In the first part of this online exercise you learnt some vocabulary which is used in English to describe the tastes and textures of food. In this second part, you'll learn more vocabulary for describing the tastes and textures of food and complete your knowledge.

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

In the following conversation between Peter and Juan in a restaurant in Yorkshire, Peter continues to describe 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.

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.'

Peter:' Maybe, they do use a little too much cream in it here. There's another salad though that I had the last time I was here, called the Naples salad. It's got so many different things in it, it has anchovies that are very salty, but it also has small pieces of lemon that gives the salad a bit of a sour taste.'

Juan:'That sounds like something I would like.'

Peter:' And because it's in theory Italian it also has pieces of parmesan in it, the hard cheese that they grate on top of Italian pasta. It doesn't sound good, but the combination works very well.'

Juan:'I'll order that. Have you looked at the desserts? They have a coffee cake, I like coffee, but the last time I had one was in Spain and it had a very bitter taste, it was like I was eating coffee without the cake.'

Peter:'I don't know. I've never tried it. I've had the toffee ice cream, which was really good. The ice cream is very creamy and it has small pieces of toffee in it, they are really chewy, they get stuck in your teeth. There's also the butter croissant, which is really flaky and it comes with a smooth raspberry sauce.'

Juan:'That's good. I don't like it when a sauce has pieces or bits of fruit in it. And the chocolate cake?'

Peter:'It's very rich, it's almost like you're eating a bar of chocolate.'

Juan:'Does rich mean sweet?'

Peter:'No, it's about the intensity of the flavour. Like a sauce or gravy made from chicken would be called rich if it has a very strong taste of chicken.'

Juan:'I understand what you mean.'



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" button at the bottom of the quiz to check your answers.

When the answer is correct, two icons will appear next to the answer. The icon contains extra information on the word/phrase. In the icon, you can listen to the pronunciation of the word/phrase.

Words/phrases to use in the quiz

1. Dark chocolate (without milk) has a taste that is

         

Bitter:
(adjective) It is a taste that many people don't like. Coffee has a bitter taste, and both orange peel and grapefruit are bitter. In Spanish: "amargo".

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Bitter:
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2. The opposite of soft is

         

Hard:
(adjective) It is a texture. It is used for foods that are difficult to chew or bite, e.g. some types of sweets or candies. In Spanish: "duro".

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Hard:
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3. Food that has a lot of salt in it, is described as

         

Salty:
(adjective) It is a taste. This is sometimes used as a negative describing adjective, when the person think that some food has too much salt in it. In Spanish: "salado".

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Salty:
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4. Food that has an intense taste of one of its ingredient (like chocolate or beef), is called

         

Rich:
(adjective) This is generally used to describe sauces or cakes, when it contains a strong flavour of something (like spices, sugar, meat etc..), e.g. 'the sauce with the duck was very rich'. This is normally used as a positive describing adjective. In Spanish: "sustancioso".

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Rich:
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5. A milkshake is normally creamy and

         

Smooth:
(adjective) A texture. In this context it is used for liquids (e.g. sauces) and means that there are no pieces or lumps in the liquid, e.g. 'tomato ketchup is smooth'. In Spanish: "sin grumos".

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Smooth:
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6. Food like croissants that breaks very easily into small and delicate pieces, is

         

Flaky:
(adjective) It is a texture. It is normally used to describe the texture of pastries (like croissants) or pies that break into thin small pieces/flakes when eating. In Spanish: "hojaldrado".

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Flaky:
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7. When you have to bite food in your mouth for a long time before swallowing it, it is

         

Chewy:
(adjective) A texture. It is normally used to describe sweets like toffee or chewing gum. When it is used to describe the texture of any meat, it is a negative adjective, e.g. 'The steak is chewy.' In Spanish: "masticable/fibroso".

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Chewy:
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8. A lemon has a taste that is

         

Sour:
(adjective) A taste. It is normally used to describe the tastes of some fruits like limes, lemons and some types of apples. In Spanish: "ácido".

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Sour:
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Practice

Now that you understand the meaning of the words/phrases and when to use them, practise using them by creating your own sentences with them in English. Also click on the icon next to each correct answer and listen how each is pronounced correctly.