Describing Food

Jackie:  Hello, I'm Jackie Dalton, welcome to the programme. Today we're going tolook at food and the language used to describe food – whether it's atsomeone's house after you've just had a lovely meal and you want tocompliment them, or if you want to tell someone about a dish that you'vejust had and describe what it's like. And the best possible place to do all thisis at London's Good Food Show, which is held every year, and we're goingto wander round and talk to some people here and ask them to describe thekind of food that they're eating.
　　Now I'm at a food stand belonging to one of Britain's most famous chefs –Gordon Ramsay. Diane, a visitor here, has been eating some of his duck.
　　She seems to like it. What are some of the words that come up which showthat she likes it?
　　DianeMy name's Diane and I've been eating a confit of duck, with salad.
　　And what was it like?
　　Very tasty, sweet but gamey …it was nice, it was really good. It's a fairly light meal.. very,very tasty, moreish!
　　And what about the texture² – sort of chewy or…?
　　It was more of a 'melt in the mouth' taste, which I didn't expect.
　　Jackie:  Well, lots of expressions there which show Diane liked her food. Theyincluded simple words like 'nice' and 'good' which are all fine to describefood that you like. The first one she used was 'very tasty'. 'Tasty'. Thismeans it's nice, it tastes good. It's a fairly informal word but a nice way tosay that you enjoyed food.
　　DianeVery, very tasty, moreish!
　　Jackie:  What was that other word at the end there? Moreish – It's the kind of foodthat makes you want to have more. Moreish is basically³ the word 'more' withand i-s-h or 'ish' on the end to make it into an adjective⁴.
　　Diane..moreishAnd what about the texture – sort of chewy or…?
　　Jackie:  Next I asked about the duck's texture – not so much what it tastes like, aswhat it feels like. Here are some of the expressions you might use todescribe the texture of food.
　　Voice:  Tough – Chewy - TenderJackie:  Let's break those down.
　　Voice:  ToughJackie:  It's usually not a compliment¹ to describe food as tough. If you say 'this meatis quite tough', it means you have to bite quite hard into it – it's not very easyto crush⁶ with your teeth. This is often seen as a bad thing, so if you want tobe nice to someone who has cooked you dinner, don't say the meat is 'tough'.
　　What about the next word?
　　Voice:   ChewyJackie:   This also means the food is not very easy to eat. If something is chewy, youhave to spend quite a long time biting it in your mouth before you canswallow. Your teeth often get stuck in it. Chewing gum⁷ is the perfectexample of something chewy. But, again, to describe meat as 'chewy' is notusually a compliment; we tend to think of good meat as being 'tender⁵'.
　　Voice:  TenderJackie:  This means it's soft, it's easy to chew. It's a word that we usually use onlywhen talking about meat, or maybe some kinds of meaty fish, like tuna.
　　Diane uses an expression which describes something that is really tender.
　　What is that expression?
　　Diane…was it sort of chewy or…?
　　It was more of a 'melt in the mouth' taste, which I didn't expect.
　　Jackie:  'Melt in the mouth' – that means it's so tender, you hardly have to chew it. Itbreaks up very easily and smoothly⁸. To say it's the kind of food that melts inyour mouth is a big complement⁹. I think this is the expression the reallyshows how much Diane likes the food.
　　Jackie:  Well, now it's time to check if you've understood the expressions we'veheard. Here are some questions. Number 1. What expression did we hearwhich you might use to describe something that you can't stop eating?
　　(Answer) - I usually find chocolate cake quite 'moreish' – I might have oneslice, but then I just want more and more.
　　Jackie:  Question 2. Your friend bites into a steak and says it's 'tasty'. Does this meanit's difficult to eat or that she likes it? (Answer)Voice:  Hmmm that pizza is really tasty.
　　Jackie:  Question 3. What word, also beginning with 't', describes something that isdifficult to bite into? (Answer).
　　Voice:  I'm not eating any more of that meat, it's too tough.
　　Jackie:  Question 4. And what expression did Diane use to mean that something is sotender you hardly have to chew it? (Answer)Voice:  The lamb is incredibly tender – it just melts in your mouth.
　　Jackie:  To finish off, let's listen once again to the conversation I had with Dianeabout her duck, cooked by top chef, Gordon Ramsay.
　　DianeMy name's Diane and I've been eating a confit of duck, with salad.
　　And what was it like?
　　Very tasty, sweet but gamey …it was nice, it was really good. It's a fairly light meal – very,very tasty, moreish!
　　And what about the texture – sort of chewy or…?
　　It was more of a 'melt in the mouth' taste, which I didn't expect.
　　Jackie:  Well, I have to say, here at the food show, there's plenty of food I would callmoreish, so I'm off to have some more. But hopefully next time you want totell someone about food you've eaten, some of these phrases will come inuseful.

1 compliment   

n.[pl.]问候，致意；n./v. 称赞，恭维

参考例句：

• The manager paid her a compliment on her work.经理赞扬了她的工作。
• Your presence is a great compliment.承蒙光临，不胜荣幸。

2 texture   

n.(织物)质地；(材料)构造；结构；肌理

参考例句：

• We could feel the smooth texture of silk.我们能感觉出丝绸的光滑质地。
• Her skin has a fine texture.她的皮肤细腻。

3 basically   

adv.基本上，从根本上说

参考例句：

• His heart is basically sound.他的心脏基本上健康。
• Basically I agree with your plan.我基本上同意你的计划。

4 adjective   

n.形容词；adj.形容词的，用作形容词的

参考例句：

• Don't apply that adjective to me.不要用那个字眼来形容我。
• The adjective loose has several senses. 形容词loose有几个义项。

5 tender   

adj.嫩的，柔软的；脆弱的，纤细的；温柔的

参考例句：

• At the tender age of seventeen I left home.早在十七岁的小小年纪，我就离开了家。
• We were sent to boarding school at a tender age.很小的时候我们就被送到了寄宿学校。

6 crush   

v.压垮，压倒，压服，镇压；压碎，碾碎

参考例句：

• This machine is made to crush the rock into powder.这台机器是用来把石头压成碎末的。
• You can't crush so many people into the classroom.不能让这么多人挤进教室。

7 gum   

n.牙龈；口香糖；树胶

参考例句：

• We can stick these pictures into the book with gum.我们可用胶水把这几张画粘贴在书里。
• Americans like to chew gum.美国人喜欢嚼口香糖。

8 smoothly   

adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地

参考例句：

• The workmen are very cooperative,so the work goes on smoothly.工人们十分合作，所以工作进展顺利。
• Just change one or two words and the sentence will read smoothly.这句话只要动一两个字就顺了。

9 complement   

n.补足物，船上的定员；补语；vt.补充，补足

参考例句：

• The two suggestions complement each other.这两条建议相互补充。
• They oppose each other also complement each other.它们相辅相成。