BBC 6分钟英语学习 自助餐的隐秘生活

English from BBC Learning English. Hello.

This is six minute English from BBC Learning English.

I'm Neil, and I'm Sam. Have you ever been to an all you can eat buffet?

Sam? You know, a meal in a restaurant where you can eat as much food as you like?

Yes, I went to an Indian buffet once.

I didn't eat all day before the meal, but I only managed to finish three or four plates.

Well, maybe five. It sounds like your eyes were bigger than your belly or stomach.

A phrase describing someone who has taken more food than they can eat.

In this program, will be discussing buffets, a feast of many different food dishes, where diners are allowed to eat as much as they want, or as much as their stomachs will allow.

And of course, we'll be learning some new vocabulary as well.

The popularity of buffets is booming, especially in Middle Eastern and Asian countries, where the variety of foods means there's something for everyone.

But feasts are big and boastful, usually too much is cooked, and buffets have been criticized for waste.

We'll hear more soon. But 1st, they have a question for you.

Sam. The word buffet originated from the French name for the table on which food was served.

But buffets themselves don't come from France.

So in which country did buffets begin?

Was it A The United States of America?

B Sweden, or see China? Well, the US is famous for supersizing food, so I'll guess A America.

OK, sam, we'll find out the answer later in the program.

John Wood, owner of cooking company Kitchen Cut, knows a lot about buffets.

He used to run a 1000 seat breakfast buffet at the five star Jumera Beach Hotel in Dubai.

Here, john shares his observations on human buffet behavior with BBC World Service program the food chain.

There are different people that treat buffets in different ways.

Some people think this is a great opportunity to try little bits and lots of everything.

Can come back near as many times I like.

And other people just, you know, whether they don't like getting up and down, which is understandable from their table, just want a pilot high.

And people, you know, they want to get value for money.

So, you know, if you're paying, you know, 100, $200 ahead for a buffet, you're going to pile it up high and take the most expensive things you can and get your money's worth.

John says, buffet diners want to get their money's worth get good value for the money they spend, so they often pile up food on their plate.

If you pile something up, you gather a large amount of it into one place to build what's called a pile.

But buffets are not just about eating until you explode.

They're also an opportunity to show off to your friends.

Weddings are big in India, and usually include a buffet.

The rich of the people getting married, the bigger the buffet, sometimes inviting as many as 5000 guests, if each guest eats around six dishes.

We're talking about a seriously big buffet, sun Deep Street.

Haran is a wedding caterer in Goa, in South India.

He owns a company which provides the food and drink for special social occasions.

Here, he talks with through Alexander, presenter of BBC World Service, the food program, about organizing an Indian wedding buffet.

It's a, it's a very vicious circle, I think, right?

Everybody wants to all of them.

Everybody, and, you OK, that's the aim they are out to impress.

They want to wow the guess.

Knock their socks off. Knock the socks off, they should just go back saying, I couldn't eat even half of it.

You know, some people just, they just come for eating.

They don't even worry about whose wedding it is and things today.

They know that who's a cater You know, these guys are catering.

Oh my God, this is going to be great.

Wedding buffets are designed to amaze and overwhelm the guests with a huge displays of food.

They need to wow the guests or knock their socks off, an idiom, meaning to amaze and impress someone.

The problem is that no matter how extravagant and expensive one buffet is, the next one has to be even more impressive, something Sandy calls a vicious circle, a difficult situation, which has the effect of creating new problems, which then make the original situation even worse.

It seems the secret to enjoying a buffet is trying a little bit of everything without stuffing yourself until you can't move, although in the past, I think that was exactly the idea.

OK, it's time to reveal the answer to my question.

Where did the buffet originally come from?

I guessed it was from the United States.

Was I right? That was the wrong answer, I'm afraid.

Sam. In fact, buffets are thought to have come from Sweden in the Middle Ages.

OK, let's recap the vocabulary we've learned, starting with

the expression Eyes bigger than your belly, or eyes bigger than your stomach, used when someone has taken more food then they can eat.

If you pile up your plate, you gather a large quantity of food together into a pile.

The phrase to get your money's worth means to get good value for the money you have spent.

A vicious circle is a problematic situation, having the effect of creating new problems, which then make the 1st situation even worse.

The idiom to knock your socks off means to wow a maze or impress someone.

And finally, a catterer is a person or company which provides food and drink for special social occasions.

Once again, our 6 min are up by for now.

Good Bye.

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