Topic: Food | Speaking for IELTS PDF Download

Vocabulary  

Dine in: dine at home.

Example: We’re dining in tonight.

Dine out: dine at a restaurant.

Example: We’re dining out tonight.

Fussy eater: someone who is very picky about the food and doesn’t eat everything.

Example: My husband is a fussy eater, and he’s never pleased with my cooking.

Home-cooked food: food cooked at home, usually implies that food is healthy.

Example: Preparing home-cooked food is a good way to make a balanced meal.

In a walking distance of: close to.

Example: I usually dine at a restaurant that’s in a walking distance of my home.

Italian cuisine: traditional Italian food. You can also say French cuisine, Russian cuisine, Chinese cuisine and so on.

Example: I adore pasta, pizza and Italian cuisine in general.

More of a chore than a pleasure: something you do rather unwillingly.

Example: I think that cooking is more of a chore than a pleasure.

Mouth–watering: delicious, appetizing.

My mouth is watering: that is to say you find something very appetizing. People use this expression when they see/smell food that looks very delicious.

Example: My mouth is watering every time I think about my grandmother’s apple pie.

Nutritious products: products rich in calories.

Example: A nutricious breakfast is a great way to start the day, as it gives your body the nutrients and you get enough energy.

Processed food: food that has been modified in an undesirable or unhealthy way to achieve its current state.

Example: Try to avoid processed foods like flavored nuts and cereal bars. It is much healthier to eat organic food.

Quality justifies the bill: when a product is worth buying due its good quality, even if it’s expensive.

Example: I first thought those strawberries were too expensive, but when I tasted them I understood that their quality justified the bill.

Quick snack: a light and quick meal, usually unhealthy.

Example: Eating quick snack instead of main meal can be harmful for stomach.

Ready meal: a meal that you buy already cooked, which only requires reheating to be eaten.

Example: I had no desire to cook, so I bought a ready meal in a nearby supermarket.

Restrain one’s hunger: to avoid eating when you really want to. Usually practiced during diets.

Example: John couldn’t restrain his hunger anymore and went to the nearest fast-food restaurant.

Slap-up meal: a quick and fatty meal. To slap up means to cook something very quickly.

Example: I feel like making a slap-up meal tonight.

Starving hungry: to be extremely hungry.

Example: I woke up starving hungry yesterday and ate the whole roast chicken.

Take-away: a meal prepared in a café/restaurant and eaten at home.

Example: I’m going to ring the Japanese restaurant and order a takeaway.

The main meal: the most important meal of the day.

To be dying of hunger: an exaggerated way of saying you are really hungry.

Example: I haven’t eaten all day. I’m dying of hunger!

To be full-up: to eat to the point that you can’t eat anymore.

Example: Would you like more chips? – No, thank you, I’m already full-up!

To be ravenous (to have ravenous appetite): to be really hungry, starving, voracious.

Example: After working all day, I had a ravenous appetite.

To be starving hungry: an exaggerated way of saying you are very hungry.

To bolt something down: to eat a large amount of food very quickly.

Example: Don’t bolt your food down like that, it’s very rude!

To catch a snack: to eat a little portion of food very quickly.

To eat a balanced diet: to eat correctly and in time.

To eat like a horse: to always eat a lot.

Example: She’s so thin, yet she eats like a horse.

To follow a recipe: to cook a meal using instructions.

Example: Although she had never cooked a jugged hare before, she followed a recipe and made a fantastic meal.

To foot the bill: to pay the bill.

Example: You paid for dinner last time. Let me foot the bill for lunch today.

To grab a bite to eat: to eat something quickly.

Example: I won’t eat the whole cake, just let me grab a bite to eat.

To have a sweet tooth: to enjoy eating sweet food.

Example: Dave eats candy all the time. He must have a sweet tooth.

To overeat oneself: eat too much, eat immodestly.

Example: If you overeat, you’re bound to get fat.

To play with your food: to push food around the plate without eating it.

To spoil your appetite: to do something that would hinder your desire to eat.

Example: Stop talking about the snails, you’re spoiling my appetite!

To tuck into: to eat something greadily and with pleasure.

Example: After not eating the whole day, he tucked into the ham like a savage.

To wine and dine: to banquet, to “entertain with good food”. If you wine and dine someone, you usually take him out to dinner at a fancy restaurant.

Example: The company wined and dined us, hoping to convince us we should accept the job.

To work up an appetite: to do something that will lead to hunger.

Example: He must have worked up an appetite in the gym.