Learn 100+ Common Foods & Dishes in English in 20 Minutes | Food Vocabulary

Hello, lovely students, and welcome back  to English with Lucy. I hope you're hungry  

because I have a delicious video for you today. I  am going to teach you 100 food words and phrases,

but I'm not just going to give  you a list of 100 foods. No,  

no! We are going to learn in a much better way.

I have divided this video into categories.  We're going to focus on pronunciation.  

Commonly confused words. Typical British  meals. What the Brits eat at Christmas.

International foods. Foods that the  British and American say differently.

Foods that have different names across  different English speaking countries.

I think you're going to like it. I think  you're going to learn a lot. And to make  

it even easier for you, tada, I  have made a beautiful free PDF.

You can download this now. It contains all 100 of  

the words and the pictures. You  get access to secret exercises

and I go into more detail. If you would  like to download this for free, just click  

on the link in the description  box or scan this QR code here.

You enter your name and your email address,  

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It's a free service and you can unsubscribe  at any time with just one click.

Okay. Let's get started with the lesson

We're going to start with an easy category  first. Vegetables. Vegetables. But we're going  

to focus on correct, clear pronunciation.  And let's start with the word vegetable.

I say veg-ta-ble, 3 syllables, not ve-ge-ta-ble.

It's not incorrect to use 4 syllables,

some people do,

but it's more common to hear  veg-ta-ble, /ˈvedʒtəbl/. 

Here are 10 vegetables in English  with a focus on correct pronunciation.

We have 'carrot'. 'Carrot'. Notice how I use the  

schwa sound in the second syllable.  /ət/ not /ot/ /ˈkærət/. Not 'carrot'.

Then we have 'beetroot'. 'Beetroot'.

'Broccoli'. 'Broccoli'. That's a hard one to  spell with double 'c', one 'l'. 'Cauliflower'.  

'Cauliflower'. 'Cabbage'. 'Cabbage'.  'Asparagus', 3 schwa sounds there, 'asparagus'.

'Pumpkin'. 'Pumpkin' and 'spinach'.  /ˈspɪnɪtʃ/'. Not /ˈspɪnatʃ/. Not 'spinach'.

'Pea', 'pea', although it's usually  plural—'peas'. And finally. 'Onion'. 'Onion'.

Okay, we've done our vegetables. Let's  move up a level. You're going to see  

10 food items—names and pictures and  10 letters that they contain that are  

silent. Try to match the silent  letter or letters to the food.

Pause the video if you need to.

Are you ready for the answers?

First we have /læm/, 'lamb'. And  this has a silent 'b', 'lamb'. Next,  

some /ˈsæmən/. This has a silent 'l' in it. In  general we don't say /ˈsælmən/—we say /ˈsæmən/.

Next, this one, /ˈsænwɪtʃ/ or  /ˈsænwɪdʒ/. I prefer /ˈsænwɪdʒ/,  

and if I speak quickly, I often  say 'sandwich' with the 'm' sound.

We don't tend to pronounce  the 'd'. The 'd' is silent.

This one /ˈsɔːdfɪʃ/,  /ˈsɔːdfɪʃ/. The 'w' is silent.

What about this one? /ˈdəʊnʌt/,  /ˈdəʊnʌt/. 'G' and 'h' are silent.  

And this is often spelt—'d-o-u-g-h-n-u-t'.  'Doughnut', in North American English,  

which is much closer to its pronunciation.

Next, /ˈsɔːbeɪ/, /ˈsɔːbeɪ/.  'Sorbet' with a silent 't'.

This delicious 'berry', /ˈraːzbəriz/.

We don't pronounce the 'p'.

This one, controversial—/ˈtʃɒklət/, /ˈtʃɒklət/.

We don't tend to say 'cho-co-late' with 3  

syllables. We say 'chocolate' with  2 syllables. So the 'o' is silent.

This one—/ˈɒmlət/, /ˈɒmlət/. We have 2 silent  'e's' there because it comes from French.

And notice 2 syllables—'o-melet', 'not o-me-let'.

And the final one—/hɜːb/ or /ɜrːb/, in American  English. So the 'h' is often silent in American  

English /ɜrːb/, but in British English  it is usually /hɜːb/ with the 'h' sound.

Okay, now we're ready to start  comparing varieties of English.

And we're not just looking at  British and North American English;  

we're going to dive into some other varieties  too. Are you ready? What would you call these?

