English food tastes & textures vocabulary part 1 exercise

Imagine that you are in a restaurant with somebody visiting you from another country. The other person doesn't speak your language, so you are both speaking English. You have to describe to him or her what the different dishes on the menu are. Although it is easy to say what something is (it's a chicken dish, it's a rice dish with mushrooms etc...), it is a lot more difficult to tell them how it is cooked or to describe what something tastes like or what texture it has in English.

Knowing the names in English of the different tastes (if it is sweet or salty) and textures (if it is soft or hard) of food (and even drinks) is very important (a taste that one person loves, another person hates). Knowing this vocabulary will both help you to describe food better in English and help you to choose the right type of food for yourself on a menu in English.

In this first of two online exercise on food, you'll learn and remember the adjectives used in English for describing the different tastes and textures of food and drink.

After you have done this online exercise, go to the second part of this online exercise to complete your knowledge of vocabulary used to talk about food tastes and textures in English.

To learn the English vocabulary for how food is cooked (important for understanding restaurant menus), do our online exercise on 'food cooking methods'.

Click here to see more of our free online exercises on food, drink and restaurant vocabulary

Exercise: Food tastes and textures

Read the following conversation between Peter and Juan in a restaurant in Yorkshire. Peter is describing the different tastes and textures of the dishes on a menu.

From the context, try to guess what the meaning of the words/phrases in bold are. Then do the quiz at the end to check if you are right.

Peter:'So Juan, what do you fancy having?'

Juan:'I'm not sure. There's lots of food and dishes from around the world on this menu. You've eaten here before, what's the chicken vindaloo curry like?'

Peter:'It's very hot. The last time I had it, my mouth was burning for about 15 minutes. To be honest, it's a bit bland, it doesn't really taste of anything. If you want to have a curry, I would recommend the tikka masala, it's spicy, they use about 15 different spices in it, but it's not hot. I like it, it's really tasty.'

Juan:'I'm not sure I want Indian food. And the fish and chips?'

Peter:'Although I'm English, I don't like it, it's greasy. It's covered in too much oil for me.'

Juan:'What are the salads like here? They have a caesar salad, is it ok?'

Peter:'Well, yeah. I had it a couple of years ago and it was good. They use fried bacon in the salad as well, which is strange for a caesar salad. The iceberg lettuce and the bacon were very crispy, they make a noise when you first chew them. It has fried croutons, which were so crunchy.

Juan:'Just to be sure that I understand you correctly, croutons are the small pieces of cold fried bread you get in the salad?'

Peter:'That's correct. They are almost like eating a savoury biscuit, or as the Americans call them, cookie.'

Juan:'I hope the caesar sauce here isn't too creamy. In some places it is, it's like you are having a salad with a savoury milkshake. Not good.'

Click to see more food & drink vocabulary exercises

Quiz:

Below is a definition/description of each of the words/phrases in bold from the above text (which you can also find in the grey box below). Answer each question with one of these words/phrases in bold. Only use one word/phrase once and write it as it is in the text. Click on the "Check Answers" button at the bottom of the quiz to check your answers.

When the answer is correct, two icons will appear next to the question which you can press/click on. In the first icon, , you can find extra information about the word/phrase (e.g. when, where and how to use etc...). In the second, , is where you can listen to the word/phrase.

Words/phrases to use in the quiz

1. Food that is cooked with a lot of oil or fat, is often

Greasy:
(adjective) It is used for food that is fried like chips, crisps etc... Something that still has a lot of oil or fat after cooking. This is normally used as a negative describing adjective. In Spanish: "grasiento".

Greasy:

2. Food that when first chewed has a hard texture and makes a noise in the mouth (e.g. fried bacon), is

Crispy:
(adjective) This is the texture of food that is fried at a high temperature quickly like bacon, crisps, rice krispies, but it is also used for lettuce. It is very similar to crunchy, but crispy makes less sound in the mouth when chewing and for less time. A little confusing. In Spanish: "crujiente".

Crispy:

3. Food that contains a lot of different types of spices but doesn't burn your mouth, is

Spicy:
(adjective) It is a taste. It describes food that tastes very strongly of spices that are used in it. It is often used to describe food from India or Morocco . It is used by some people with a similar meaning to 'hot', meaning cooked with a lot of chillies. In Spanish: "muy condimentado".

Spicy:

4. Normally, the dessert is sweet and the main course is

Savoury:
(adjective) It is a way of grouping food by taste. It is used to describe food that is the opposite of sweet. For example meat, cheese, vegetables are all savoury types of food. In Spanish: "salado".

Savoury:

5. Food that contains a lot of chillies, is

Hot:
(adjective) 'Hot' has two different meanings. One, is to describe food that has a high temperature. But in this context 'hot' describes food that contains a lot of chillies and it can feel like your mouth is burning. It is often used to describe food from India or Mexico. Some people use 'spicy' with a similar meaning. In Spanish: "picante".

Hot:

6. Food that makes a loud noise in the mouth when chewed, is

Crunchy:
(adjective) A texture. It is often used for foods that are baked like cookies, biscuits, bread or some fried foods like chip/french fries. It is similar to 'crispy', but crunchy foods make a louder sound and for longer in the mouth when chewing. The opposite of crunchy is 'soggy'. In Spanish: "crujiente".

Crunchy:

7. Food that doesn't have a strong taste of anything, is

Bland:
(adjective) It is used as a negative adjective to describe food with little distinctive taste. In Spanish: "soso/insípido".

Bland:

8. When something has a good taste or flavour, it is

Tasty:
(adjective) It is used as a positive adjective with food, it means something has a good taste. In Spanish: "sabroso/rico".

Tasty:

9. Food that is made from milk products, is often

Creamy:
(adjective) It is a texture. It is used to describe liquids, sauces and desserts that are made from milk products and are thick, e.g. 'milkshake'. In Spanish: "cremoso".

Creamy:

Now go to the second part of this online exercise to complete your knowledge of vocabulary used to talk about food tastes and textures in English.

Click to see more food & drink vocabulary exercises

Practice

Now that you understand the food tastes and textures vocabulary, practise it by describing the taste and texture of some types of dishes from your own country in English.

This is me, Chris Clayton, the owner and main writer for Blair English. I'm also a part-time English teacher in sunny Spain. I have a love of history and the web. I hope you find the website useful.