Z pacjentem po angielsku (11)

Zapraszamy państwa w podróż świąteczną do Wielkiej Brytanii. Dwa lata temu pisaliśmy o tym, jak obchodzą święta Australijczycy i Nowozelandczycy, tym razem wracamy na wyspy brytyjskie. Jak Boże Narodzenie obchodzą Brytyjczycy, w co wierzą dzieci? W okresie przedświątecznym zachęcamy również do przygotowania pysznych płonących naleśników.

What Is British Christmas Really Like? The Twelve Days of Christmas. The chances for a traditional white Christmas are quite small in England, Wales or Scotland as usually the temperatures are above 0 degrees. Not all people in the UK celebrate Christmas but many people do. The term Christmas comes from the Mass of Christ, traditionally celebrated on the 24th of December. Christmas is a religious festival but people celebrate it not only for religious reasons. Some shops start sell- ing things as early as September or earlier so that tourists can buy festive items while on holiday. Sending traditional Christmas cards is still quite popular.

During Christmas many people have a tree decorated with tinsel and baubles. Advent calendars are very popular. People decorate their homes with holly, ivy, mistletoe and wreaths. Christmas stockings are just simply large socks but unlike Americans who hang them around the fireplace, British people keep them around their beds. Children write letters to Father Christmas and toss them straight in the fire. They believe that burning letters sends them directly to the North Pole. People often leave out some brandy and mince pies for Father Christmas. Children believe that he comes down the chimney and brings presents.

Christmas celebrations begin on the 25th of December, Christmas Day. The traditional Christmas dinner is like a Sunday roast, usually a turkey with all the additional trimmings including stuffing, roast potatoes, cranberry sauce, bread sauce, Brussels sprouts, wine or champagne, as well as, plum pudding or other puddings. Many women have their favourite pudding recipes handed down from generation to generation. A pudding is a dense cooked cake. Before turkey people used to eat a pig’s head and mustard. Crackers and Christmas hats are very  much  part of the celebrations. A cracker is a cardboard tube with a tiny explosive inside, containing small prizes and jokes. The paper hats are often also inside the crackers and people wear them during dinner. After the meal families open their gifts and watch TV. TV stations often show *Love Actually or *Home Alone. Families watch the Royal Christmas message – the Queen’s speech reflecting the events of the past year and Christmas wishes.

The 26th of December is known as Boxing Day. Traditionally, in the past home servants were given small gifts to thank them for their work. Nowadays, Boxing Day is the British Black Friday with many shops being open and the sales which begin on that day. Children from divorced families often spend Christmas day with one of their  parents  and  Boxing day with the other one. Most people try to take the decorations down within twelve days, on January 7th, a day after Epiphany as keeping the Christmas tree decorated longer is said to bring bad luck.

*Love Actually – “To właśnie miłość”
*Home Alone  –  “Kevin sam w domu”

Link do potraw świątecznych: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=T4G00yfPJ5M

Słowniczek:

above – powyżej
baubles – bombki
Boxing Day – 26 grudnia
bring bad luck – przynosić pecha
Brussels sprouts – brukselka
cardboard – tekturowy
chimney – komin
cranberry sauce – sos żurawinowy
divorced – rozwiedziony
Epiphany – święto Trzech Króli
explosive – materiał wybuchowy
festive – świąteczny
fireplace – kominek
holly – ostrokrzew
ivy – bluszcz
mince pies – paszteciki w kształcie babeczki z kruchego ciasta z nadzieniem z bakalii, spożywane w okresie Świąt Bożego Narodzenia
mistletoe – jemioła
mustard – musztarda
plum – śliwkowy
pudding – deser, rodzaj ciasta
roast potatoes – pieczone ziemniaki
socks – skarpety
stockings – pończochy
stuffing – farsz
Sunday roast – pieczeń, tradycyjny niedzielny obiad
tinsel – lameta/anielskie włosy
tiny – maleńki
trimmings – dodatki
turkey – indyk
within – w ciągu
wreaths – wieńce

Crêpes Suzette

• 8 traditional pancakes,
• 250 grams good quality butter,
• 30 grams caster sugar,
• half teaspoon finely-grated lemon peel,
• half teaspoon finely-grated orange peel,
• 4 tablespoons Cointreau,
• 2 tablespoons brandy

Fold pancakes like envelopes. Melt butter in a saucepan. Add sugar, lemon and orange peel, as well as Cointreau and brandy. Bring to boil and add pancakes. Turn the pancakes twice to make sure they are heated through. Serve immediately.

Słowniczek:

bring to boil – zagotować
caster sugar – cukier puder
Crêpes Suzette – płonące naleśniki
envelopes – koperty
finely-grated lemon peel – drobno starta skórka z cytryny
finely-grated orange peel – drobno starta skórka z pomarańczy
fold – składać
good quality butter – dobrej jakości masło
half teaspoon – pół łyżeczki
heated through – podgrzane
immediately – natychmiast
(to) make sure – upewnić się
melt – stopić
pancakes – naleśniki
saucepan – rondelek
serve – podawać
tablespoon – łyżka stołowa
turn – przewrócić

Tekst opublikowany w numerze 6/2019 czasopisma Recepta