Food is one of the chief joys (poteąenie) of life. Eating - and for many, cooking too - is a downright (vyslovene) pleasure (príjemné). There are some people who eat just once a day - they have one continuous meal - others are figure-conscious and try to fast (ukonči»), or at least (obmedzi») cut down on sugar and fat intake. Some young ladies go on slimming (zoątíhµujúce) diet only to impress people by saying "I´m on two oranges today".

Maybe it is in their nature (povaha), but the fact is the people in our country love food. The day begins with breakfast. During the morning they have a snack. Then comes lunch, which is usually a three-course meal - soup, the main dish of meat and vegetables, and a sweet. An afternoon snack is not uncommon, and in the evening there is supper, which again is a more substantial meal.

There is no expression in English for "dobrú chu»", which perhaps is the key to the English attitude (vz»ah) to food. When in England, begin the day with a nice cup of tea in bed early in the morning. Then have a leisurely (jednoduché) breakfast. The renowned English breakfast starts with cereals (usually cornflakes) to which you just add milk or cream and sugar. Delicious. This will be followed by fried bacon and eggs, or sausages and fried tomatoes. Then round off (zakonči») with many cups of tea or coffee and toast and marmalade. The toast is dry, not fried, and by marmalade the English mean preserves (pripravené) made from citrus fruits, usually Sevilla oranges, for they have just the right bitter flavor (horkej chuti). Well, you must agree that this makes a good meal.

In the middle of the morning you have what is known as elevences, usually not more than a cup of coffee and biscuits. At midday it´s time for lunch (if it is the main meal of the day it is called dinner). Lunch is a light meal consisting of a warm dish (jedlo) and a dessert, or just ham and cheese sandwiches.

At four o´clock, or thereabouts, it´s teatime. This is an institution, a social ocassion, although the food served hardly warrants it. The meal consists of thin slices of white or brown bread with cheese, or some fish or meat paste, lettuce (ąalát) or cucumber, tomatoes, and this is followed by jam tarts (ovocný koláč) or cakes. And of course there are several cups of strong tea with milk. On the whole it may sound like pretty poor fare to you, who are used to piles of dumplings (knedle) and potatoes.