TASTES  DIFFER

English people have a special cuisine. Traditional English dishes include fish and chips, roast beef, steak, pudding and some others. It’s natural that all types of food can be found in English restaurants nowadays. For example, fans of Japanese food will easily find sushi in English cities, fans of Italian food, will easily find all sorts of pasta and pizza in England. However, many people want to try traditional British cuisine when visiting England. For breakfast English people prefer either oatmeal or cereal with milk, fried eggs with bacon, a glass of orange juice or a cup of fresh coffee. During lunch many people are away at work, or at school, so they carry their lunch with them. It usually consists of a couple of delicious sandwiches with ham, cheese and fresh vegetables, and a small pack of juice. Many Englishmen drink 5 o’clock tea with cookies. It’s a kind of English siesta. For dinner families usually gather around the dining-table to chat and to share some tasty dishes. Among them steaks or fish, steamed vegetables, rice, fresh salad, and a glass of wine or beer, depending on tastes. Children drink either water, or tea. English families often go out for an evening meal, especially on Friday nights. Traditional English cuisine contains many interesting recipes, but probably the most famous of all is “Fish & Chips”. This dish consists of fried chops from fish and French fries. On special occasions English people often serve roast turkey and traditional pudding. Many people tend to criticize the English cuisine, nevertheless, it has a certain charm and value.

Russia is a multi-cultural country. There are over 160 different ethnic groups and indigenous peoples in Russia. Russian cuisine is a collection of the different cooking traditions of the Russian people. 

Russians eat four meals a day, starting with zavtrak or "morning coffee." Lunch, or obyed , is a small two-dish meal lasting from 12 noon until 1 p.m. Usually kasha, or baked buckwheat, is served at lunch. Dinner, or uzhin , is the most elaborate meal beginning at 6 p.m. and typically featuring four courses. The first course is zakuski or "little bite." Zakuski may feature a few simple appetizers (such as bread and cheese or herbed butter) to twenty or more elaborate creations requiring hours of preparation.

Russian cuisine widely uses fish, poultry, mushrooms, berries, and honey. Crops of rye, wheat, barley, and millet provide the ingredients for various breads, pancakes and cereals, as well as for kvass, beer and vodka drinks. Black bread is rather popular in Russia, compared to the rest of the world. Flavourful soups and stews include shchi, borsch, ukha, solyanka and okroshka. Smetana (a heavy sour cream) is often added to soups and salads.Pirozhki, blini and syrniki are native types of pancakes. Chicken Kiev, pelmeni and shashlyk are popular meat dishes, the last two being of Tatar and Caucasus origin respectively. Other meat dishes include stuffed cabbage rolls (golubtsy) usually filled with meat. Salads include Olivier salad,vinegret and dressed herring.