[originaltext] (26) Visitors to Britain are always complaining about English

(26) Visitors to Britain are always complaining about English food. But they do not really know what they are talking about because they rarely get a chance to eat it. Most of the restaurants in large towns have foreign owners and serve foreign food. When visitors are invited to eat in an English home, their hosts often feel they must offer them something foreign and exotic.
    (28)Those of us who do know English food are aware that at its best it can be really very good. On the other hand it is true to say that it is sometimes terrible. (27) Part of the problem is that we are not really interested in food—we eat to live, we do not live to eat. So we don’t generally spend the necessary time and effort needed to cook really good meals. We prefer food that is simple and easy to cook, or ready prepared food which only needs heating up before eating.
    You can find the best English food in the country away from the large towns where life is slower and people are not in such a hurry. But, of course, (28)most visitors come because they are interested in shopping and sightseeing. They do not come because of the food, so why should they complain about it?