Food & Describing Flavours
Taste Adjectives · Cooking Methods · Present Perfect · Confusable Words
Exercise 1: Taste Adjectives
Drag the adjectives from the word bank to complete each dish description. Click a word to select it, then click a blank to place it.
Word Bank
1. Good coffee is [ Drop here ] and slightly [ Drop here ].
2. Barbecue ribs have a [ Drop here ] and [ Drop here ] flavour.
3. A lemon vinaigrette dressing is [ Drop here ].
4. A chilli con carne is [ Drop here ].
5. Honey-glazed carrots taste [ Drop here ].
6. A cucumber and mint salad is [ Drop here ].
7. A citrus-infused ceviche is [ Drop here ] and [ Drop here ].
8. Olives in a Mediterranean salad taste [ Drop here ].
9. A rosemary and garlic roasted chicken is [ Drop here ].
Exercise 2: Texture & Feel
Drag the words from the word bank to describe each dish.
Word Bank
1. Fish and chips from a bad takeaway can be [ Drop here ] and [ Drop here ].
2. A good chocolate brownie should be [ Drop here ] on the inside.
3. Fresh bread straight from the oven is [ Drop here ] and [ Drop here ].
4. A cheese and herb omelette has a [ Drop here ] flavour.
5. Toast is best when it's nice and [ Drop here ].
Exercise 3: Cooking Methods
Read each description and choose the correct cooking method.
1. You place the food directly over flames or hot coals on a rack — usually outdoors.
2. You heat the food from above using intense, direct heat — usually inside an oven.
3. You submerge the food in water and bring it to a full, rolling boil.
4. You cook the food in a shallow layer of hot oil in a pan on the hob.
5. You place the food in a hot, enclosed oven and leave it to cook all the way through.
6. You cook the food over boiling water without it ever touching the water.
7. You cook food slowly in liquid for a long time — usually meat and vegetables together.
8. You place a heatproof bowl over a pot of simmering water to gently melt or cook delicate ingredients.
I'm feeling → temporary sensation happening right now | I feel → general truth, habitual state, or opinion
"I'm feeling hungry — I haven't eaten since this morning." · "I feel that tipping should be optional."
Exercise 4: "I'm feeling" vs "I feel"
Choose the correct form for each sentence.
1. I ___ tired today — I didn't sleep well last night.
2. She generally ___ uncomfortable in very crowded places.
3. I ___ that tipping should be optional, not expected.
4. He ___ a bit nauseous right now — too much dessert!
5. This sauce ___ a bit thick to me.
6. I ___ great! I just had the best meal of my life.
7. She ___ happy whenever she cooks for her family.
8. Why ___ so nervous? It's just a cooking class!
Rag — old cloth for cleaning | Rug — decorative floor covering | Towel — cloth for drying
Diary — personal journal | Dairy — products made from milk
Damp — slightly wet | Humid — warm, wet air | Moist — pleasantly slightly wet | Soaked — completely saturated
Exercise 5: Confusable Words
Choose the word that correctly completes each sentence.
1. After washing the dishes, she dried her hands on the ___.
2. He used an old ___ to wipe the mud off the bicycle.
3. The large ___ in the living room has a beautiful geometric pattern.
4. She keeps a ___ and writes in it every night before bed.
5. The supermarket has a huge ___ aisle with cheese, butter, and yoghurt.
6. The towel was ___ — it had been left out in the drizzle.
7. The rainforest air is incredibly ___; it feels wet even when it's not raining.
8. The cake is perfectly ___; not dry at all.
9. He fell in the river and his clothes were completely ___.
Exercise 6: Present Perfect
Drag the correct present perfect form to complete each sentence.
Word Bank
1. I [ Drop here ] in this city for ten years.
2. She [ Drop here ] since she had the baby.
3. We [ Drop here ] sushi in ages — let's go tonight!
4. He [ Drop here ] three different cuisines this week.
5. I [ Drop here ] takeaway food for months — I've been cooking at home.
6. The menu [ Drop here ] a lot since the new chef arrived.
7. They [ Drop here ] to that new restaurant yet.
8. We [ Drop here ] waiting for our table for over an hour.
Exercise 7: Eating Verbs
Read each definition and type the correct verb.
1. To eat in very small, delicate bites.
2. To eat noisily and enthusiastically, often with the mouth open.
3. To eat very fast and greedily, barely stopping to chew.
4. To drink or eat something quickly in large amounts.
5. To eat an excessive amount of something in a short time.
6. To remove the thin outer layer of a fruit or vegetable.
Ink Blitz — Writing Challenge
Write a short paragraph (5–7 sentences) describing a memorable meal or dish — real or imaginary. Use at least 4 taste or texture adjectives, 1 cooking method, the correct form of feel / feeling, and the present perfect at least once.
N
E
R
D
Word Origin
Naturally Eccentric, Remarkably Different
Word Origin
Naturally Eccentric, Remarkably Different
| Word / Phrase | Category | Origin & Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| Broil | etymology | From Old French bruiller (to burn). It originally described the act of charring something directly over flame — which is why it still implies intense, direct heat from above. The word shares its root with brûlée, as in crème brûlée — the burnt cream. |
| Stew | etymology | From Old French estuve — a heated room or steam bath, similar to a sauna. To stew first meant to sit in hot steam; the cooking sense came from the image of food sitting in hot liquid, slowly steaming. This is also why we say someone is stewing when they sit silently fuming — cooking in their own heat. |
| Briny | etymology | From brine — the concentrated salt water used since antiquity to preserve fish, meat, and vegetables. Sailors nicknamed the sea the briny for centuries. When we call an olive or a piece of feta briny, we are borrowing a sailor's word for the ocean. |
| Spaghetti | etymology | The diminutive of Italian spago (string, twine) — literally little strings. The name was coined simply by looking at the pasta and describing what it resembled. Spaghetti bolognese, discussed in the listening, also takes its name from the city of Bologna — a city so associated with rich food that Italians themselves nicknamed it La Grassa (The Fat One). |
| Tip (gratuity) | usage | The popular myth is that TIP stands for To Insure Promptness — this is entirely false. The word comes from 17th-century British thieves' slang, where to tip meant to pass something discreetly from one hand to another. It entered polite usage around 1706 in London coffee houses, where patrons slipped coins to waiters to ensure good service. The acronym was invented long after the word already existed. |
| Brigadeiro | etymology | Named after Brigadeiro Eduardo Gomes, a Brazilian Air Force officer who ran for president in 1945. His supporters — who couldn't vote at the time — made and sold small chocolate truffles at campaign rallies to raise funds. He lost the election, but the sweet outlasted the campaign by decades and became one of Brazil's most iconic treats. |
| Roast (someone) | usage | The figurative use mirrors the cooking method precisely: sustained, intense exposure to heat from all sides. Recorded as a verb for ridicule since the 17th century. Modern comedy roasts follow the same logic — the subject sits at the centre while everyone else applies heat. Importantly, a roast is only a roast when the target accepts and even enjoys it; otherwise it becomes something closer to offending. |