1 . What comes into your mind when you think of British food? Probably fish and chips, or a Sunday dinner of meat and two vegetables. But is British food really so uninteresting? Even though Britain has a reputation for less-than-impressive cuisine, it is producing more top class chefs who appear frequently on our television screens and whose recipe books frequently top the best seller lists.

It’s thanks to these TV chefs rather than any advertising campaign that Britons are turning away from meat-and-two-veg and ready-made meals and becoming more adventurous in their cooking habits. It is recently reported that the number of those sticking to a traditional diet is slowly declining and around half of Britain’s consumers would like to change or improve their cooking in some way. There has been a rise in the number of students applying for food courses at UK universities and colleges. It seems that TV programmes have helped change what people think about cooking.

According to a new study from market analysts, 1 in 5 Britons say that watching cookery programmes on TV has encouraged them to try different food. Almost one third say they now use a wider variety of ingredients than they used to, and just under 1 in 4 say they now buy better quality ingredients than before. One in four adults say that TV chefs have made them much more confident about expanding their cookery knowledge and skills, and young people are also getting more interested in cooking. The UK’s obsession (痴迷) with food is reflected through television scheduling. Cookery shows and documentaries about food are broadcast more often than before. With an increasing number of male chefs on TV, it’s no longer “uncool” for boys to like cooking.

For more than 12 years, Pailin Chongchitnant has hosted the YouTube cooking show Hot Thai Kitchen. Chongchitnant’s recipes aim to offer a deeper understanding of the steps and the ingredients that make Thai cuisine so distinct. They also highlight the     1     (culture) background of each dish. Chongchitnant weaves stories from her own life and childhood into each video. And the videos are resonating (共鸣)     2     (wide).

While her love for food was always a     3     (drive) force, the road to Chongchitnant’s current position had some unexpected turns. She     4     (grow) up in Southern Thailand, and when she was in high school, cable TV became available to her. She started to imagine what pursuing     5     career in food could look like. Cooking shows     6     (host) by Jamie Oliver and Nigella Lawson offered her a dream to be the host of her own cooking show.

But as she got     7     (old), Chongchitnant realized that there was no clear path for hosting a TV show about Thai food,     8     is not popular worldwide. So in 2009, as YouTube was emerging as a more important platform, she decided to create a cooking show     9     her own on it. She got really excited about the possibility of being able to do this without anybody’s     10     (permit).

5 . Reyes Clark， the owner of Yemaya a pop-up business， is part of a movement in El Salvador， composed of young chefs who are making traditional foods into contemporary cuisine．

"We used to go to McDonald's and Pizza Hut a lot when we were kids． We thought it was cool，" she says． "Anything from the U．S． was considered better than here． But attitudes about American fast food are changing． Salvadorans are becoming more curious about ancestral vegetables and herbs．"

Reyes Clark picks up a piece of paterna， a large seedy green pod （豆荚） that grows all over the country． "I'm going to make hummus （豆沙） out of the seeds，" she says． "The first time I made it for my friends， they thought I was crazy， but then when they tasted it， they were surprised by how good it was．"

Paterna， along with leafy green nutritional powerhouses - mora， chipilin and chaya - grow easily in the wild， but over the years they have been replaced with processed foods． You are not going to find paterna in the supermarket， Reyes Clark says．

"This is because most of El Salvador's food culture was wiped out，" says Luis May， a doctor who focuses on locally sourced food as medicine． He has a garden behind his office where he grows many local plants and teaches his visitors about their nutritional value． He says， "Nearly 500 years ago， the Spanish rulers abolished many local foods．"

Mirandal is a chefs at a newly opened restaurant Boca Boca， hidden in a tree-lined area of San Salvador， where they focus on what they call food nostalgia （乡愁）． "We take old plants from the farming areas and combine them in new ways． The taste is new and exciting for our generation， and brings back a flood of good memories for the older people，" Mirandal says．

Mirandal's 68-year-old grandmother， Elva Duran， is thrilled to see these foods making a comeback． " When I was young， we didn't have fast-food chains that have no health value，" she says． "I think it's incredible that this generation is taking steps to keep our roots alive．"

6 . “I’ve always loved food,” says Cassie Dawson in the kitchen of her flat in London. “But I’ve become bored with eating out. I’ve had too many disappointing meals and paid too much money for them! At one point, fed up with my complaint, a friend suggested I open my own restaurant. Impossible, I thought. But then I heard about supper clubs...”

Supper clubs are a mixture of a restaurant and a dinner party — you go to a stranger’s house and he/she cooks dinner for you. Like a restaurant, you pay for your food, but like a dinner party, you eat at the same table as other people. They are advertised through social-networking sites with a menu and little information about where the supper club is until just before the meal.

“It’s like running a secret restaurant for one night,” says Cassie. “The next morning, I set the tables and chairs aside. I put the TV back and it’s my living room again.”

Cassie opens her “restaurant” for people about once a month, and she really enjoys the evenings she’s had so far. She uses fresh, local ingredients and a typical meal costs about the same as a takeaway — much less than a restaurant meal. So how does she make money out of it?

“I don’t,” says Cassie. “In fact, at first I was worried about losing money on my club. I’m good at cooking but my maths is terrible! But I was surprised by how cheaply I could make a good meal. This isn’t about money. It’s about a different eating experience.”

And what about inviting complete strangers into her house? Was Cassie ever nervous about that?

“Not at all,” she says. “Almost everyone at the supper club is just interested in having a good meal with other interesting people.”