Food & Flavours: Vocabulary for Taste (A2)
A2 ⏱ 5 minutes
Food & Flavours: Vocabulary for Taste
“From my mother’s mustard-seed tempering in Chittagong to the beurre blanc at Uccello to the rougail saucisse in Saint-Denis — food has always been a language I understood. Every dish speaks in flavours, and English gives you the words to name them.”
🎯 Aim: Learn 12 English adjectives for describing how food tastes, smells, and feels in your mouth.
Vocabulary
| Word | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| bitter | sharp, unpleasant taste (like coffee or dark chocolate) | This coffee is very bitter — add some sugar. |
| sour | acidic taste (like lemon or vinegar) | These green mangoes are so sour! |
| sweet | tastes like sugar or honey | The gulab jamun was wonderfully sweet. |
| salty | tastes of salt | The chips were too salty for me. |
| spicy | hot from chilli or pepper | Réunion’s rougail can be very spicy. |
| tangy | strong sharp flavour (pleasant) | The tamarind sauce had a lovely tangy kick. |
| rich | strong, heavy, full of flavour or fat | The cheese sauce was incredibly rich. |
| creamy | smooth and containing cream or fat | The beurre blanc at Uccello was perfectly creamy. |
| smoky | smells or tastes of smoke | The grilled aubergine had a deep smoky flavour. |
| fragrant | has a pleasant, gentle smell or taste | My mother’s kitchen was always fragrant with mustard seeds. |
| tender | soft and easy to cut or chew (meat, fish) | The slow-cooked lamb was perfectly tender. |
| crunchy | makes a noise when you bite it | I love the crunchy papadums with dal. |
Quick Note: Texture vs Taste
Tip: Some words describe taste (bitter, sour, sweet, salty, spicy, tangy, rich). Others describe texture — how food feels in your mouth (creamy, tender, crunchy). Smoky and fragrant are about smell as much as taste.
Examples in Context
- “This chocolate is bitter — I prefer something sweeter.”
- “The lemon dressing is tangy and fragrant with herbs.”
- “The steak was tender with a smoky crust.”
- “Réunion Creole food is spicy, rich, and absolutely delicious.”
Practice Task 1: Match the flavour to the food
Match each food to its most likely flavour word. More than one answer may be possible — justify your choice!
- Dark chocolate 70%
- Fresh lemon juice
- A McDonald’s French fry
- Smoked salmon
- Basmati rice with cardamom
- Whipped cream
Show suggested answers
- Dark chocolate → bitter (also: rich)
- Fresh lemon juice → sour (also: tangy)
- French fry → salty (also: crunchy)
- Smoked salmon → smoky (also: rich, salty)
- Basmati rice with cardamom → fragrant
- Whipped cream → creamy (also: sweet)
Practice Task 2: Fill in the blank
Choose the best word from the box: spicy, tender, tangy, crunchy, rich, bitter
- My grandmother’s curry is so ________ — it makes my eyes water!
- The salad had a ________ dressing made with lime and ginger.
- This espresso is too ________ for me. I need milk.
- The beef stew cooked for four hours — the meat was incredibly ________.
- I love the ________ texture of toasted nuts on a salad.
- A good Barossa Shiraz is full-bodied and ________.
Show answers
- spicy
- tangy
- bitter
- tender
- crunchy
- rich
🏠 Takeaway: Next time you eat something, try to describe it in English using today’s vocabulary. What is bitter, sour, sweet, salty, spicy, tangy, rich, creamy, smoky, fragrant, tender or crunchy in your kitchen right now?
Independent project. Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or accredited by Cambridge University Press & Assessment. Confers no qualification.
Header image credit: Photo: Ubud Writers Festival, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
