This lesson is suitable for intermediate-level learners. After listening, test your knowledge with our quiz.
Learning notes
Different phrases to use when describing flavours:
- The batter’s really crispy, but the fish is still tender and flaky.
- The chips are piping hot and perfectly crunchy.
- The seasoning’s just right.
- This dish is a bit bland.
- This fish melts in my mouth.
- It’s got a nice kick.
- It’s so fragrant.
- I love that tangy hint of lime.
- This curry is so hot. My mouth is on fire!
- This cake is so soft and fluffy.
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Bring A Plate
This 6-part video series will help you improve your Englsih. Join six guests for a delicious meal and learn how to talk about your own cultural dish when asked to bring a plate.
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This 6-part video series will help you improve your Englsih. Join six guests for a delicious meal and learn how to talk about your own cultural dish when asked to bring a plate.
G
Vocabulary:
Flavours refer to the different tastes that we experience when eating or drinking something.
Crispy means crunchy on the outside so that when you bite into it, you hear a little crack!
Tender means soft and easy to chew.
If your food is flaky, it breaks into little pieces when you pull it apart.
When something is piping hot, it is very hot.
If your food is crunchy, it makes a loud, crisp sound when you bite into it.
If your food is bland, it tastes plain and boring.
When we say food is hot we can either mean that is:
- has a high temperature – that is very hot
- has a lot of spices like chilli that give a strong burning sensation
When something is fragrant, it has a nice strong, pleasant smell.
If your food is tangy it has a sharp, zesty flavour that is a little sour but still pleasant. You can use it to describe foods flavoured with citrus like lemon, lime, or orange, as well as food with vinegar or fermented flavours like pickles or yogurt.
A hint means a small amount of something – not too strong but just enough to notice.
Colloquial expressions:
Nothing beats …. we can use this phrase when we want to say that something is so good that it is the best. For Allan, nothing beats eating fish and chips by the beach.
Mind if I steal one? - is a friendly way of asking if you can take something, usually food.
Go for it is an informal way of saying that someone can do whatever it is that they want to do.
When food melts in your mouth, it’s so delicate and well-cooked that t feels like it disappears in your mouth.
When your food has a nice kick, it has a bit of spice, but not too much –enough to make it and exciting without being too hot.
Learning focus:
When we want to strengthen a description of something, we can use words like ‘very’, ‘really’ and ‘so’.
- The batter’s really crispy.
- It’s so fragrant.
When we use the word ‘so’ in this way, we often mean (or imply) that there is some kind of result that follows, as in:
- It’s so delicate and well-cooked (that it melts in your mouth).
- It is so soft and fluffy, it just melts in my mouth
- It was so tender, it melted in my mouth.
- This curry is so hot. My mouth is on fire.
Practise speaking dialogue from this episode
Bonus Practice: #82 Describing taste (Med)
SBS English
18/03/202504:03
Transcript:
(Note: This is not a word-for-word transcript)
SBS acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country and their connections and continuous care for the skies, lands and waterways throughout Australia.
Have you ever taken a bite of something that is so good that you just had to tell someone about it? But then, you got stuck because you didn’t know the right words to describe what you were tasting?
My name is Josipa, and in this episode, we’re practising words to talk about flavours—how food tastes!
Let’s get started!
The salty sea breeze drifts through the air and waves crash softly in the distance. Allan and Claire sit at the wooden picnic table by the beach. Nearby, a family is laughing, while seagulls stand close, waiting for a chance to grab a bite. Claire brushes some sand off the table while Allan takes a bite of his food.
Allan
Nothing beats fish and chips by the beach. Mine are great. The batter’s really crispy, but the fish is still tender and flaky.
Claire
How are the chips? Mind if I steal one?
Allan
Go for it. They’re piping hot and perfectly crunchy.
Claire
Mmm... the seasoning’s just right.
Allan
This fish melts in my mouth. How’s your green curry?
Claire
It’s got a nice kick—spicy, but not too much. Wanna try?
Allan
Yeah...mmmm, yum! It’s so fragrant... and I love that tangy hint of lime.
While Allan and Claire enjoy flaky fish, crunchy chips and creamy spicy green curry, we’ll break down their conversation and practise how we can talk about flavours. Allan first said,
Nothing beats fish and chips by the beach.
When we want to say that something is the best, we can use the phrase ‘nothing beats.’
