Speaking, Reading, Culture - Ordering Real Spanish Food

 This is the situation I always find myself in when I go to a restaurant in Spain. People say, "You speak Spanish, tell us what's on the menu." And I haven't a clue. Firstly, I learned Spanish in Mexico. And things just don't have the same names. And then there's Spanish regional dishes. And just the fact that dishes have fancy names. That don't always give clues to what's in them. But, secret weapon, I do have the ability to ask what is in dishes and what sort of dish it is. To take an interest and start a conversation about the food.

And that's where I start when we do food with my Year 9 Spanish beginners. In Amigos 2, there is a
page with descriptions of dishes for pupils to read and work out what dish is being described. For example:

Es una especialidad del Japón. Se hace con pescado crudo, arroz y algas. Se sirve frío.

Of course, once they guess it is sushi, then they expect to find the words "raw" and "seaweed" in there, and quickly learn some new words.

Then imagine we are working in an English restaurant and a Spanish family come in. They are confused by Toad in the Hole, Ploughman's Lunch, Spotted Dick and Shepherd's Pie. But we save the day, sell loads of Toads in the Holes and earn a huge tip, by explaining:

Es una especialidad de Inglaterra. Se hace con harina, huevo y leche. Y una salchicha. Se sirve caliente y con gravy. Gravy es...

Next we work on Spanish dishes. Sites like this one have descriptions of the most famous Spanish
dishes. Here's the teaser for Cocido Madrileño. A great example of something on the menu I wouldn't be able to describe. Pupils need to be able to read it and pick out the answers to these questions:

¿Es una especialidad de la región? Is it a regional speciality?

¿Qué tipo de plato es? What sort of dish is it? (Starter, soup, fish, rice, meat, pudding etc.)

¿Cuáles son los ingredientes principales? What are the main ingredients?

¿Cómo se sirve? How is it served?

The answers to the first three questions can often be found in the teaser on the main page. In this case it is from Madrid, it is a soup, it has beans, chickpeas and meat. Then clicking on the dish takes you to a page with more details, including a Presentación section which answers the question about how it is served.

I have done this by printing off the pages for each of the dishes. The pupils fill in a grid with the information on one dish then swap pages with another table until they have done them all. Or I have done it on the projector. I would like to do it as live research on computers, but the website is too easily set to English. At the end, the pupils have read and found the information on a range of dishes, answering the key questions.

The final stage is to integrate this with a restaurant role play. So we take the usual, "Table for two what would you like have you got the menu here you go can I have the bill please" conversation. And we insert questions like, ¿Qué tipo de plato es cocido madrileño? Es una sopa. And all the other questions form part of the conversation... What's in it? It's made with beans, chickpeas and meat. Oh I like that...

So we have learned to describe dishes to a visiting Spanish family. And learned to enquire about Spanish dishes when we go to Spain. So my pupils won't have the normal two options open to Brits on holiday: Eat familiar things they recognise all week. Or try random things off the menu without really knowing what to expect! And if they start this kind of conversation, perhaps they will bring the chef out to meet the English people who speak Spanish and want to know more about Spanish food, and give them free samples and let them try everything. It's part of what makes the experience of going to Spain different if you can speak the language!