look at food and the language used to describe food – whether it's at

someone's house after you've just had a lovely meal and you want to

compliment them, or if you want to tell someone about a dish that you've

just had and describe what it's like. And the best possible place to do all this

is at London's Good Food Show, which is held every year, and we're going

to wander round and talk to some people here and ask them to describe the

kind 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 show

that she likes it?

Diane

My 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, lots of expressions there which show Diane liked her food. They

included simple words like 'nice' and 'good' which are all fine to describe

food that you like. The first one she used was 'very tasty'. 'Tasty'. This 

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means it's nice, it tastes good. It's a fairly informal word but a nice way to

say that you enjoyed food.

Diane

Very, very tasty, moreish!

Jackie: What was that other word at the end there? Moreish – It's the kind of food

that makes you want to have more. Moreish is basically the word 'more' with

and i-s-h or 'ish' on the end to make it into an adjective.

Diane

..moreish

And what about the texture – sort of chewy or…?

Jackie: Next I asked about the duck's texture – not so much what it tastes like, as

what it feels like. Here are some of the expressions you might use to

describe the texture of food.

Voice: Tough – Chewy - Tender

Jackie: Let's break those down.

Voice: Tough

Jackie: It's usually not a compliment to describe food as tough. If you say 'this meat

is quite tough', it means you have to bite quite hard into it – it's not very easy

to crush with your teeth. This is often seen as a bad thing, so if you want to

be nice to someone who has cooked you dinner, don't say the meat is 'tough'.

What about the next word?

Voice: Chewy 

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Jackie: This also means the food is not very easy to eat. If something is chewy, you

have to spend quite a long time biting it in your mouth before you can

swallow. Your teeth often get stuck in it. Chewing gum is the perfect

example of something chewy. But, again, to describe meat as 'chewy' is not

usually a compliment; we tend to think of good meat as being 'tender'.

Voice: Tender

Jackie: This means it's soft, it's easy to chew. It's a word that we usually use only

when 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. It

breaks up very easily and smoothly. To say it's the kind of food that melts in

your mouth is a big complement. I think this is the expression the really

shows how much Diane likes the food.

Jackie: Well, now it's time to check if you've understood the expressions we've

heard. Here are some questions. Number 1. What expression did we hear

which you might use to describe something that you can't stop eating?

(Answer) - I usually find chocolate cake quite 'moreish' – I might have one

slice, but then I just want more and more.

Jackie: Question 2. Your friend bites into a steak and says it's 'tasty'. Does this mean

it's difficult to eat or that she likes it? (Answer)

Voice: Hmmm that pizza is really tasty. 

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Jackie: Question 3. What word, also beginning with 't', describes something that is

difficult 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 so

tender 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 Diane

about her duck, cooked by top chef, Gordon Ramsay.

Diane

My 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 call

moreish, so I'm off to have some more. But hopefully next time you want to

tell someone about food you've eaten, some of these phrases will come in

useful.