TEXT 7

Read the text below, ignoring the missing statements first. Match the gaps (1—10) with the state­ments (A—L). There are two sentences you do not need to use.

A cooks and going to foreign restaurants

B without consulting a recipe

C thanks to the large number of immigrants

D without adding salt and pepper

E expensive meat joints

F become more varied and interesting

G came higher than

H could prepare without using

I likely to change with

J could prepare porridge

K included traditional dishes

L started to go abroad

BRITISH COOKING

British cuisine has changed enormously in the last 30 to 40 years. Before, people from other countries considered British food to be dull and badly made. Recently, however, British people’s interest in food has grown and, as a result, their food has 1)_______.

There have been a few reasons for this change. Firstly, in the 1970s an increasing number of British people had more money and 2)________ on holiday. There they ate different foods and came back home wanting to copy the recipes. In addition, Indian and Chinese restaurants were opening 3)__________ that had arrived in Britain during the 1950s and 1960s. By the early 1970s there were 1,400 Chinese restaurants and 1,200 Indian restaurants. Their popularity keeps growing: today most towns have at least one Indian or Chinese restaurant.

Another factor encouraging peoples interest in food has been the number of TV cookery programmes. In the past ten years in particular, these programmes have become extremely popular and influential. However, watching TV 4)________ doesn’t necessarily mean people are cooking restaurant-standard food at home.

So what are the British cooking at home? A recent BBC survey asked people what food they 5)__________ a recipe book. The best-known dish was spaghetti Bolognese, which over 60 per cent of people said they could cook. This 6)________ cooking a traditional Sunday roast (of beef, chicken, pork or lamb), which only 54 per cent could do 7)__________.

Other popular dishes in the survey 8)___________, such as shepherd’s pie (minced lamb cooked with onions and carrots, and baked under a topping of mashed potato) and toad in the hole (sausages cooked in a batter of milk, eggs and flour). The non-traditional dishes listed in the survey included lasagna, chilli con carne, stir fry and curry. Looking at this list, minced meat seems to be very popular in everyday meals: it is found in spaghetti Bolognese, chilli con carne and lasagna. This is not surprising as minced meat is cheaper than 9)________.

In the future this list of favourite dishes is 10)___________ Britain’s changing population, as new immigrants arrive and people continue to try out new and tasty recipes.