Cultural meaning It's so difficult for my to undestand some parts of the english literature, like idioms, phrasal verbs and onomatopeias. So as a english learner, How could you explain the next text i

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Cultural meaning It's so difficult for my to undestand some parts of the english literature, like idioms, phrasal verbs and onomatopeias. So as a english learner, How could you explain the next text in capital letters? ''And proud young Kate, the enchanted princess, came in to see what the old tabbies wanted now. She snatched away their plates OF MOCK SOMETHING OR OTHER and slapped down a white, terrified blancmange''. I undestand that its related to MOCK OF TURTLE SOUP, from saying that the food it's not a food per se or that pretend to be food. Thanks for everything

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Cultural meaning

It's so difficult for me to understand some parts of the English literature, like idioms, phrasal verbs and onomatopoeias. So as an English learner, how would you explain the next following text in capital letters?

''And proud young Kate, the enchanted princess, came in to see what the old tabbies wanted now. She snatched away their plates OF MOCK SOMETHING OR OTHER and slapped down a white, terrified blancmange''.

I understand that it's related to MOCK OF TURTLE SOUP, from saying that the food it's not a food per se or that pretends to be food.

Thanks for everything

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1. A "mock" food (mock duck, mock turtle soup, mock meat, etc.) is something that is made to look like something else, either because the real thing is too expensive or it is made of an unwanted ingredient like meat (if you're a vegetarian.)

2. This story is nearly 100 years old and culturally very British -- few Americans have ever heard of a blancmange. A lot of these phrases aren't used anymore. It's like reading Don Quixote -- interesting from literary point of view, but not very helpful for learning 21st century English.

In this case, you could substitute "mock" with "faux" or "fake". I can't tell by your snippet of text if it's sardonically said, as in "that food's so terrible that it could be considered a mockery of whatever dish it's supposed to be", or literally, as in the food was really one dish made to appear like another. Probably the first option.

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