『えいごで読む物語』シリーズでは、ランカル英会話に所属するメイトの日常や思い出をえいごでお届けします。

今回のテーマは「食文化」

アメリカ出身のGrewが、アメリカの定番ファストフード：ピザについてをご紹介。
現地での生活に欠かせないと言っても過言ではないピザ。

日本よりも簡単に、安く、美味しいため人々からとても愛されています:)
アメリカならではの食べ方にも注目してみましょう！

 

初心者の方は「インテンシブ・リーディング（精読）」の読み物として、こちらのシリーズを読んでみることをオススメします。
コラムになっているため、文章量が少なく、また単語・表現も日常的に使われるものが中心となっています。

そのため、じっくりと読むインテンシブ・リーディングで文章の組み立て方に注目してみてくださいね！
詳しくは下にまとめてみたのでチェックしてくださいね。

詳しい練習方法は以下を参考にしてくださいね♪

Intro

The other day I was walking through Hiroo in Shibuya and I stumbled upon a small shop that reminded me of home. It was a little hole in the wall pizza shop. Now that I’ve been blessed with a pizza reminder I think I should share it with everyone.

Once again, while pizza isn’t a food originally from America it is a dish that is well and truly a part of our culture at this point and like hotdogs there is much debate as to what the pizza is the best.

The most well known cities for pizzas in the US are once again Chicago and New York. It seems that a lot of American food arguments come from those cities.

But, pizza is a national dish that is a reward for children, a main course at birthday parties and a family’s weekly treat.

Each city, each style

In every town across the country there’s most likely at least one pizzeria and probably a few fast food pizza places. So, let’s talk about it.

 As for the debate between New York and Chicago it all comes down to what kind of pizza you prefer as is true with all food.

Even though I lived in Chicago I’ve never really been a fan of Chicago style pizza.  It’s a bit too thick for me. Chicago style pizza is Deep Dish pizza. This pizza looks more like a pie than a pizza.

You start with a crust that comes up thin and tall like every pie you’ve seen and is layered with cheese and the other toppings that meet your fancy and it’s all topped with a layer of sauce. It’s thick, filling and delicious.

New York style pizza on the other hand is what you see in every movie ever made. They’re in for the thin crust and the toppings are on top. Crust then sauce then cheese then toppings.

There’s not much explanation needed as we all know what a pizza looks like. If you’ve got the chance you should definitely try both in their places of birth because I’m sure you won’t regret it.

Argument about topping

The other major argument in regards to pizza is over toppings. What toppings are the best? Personally I like spicy pizza, so jalapenos, pepperoni, green peppers and more.

I’ll eat pretty much anything and in America you can get almost anything on your pizza, not corn. There is no corn pizza in America.

You can get a Hawaiian pizza though, and that is an argument starter in America. You either love it or hate it. Pineapple on a pizza is something that disgusts Italians, but it is a very popular pizza in the US and you can get it at almost every pizzeria.

I’m all for trying new things, so if you’re curious give it a taste, just don’t mention it if you don’t want to start a 20 minute argument.

But, there’s more to food than arguing over who makes the best one, even if that is fun! Pizza, like hotdogs, is served at every sporting event around the country.

It’s readily available and is one of the most commonly ordered foods for delivery. They were delivering pizza before uber and door dash were even a dream in someone’s mind.

The biggest fast food chains that were always competing for delivery dominance are Pizza Hut and Dominos. It’s been a fierce battle. They both have their pros and cons.

Dominos definitely has better flavor, but Pizza Hut offers a hot and ready medium pizza you can walk in and walk out within 2 minutes. But, they both guarantee that you will have delivery within 30 minutes or the pizza is free.

I can remember many Friday pizza nights where we’d order pizza and watch the clock just to see if we could get our free pizza. It was quite exciting as the clock ticked down, but unfortunately we never got a free pizza.

Pizza at parties

Lastly, there are a lot of other events that take pizza as the main food. The ones that spring to mind are of course parties.

From children parties to university and even adult dinner parties (sometimes) a common choice for the main dish is pizza, delivery or homemade.

It can be found at almost every type of house party, but it’s also a really common reward for students at school. My elementary school hosted pizza parties for the top students quite frequently.

They also host class pizza parties as rewards for fundraisers or doing well on state testing. You’ll also find pizza whenever you go to help a friend.

If your friend asks you to help them with a project, moving, babysitting, or any other random thing, there is a good chance that at the end you will be presented with a pizza or given pizza while helping.

I’ve helped quite a few friends move apartments and only once have we been given something other than pizza when we finished.

There is one more thing I should mention when talking about pizza in the US and Japan.

That is size, M size pizzas in Japan are called personal pizzas in the US, this means it’s for one person, and the L size in Japan is a medium in the US. And the sizes go all the way up 45cm in most places.

Conclusion

So, if you’re in the US and ordering a pizza keep that in mind as you don’t want to order too much. I hope you enjoy pizza as much as I do. Let’s go grab a slice next time we have the chance!

 

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今回はグルーの出身、アメリカのソウルフード：ピザについてお届けしました。

普段の食事から様々なイベントでピザが用いられていることから、いかに現地の人々に親しまれているかがわかりますね。
また、地域ごとにスタイルが異なることから文化の違いを感じられたのではないでしょうか？

あなたもお気に入りのピザを見つけてみてくださいね:)

LanCul英会話ではリーディングはもちろん、スピーキング、コミュニケーションにも役立つ学習動画を取り扱っており、教科書では学ぶことの出来ない、日常的でより実践的な多様な会話を学ぶことができます。
気になる方は下のプレビュー動画をチェックしてみてくださいね。

 

 

接客英会話＜プレビュー＞

 

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