Let’s face it: British food doesn’t have the best reputation globally, does it? It’s synonymous with stodge and blandness and the source of much mockery and ridicule. The defence that’s usually put forward relates to the prolonged period of rationing during and after World War II. Before then, the extensive reach of the British Empire meant a wealth of exotic ingredients had been brought to British shores, and Victorian-era cookbooks show us that there were plenty of dishes that would be considered flavourful today. However, while British fare in the 2^nd half of the 20th century continued to be a relatively drab affair, other countries that had been afflicted with wartime rationing (Italy and France, for example) managed to thrive.

Today, the same stereotype of dull, overcooked, uninspiring cuisine persists, but is it justified? In the song below, American folk-punk musician Jeffrey Lewis makes the case that the reputation is undeserved. Unless he’s being ironic. You decide!

Here’s the song on YouTube. It’s also available on Spotify.

Exercises

The first handout contains the lyrics to the song with 10 gaps. The gaps are either 1, 2, or 3 words.

1. Give students the handout and allow a few minutes for them to read the lyrics and predict possible answers based on the context and potential word forms.
2. Play the song once and encourage students to write possible answers in the notes box. This is good practice for the exams which also contain such a box.
3. Allow a couple of minutes for students to process their notes. Which gaps contain more than 1 word? Which gaps will they need to listen to extra carefully on the second playthrough?
4. Play a second time and encourage more notetaking.
5. Give students a few minutes to transfer their notes to the gaps.

Discussion

The words that have been removed have a rhyming pair, although this rhyme is not always found at the end of the line. There is a range of lower to higher frequency words, with the more challenging words in terms of meaning hopefully being easy enough to guess phonetically. This is a construct that paper-setters sometimes use as it encourages and rewards students with a keen ear, not just a larger vocabulary. For instance, in the first specimen listening paper for 2020, one answer was negligible. While I would argue the majority of English B students wouldn’t know the meaning of this word, it is possible to guess the answer by writing it out phonetically. Examiners are advised to give the mark if the student has achieved something close to the sound of the word unless what they write is another word altogether. E.g. wait/weight.

When going through the answers, ask students to identify other words/phrases that rhyme. The tricky ones are the half-rhymes inside lines. E.g.

That mist's more mystic than where I'm from
But on this list the shock biggest to come

You may want to check for understanding of the meaning of some of the other phrases.

Spot one – a colloquial way of saying see or identify.

Grub – informal word for food.

Pull-off – American term for an area next to a main road where vehicles can stop. The British equivalent is layby.

Begs the question - raises or asks the question

Survey says no – Explain this is a cultural reference from the US gameshow Family Feud. It is used informally to say that something isn’t true, doesn’t happen, etc.

Unpacking the Lyrics

The second handout contains a selection of the lyrics with possible questions for students to explore. This is a way of modelling active reading skills, specifically asking questions about the content and then discussing or searching for the answers using online sources.

You could either allocate questions to individuals or pairs, or have students choose some those they are interested in. You could also encourage students to create their own questions and find the answers. One option would be then for students to share their findings with the class, either verbally or as a more formal presentation.

Going Further

The Standard Level Individual Oral requires students to connect their image to an Anglophone culture. Subject reports from previous examination sessions (E.g. N22) have commented on students making superficial use of the image and tenuous links to an English-speaking culture. This can be quite tricky with more universal topics such as social media or the environment but lends itself quite nicely to cultural topics such as food under the themes of Experiences or even Identities.

You could get SL students to find images that represent the topic of British food and prepare a 3–4-minute presentation based on one of them that makes explicit links to either British or American cultures, or possibly even both.

For HL students, unburdened by the (IMO more challenging) need to connect their oral presentation to an Anglophone culture, there are other avenues of inquiry. Discussions about food inevitably lead to claims that the fare from one’s own culture is better than that of others. If you have a competitive (but polite and open-minded!) bunch of students, you might like to organise an international food festival. Students could bring their dishes in, and a panel of judges (hungry teachers?!) could award marks. This could culminate in students writing a review of the event. Here’s a possible prompt:

Your school recently hosted an international food festival in which students cooked dishes from their home cultures. You want to evaluate the success of the event and share your thoughts with the school community. Write a text in which you outline the highlights of the event, describe the winning dish, and suggest ways the event could be better organised in the future.

Review / Email / Set of guidelines

An alternative angle to take would be to pose the inquiry question: Does British food deserve its bad reputation? This could then lead to an investigation of multiple sources (from both sides of the argument) and either an essay or presentation, balanced or polemic, that answers the question. You might like to point students in the direction of sources that celebrate Britain’s multiculturalism; restaurants abound with diverse cuisines from across the globe, and dishes eaten at home have changed noticeably over the past 50 years, as this source neatly details. Here is a prompt if you choose to have students write an essay.

You have heard that British food has a bad reputation. You would like to set out your own opinion on the matter in a clear and convincing manner. Write a text in which you describe the origin of this reputation, outline your views on whether this reputation is justified, and comment on the problem with cultural stereotypes.

Essay / Article / Brochure