made from peas, beans, cabbage or
lentils. The second course may also be some noodles with cottage cheese or pancakes. The
third course is usually some cake or fruit. In any case before the meals we have to lay the
table. First we put a nicely ironed tablecloth on the table. We put the plates, glasses and
cutlery onto it. The knife and the spoon go on the right-hand side and the fork goes on the
left. We place the napkins in rings next to the plates, and some cruets in several places on the
table. We might decorate the table with flowers and candles. The most popular Hungarian
dishes are fish soup, chicken soup, goulas, stuffed cabbage, crepes with minced meat and
cheese in breadcrumbs, and all kinds of stews. If I have an English guest I will present her
these meals. A foreigner might find Hungarian cuisine a little strange because there’s red
paprika in almost every dish, which makes it hot. Not only is Hungarian food spicy, it is also
quite fatty. On the other hand it’s worth tasting.