Street food: Why is it becoming popular? 6 Minute English

Neil: Hello. Welcome to 6 Minute English,

I'm Neil.

Rob: And I'm Rob.

Neil: Now Rob, you like your food, don't you?

Rob: Oh yes, yum yum, food! One of my

favourite things.

Neil: And what do you think of street food?

Rob: I love street food. There are some

great places

in London where you can find delicious foods

from all over the world, cooked in front of

you in market stalls on the street.

Neil: It's quite new though, isn't it - not really

a British tradition.

Rob: I guess not, but it seems to be much more

popular these days.

Neil: Well our topic today is street food, but before

we tuck into that, here is today's question.

Recently archaeologists in Jordan

discovered what they believe is the oldest

remains of bread. How old is this bread? Is it:

a) 18,000 years old, b) 14,000 years old, or

c) 5,500 years old? What do you think?

Rob: I don't know - but what I do know is,

I wouldn't really want to try a sandwich

made from that bread!

Neil: Mmm, it might be a bit mouldy.

Rob: Yes! Anyway, I'm going to have a

guess then. I'll go for c) 5,500 years old.

Neil: Right, we will find out the answer

later in the programme. Mark Laurie is

from the Nationwide Caterers Association.

He is an expert in the business of street

food in the UK. He appeared on BBC

Radio 4's The Food Programme and was

asked how the business of street food

has changed in recent years. In his

answer he talks about the areas where

there is most growth in street food. What

are those areas?

Mark Laurie: It's been phenomenal the growth in street

food, it's really taken off, it's really

become quite mainstream. Part of the

cultural fabric of the country really, or it's

beginning to be, certainly in the bigger

cities and increasingly in the sort of

provinces, if you like.

Neil: So where does he say the popularity

of street food is growing?

Rob: He says that it's in the bigger cities

and also in the provinces. The provinces

is a word which means 'the parts of a

country outside of the cities'.

Neil: So essentially, he's saying it's getting

more popular everywhere.

Rob: Exactly. In fact he says the growth is

phenomenal.

This means he thinks the growth is

spectacular, really big.

Neil: Yes he says that it's really 'taken off'.

'Taken off' is one of those phrasal verbs

that can be used in many different ways.

In this sense, when something takes off it

means it becomes successful and popular.

Rob: You know, street food isn't really something

you associate with Britain. Perhaps it's the

climate or British food - so street food is

something that we are now getting used to

and enjoying more. In fact Mark says

that it's now becoming mainstream. This

means that it's no longer something that is

seen as being unusual or different. It's

becoming an accepted part of the

everyday eating experience.

Neil: Well, let's listen again to Mark Laurie

talking about the growth of street food in

the UK.

Mark Laurie: It's been phenomenal the

growth in street food, it's really taken off,

it's really become quite mainstream. Part

of the cultural fabric of the country really,

or it's beginning to be, certainly in the

bigger cities and increasingly

in the sort of provinces, if you like.

Neil: Mark Laurie goes on to talk about

why street food has become popular.

What kind of food does he say it's not like?

Mark Laurie: Yeah, it's just really captured

the imagination of the public. It's honest

food, it's authentic food and it's people

that you can trust making it. It's not some

microwave food or whatever that you

might get in your local pub.

Neil: So street food is many things, but

what isn't it?

Rob: Well he says that it's not like food

you might get in some pubs. That food, he

says, may be some microwave food.

Which is food prepared in a microwave oven.

Neil: You know I quite like a microwave

meal now and then and I reheat my

leftovers in the microwave.

Rob: But I guess if you were paying for a

nice meal you wouldn't expect reheated

leftovers! I think the point he is making is

that in many places the food you are

served is not freshly made. It may be

pre-prepared and finished off in a

microwave. Street food, he says, is

authentic.

Neil: Yes, authentic. It's real, fresh and cooked

right in front of you and if it's food from

a particular country it's probably being

prepared by people from that culture.

Rob: He also says that this has captured

the imagination of the public. It's

something that the public have

experienced and thought - 'Yep, you know,

I like this, this is a great idea.'

Neil: Well, all this talk of food is making

me hungry, so let's get the answer to the

quiz and review today's vocabulary before

we head off and grab a bite to eat. We

asked about the age of bread discovered

by archaeologists in Jordan.

Was it a) 18,000 years old, b) 14,000 years

or c) 5,500 years.

Rob: Mmm, and I said c) 5,500 years old.

Neil: And I'm afraid it's a lot mouldier than that.

The answer was 14,000 years.

Rob: Very tasty I'm sure.

Neil: Yes! Right then, the vocabulary. We

started off with the adjective 'phenomenal' to

describe something that is amazing,

remarkable and extraordinary.

Rob: Then we had 'to take off', a phrasal

verb which means 'to become popular'.

Street food has really taken off in the UK:

it's become really popular.

Neil: And not just in the cities but also in

the 'provinces', which is a noun to describe

areas of a country that aren't the major

cities.

Rob: Something which 'captures the

imagination' is something which makes

you interested and not just for a short

time.

Neil: And one thing which has captured

the imagination of the British public is

authentic street food. Something

'authentic' is real, it's genuine, it's not a

fake or a copy.

Rob: And finally we had 'microwave food',

food prepared in a microwave oven. And

that kind of food is not seen by some as

authentic.

Neil: Well, it's time to eat, so that's all we

have time for today. Join us again next

time and remember you can find us on

Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube

and of course on our website

bbclearningenglish.com. See you soon, bye.

Rob: Bye!