Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

Begin! Alright welcome back to Weekly Words. My name is Alisha, and today we're going to talk about famous American dishes. Let's begin. I'm guessing this is not going to be about ceramics.
Philly cheese steak.
Man, I'm really hungry. Okay. Philly cheese steak. It's a sandwich. It's a sandwich but there's pieces of steak and there's cheese melted on top of it. It’s a fairly simple concept really, it's just a hot sandwich but its steak and cheese, and it's so good. ‘Philly’ is short for Philadelphia, where this sandwich is very popular. In a sentence, “If you go to Philadelphia, make sure you try a Philly cheese steak.”
Buffalo wings.
Buffalo wings not made from actual buffalo. Buffalo wings are actually just chicken wings but they're really spicy. I wonder why we call them Buffalo wings. Is it because it's a type of sauce? Anyway it's just a spicy chicken wing and you can dip them in ranch dressing, you can have them with vegetables, whatever, they're very popular food at bars, sports bars. In a sentence, “Buffalo wings are my favorite thing to eat while I watch the football game.”
Next is a BLT.
BLT stands for Bacon Lettuce Tomato. This is a very popular type of sandwich, maybe you can guess the ingredients based on the name. It's just a delicious sandwich. Sometimes people put a few more things on, like maybe mayonnaise, mustard, I don't know, chicken. Who knows, whatever, the sky is the limit, go crazy with your BLT, add a few more letters in there. In a sentence, “The BLT is one of my favorite sandwiches.”
Hushpuppies.
Oh man, you're killing me with the food. Hushpuppies, a savory food made from corn meal batter that is deep fried or baked, rolled into a ball, or maybe as a different shape. I'm going to try this very soon, I think this sounds delicious. Hushpuppies are a great side dish for clam chowder maybe, find out, leave us a comment. Guest! I don't have really any experience with southern food I'm not from the South, but we have—he’s not going to be on camera but you can hear his voice—Keith has joined us to explain the magic of Hushpuppies. What are Hushpuppies? Keith: They’re just little fried balls of dough that you have as a side dish usually with seafood, I think.
Alisha: Like, are they good with clam chowder?
Keith: Usually had with fried fish.
Alisha: Oh, fried fish?
Keith: Yes.
Alisha: Ah.
Keith: In replacement of fries, sometimes, with seafood.
Alisha: Ah. Fish and chips but those are the chips.
Keith: And do you know why they're called hushpuppies?
Alisha: Why?
Keith: Because when they made them, dogs were barking because, you know, they wanted to eat some fish they were frying up, they made these little fried balls to give the dogs to get them to be quiet.
Alisha: Is that a real story?
Keith: I hope it's true.
Alisha: I think that's a great story if that's actually true.
Keith: I didn't do any research; I heard that as a kid.
Alisha: Okay. What if the children are the puppies?
Keith: That could be it too.
Alisha: What if we're the ones that are just making all the noise, like, “Mom when's dinner going to be ready?”And they're like, “Here, eat this ball.”
Grits! Grits is a southern food that I have not tried myself, actually. Grits are corn-based, that's about all I know, but there's butter on top of it, so it's essentially just corn-based and butter, it seems. In a sentence, “I like to eat grits every morning for breakfast”. I'm aware of grits, I'm grit-aware.
Keith: They’re very popular in the South, they're usually for breakfast. You have them with eggs and bacon on the side. They're never sweet. Some people add butter to them, I like to have them with salt and pepper. Some people add cheese, I don't do cheese.
Alisha: What do they taste like?
Keith: Got the consistency of oatmeal, but it's made out of corn. And they're always served hot. I like them not every day, but every once in a while they're great.
Alisha: I got to go to the South. Thanks Keith!
Keith: Sure.
Alisha: Thanks for telling us about hushpuppies and grits. Sorry to bother you.
Keith: That’s okay.
Alisha: Bye. Bye Keith. Oh, the more you know. That's the end of food. Popular American dishes. I am so hungry. I hope you have a chance to try some of these. Thank you very much for joining us this week, we'll see you again next time, when we talk about, maybe more food, who knows? Bye!
Keith: I want to get this candy out of my mouth.
Alisha: Go big or go home.

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