реферат Fast food

Fast Food of  America
Have you ever enjoyed a hamburger, sitting on a lawn? May be you're  against
all these hot dogs and cheeseburgers, because it's a junk food.  Anyway,  it
is always interesting to find out something about the origin and history  of
such trifles, which make our life more comfortable. They  really  make  life
more pleasant, especially outdoors, don't they?
Pop-Corn
It’s impossible  to  imagine  American  take-away  food  or  snacks  without
popcorn. Clear as a day, it is made from corn.  But  what  about  the  first
part of the word “pop”. Actually, when you put a kernel of corn on  a  fire,
the water inside makes the corn explode. This makes a “pop” noise.  That  is
why we call it popcorn. It’s an interesting thing to know that not all  corn
pops. A seed of corn must contain 14% water in it. Other kinds of corn  have
less waters and do not pop. The American Indians, who  popped  corn  a  long
time ago, knew  that  special  sort.  They  introduced  corn  to  the  first
settlers. In 1620 when Pilgrims had a Thanksgiving dinner they  invited  the
Indians, who brought popcorn with them. Since that time Americans  continued
to pop corn at home. But in 1945 a new machine  was  invented  that  changed
the history of the product.   The  electric  machine  enabled  to  pop  corn
outside the home. And soon movies  started  selling  popcorn  to  make  more
money. The famous American habit of eating popcorn at the  movies  is  well-
known. Many people like to put salt or melted butter in their popcorn,  some
preper to have it without. Either way Americans love their popcorn.
The Hot Dog
The original name of the hot dog was the frankfurter, after the German  city
of Frankfurt. In the United States  frankfurters,  sausages  on  buns,  were
first sold in the 1860s. But for  Americans  the  name  “dachshund  sausage”
seemed to be a good one for the frankfurter. In actual fact, a dachshund  is
a dog from Germany with a very long body and short legs. Dachshund  sausages
first became popular in New-York especially at baseball  games,  where  they
were sold by men keeping them warm in hot water tanks.  The  men  walked  up
and down the rows of people and yelled  “Get  your  hot  dachshund  sausages
here!” And in 1906 the newspaper cartoonist Tad Dorgan saw the men with  the
dachshund sausages and got an idea for a cartoon:  he  drew  a  bun  with  a
dachshund inside – not a sausage but a dog. The cartoonist didn’t  know  how
to spell the word “dachshund” and under the  picture  he  just  wrote:  “Get
your hot dogs!” The cartoon was a sensation as well as the name. If  you  go
to a baseball game today, you can still see sellers walking around with  hot
water tanks and yelling, “Get your hot dogs here! Get your hot dogs here!”


The Hamburger
An obligatory  item  on  the  list  of  fast  food,  the  hamburger  has  no
connection to ham, but with the German town of  Hamburg,  which  was  famous
for its ground steak. German immigrants to the United States introduced  the
“hamburger steak”. At the St. Louis World’s Fair in 1904,  hamburger  steaks
were served on buns for the first time. It  was  convenient  and  tasty  and
became a usual way of eating hamburgers.
But how did the hamburgers become the most popular,  most  typical  American
food? The introduction of the bun is  the  important  part  of  the  answer.
Another important part, due to which hamburgers have become  well-known  and
favourite all around the world is McDonald’s, the fast food restaurant.  The
first restaurant was opened  in  San  Bernadino,  California,  in  1949  and
hamburgers were the main item on its menu, as well as the hamburger  remains
the main item in all McDonald’s restaurants today.

Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola The world famous fresh drink Coca-Cola first  was  an  all-purpose
medicine, made in 1886 by a druggist from Atlanta, who made  a  brown  syrup
by mixing coca leaves and cola nuts. The syrup wasn’t  a  success  and  then
another druggist, Jacobs, had  an  idea  of  selling  Coca-Cola  as  a  soda
fountain drink. He mixed the syrup with soda water. Soon everyone was  going
to soda fountains and asking for Coca-Cola. An immigrant from  Ireland,  Asa
Candler bought the recipe of the drink and having  registered  the  company,
became its father in 1892. In 1899 the first bottling  factory  was  opened.
The shaped bottle, as we know it today was invented in 1916 to  protect  the
trademark. And again the World War  II  helped  to  make  Coca-Cola  popular
outside America, when the Coca-Cola Company sent bottles of the drink to  US
soldiers fighting in Europe. It became so popular  with  the  soldiers  that
the US Army asked the company to start  ten  factories  in  Europe.  It’s  a
curious thing but of 1903 coca leaves were no longer used in the drink.  The
exact ingredients and the quantities are not known – the  Coca-Cola  Company
keeps its recipe a secret.