For Allan, nothing beats fish and chips by the beach. This means that for him eating fish and chips at the beach. Is one of the best things in the world.
We can use this phrase to talk about anything we really like. For example, nothing beats a warm blanket on a cold day. Or, nothing beats a good night’s sleep after a long day at work or nothing beats a weekend with family, and so on. Allan then said,
The batter’s really crispy, but the fish is still tender and flaky.
I love how Allan described the texture of his fish. Texture refers to how something feels, which is a bit different from taste. Allan said the batter is really crispy, but the fish is still tender and flaky. Crispy means crunchy on the outside—when you bite into it, you hear a little crack!
But, in contrast, the fish is tender and flaky. Tender means soft and easy to chew, and fish or meat that is flaky, breaks into little pieces when you pull it apart. Sounds delicious. Those two textures go really well together , don’t they? Yummy! Claire said,
How are the chips? Mind if I steal one?
This is a friendly way of asking if you can take something, usually food. ‘Mind if I...’ is a polite way to ask permission. And ‘steal one’ in this context doesn’t really mean stealing; it’s just a fun way to say, ‘Can I have one?’
Go for it. They’re piping hot and perfectly crunchy.
Go for it is an informal way of saying that someone can do whatever it is that they want to do. Allan’s chips are piping hot and perfectly crunchy.
When something is piping hot, it is very hot. We often use it to talk about food that is freshly cooked. For example, if I say, ‘Be careful! This soup is piping hot,’ it means that it’s too hot to eat right away and might burn you.
And if your food is crunchy, it makes a loud, crisp sound when you bite into it. Carrots can be crunchy. So can cucumbers. I like crunchy crust on a piece of bread. Claire then said,
The seasoning’s just right.
The seasoning’s just right. We can use this phrase when the seasoning, like salt or pepper or spice - is perfect; not too salty, not too spicy.
But, if the seasoning is not right, and your food tastes plain or boring, you could say,
This dish is a bit bland.
Which means that it doesn’t have much flavour. Allan then said:
This fish melts in my mouth.
He means that his fish is very soft, tender and easy to eat. When food melts in your mouth, it feels like it disappears in your mouth because it’s so delicate and well-cooked. But if you food is not tender, it can be described as tough.
And you can use this phrase to describe other food, not just fish. For example,
- This cake is so soft and fluffy it just melts in my mouth.
- The steak was cooked perfectly. It was so tender it melted in my mouth.
And if you want to ask someone how their food tastes in a casual way, you can use the phrase Allan used when he said,
Allan
How’s your green curry?
It’s got a nice kick—spicy, but not too much. Wanna try?
When your food has a nice kick, it has a bit of spice, but not too much – just enough to make it tasty and exciting without being too hot.
Now, the word ‘hot’ is interesting because it has two meanings when talking about food.
First, ‘hot’ can mean high temperature – food that is very hot, like Allan’s chips which are piping hot.
Second, ‘hot’ can mean that it has a lot of spices like chilli that give a strong burning sensation. Let’s say that Claire’s curry came with too much chilli, she could say,
This curry is so hot. My mouth is on fire!
So, if someone says that their food is too hot, you might need to ask – do they mean the temperature or the spice? At the end of the dialogue, Allan said,
It’s so fragrant...
When food is fragrant, it has a nice strong, pleasant smell that makes you want to eat it or drink it.
We often use the word ‘fragrant’ to describe foods that smell of herbs, spices or natural aromas, like fresh coffee, baked goods, or dishes with lots of spices. Allan also said,
I love that tangy hint of lime.
Tangy describes a sharp, zesty flavour that is a little sour but still pleasant. You can use it to describe foods flavoured with citrus like lemon, lime, or orange, as well as food with vinegar or fermented flavours like pickles or yogurt.
A ‘hint’ means a small amount of something – not too strong but just enough to notice. For example, let’s say Claire is drinking a smoothie, she could say,
It’s got a hint of ginger.
There are many more ways to describe how our food tastes, but we’ve covered a lot in this episode – from crispy and tender to tangy and fragrant. Whether it’s a hint of lime or a kick of spice, using the right words really brings my food experiences to life.
A big thank you to our guest Rayan Barhoum. Paul Nicholson and Lily O'Sullivan voiced the characters of Allan and Claire, and Professor Lynda Yates was our educational consultant.