In British English, we say  'sweets'. In North American  

English, it's 'candy' or 'candies'.  And in Australian English, 'lollies'.

Next, what's this? In British English,  

it's an 'aubergine'. In North  American English, it's an 'eggplant'.

And in Indian and South African  English, 'brinjal', 'brinjal'.

Okay, what's this?

In British English, it's a 'pepper'. It's  a 'bell pepper' in North American English  

because it's shaped like a bell.

And in Australian, New Zealand and  Indian English, it's a 'capsicum'.

Okay, last one. What would you call this?

In British English, it's an 'ice lolly'.

In North American English, it's a 'Popsicle™'.

And notice the capital letter  and the little trademark symbol.

'Popsicle™' is actually a brand name  that is often used for 'ice lollies'.

And in Australian English, it's an 'icy pole'.

Very cute.

Okay, let's come back to Britain now. I'm going to  

show you some of our best love  dishes. Real British dishes.

I'll show you pictures. Can you name them?

This first one—'Fish and chips'.  'Fish and chips'. What about this one?

It's a 'tikka masala'. Normally  a chicken 'tikka masala'.

We love Asian cuisine in the UK.

Next, this is my favorite. I had  one this Sunday. That's a clue.

It's a 'Sunday roast'. 'A Sunday roast'. A  traditional meal that we have every Sunday.

Next, an 'English breakfast', also often called  a 'full English'. A 'full English breakfast'.

This creative and elaborate dish that  is my mum's favorite—'beans on toast'.  

'Beans on toast'. It's a classic five minute  dinner. It's, It's pretty affordable as well.

This one—it's a 'Cornish  pasty', and that's from Cornwall  

and it's meat and potatoes wrapped in pastry.

Next,

a 'shepherd's pie'.

This is lamb's mince with a potato topping. 

Traditionally made with lamb because  shepherds look after sheep. This,  

this is the ultimate luxury in the UK.  If anyone makes you this, they love you.

It's a 'beef wellington', a 'beef wellington'.  It's fillets of beef wrapped in pastry.

'Pie and mash'. 'Pie and mash'.

'Mash' is short for mashed potatoes.

And this one is such a  treat—'afternoon tea'. 'Afternoon tea'.

Have you tried any of those meals?  Let me know in the comments section.

I know we aren't famous for our food in  Britain, but we do have a few really nice meals.

I've put more information about  these meals and the ingredients  

in the PDF. You can click the link in  the description box to download that.

Okay, next section we're going to look  at some commonly confused food words.

And as we just talked about tea,  

let's begin with that. We'll start with  3 commonly confused words for meals.

We have 'lunch', 'dinner' and 'tea'.

When do we usually eat these meals?

Well, generally, 'lunch' is the meal in the middle  of the day, and 'dinner' is the evening meal.

But in some parts of the UK,  particularly in the north of England,

'dinner' is the midday meal, and 'tea' is the  evening meal. It confuses me too. And actually,  

when I was a kid, my mum, who was born in  the south of England, always used to call  

my 'dinner'—"tea". I think it's because I  had it earlier than she did with my dad.

So, sometimes kids have 'tea', and  then their parents have 'dinner' later,  

even though we eat pretty much the  same thing, just in smaller portions.

So, I say 'lunch' for my midday meal and 'dinner'  

for my evening one, but you might choose different  words depending on what people around you say.

Some of our friends say 'supper' for  'dinner'. Some people say 'tea' for 'dinner'.

Here's another pair of commonly confused  words, we have 'to bake' versus 'to roast'. So,  

we 'bake' and 'roast' food in an oven.  But we can also 'roast' food over a fire.

We 'bake' and 'roast' different foods, so we  'bake' things like cakes, muffins, and bread.  

And these foods undergo a transformation in  the oven from a liquid or dough to a solid.

And we usually 'roast' meat and  vegetables. And these foods are  

solid when they go into the  oven and when they come out.

There are some exceptions. We might  'bake' cod, the fish, for example.

I've put the exceptions in the PDF. So,  

if you want to learn more about  the exceptions, download that.

Two examples—'I'm going to bake  a cake for my mum's birthday,  

but I'm roasting a chicken for dinner.'

Two more confusing words, we  have 'salty' versus 'savory'.  

Everyone loves sweet food—apart  from my dad for some reason;  

everyone else loves sweet food. But the  opposite of that—is it savory or salty?

So many of my students say 'sweet' and 'salty',  

but actually the opposite of  'sweet' food is 'savory' food.

'Savory' is a broad category of food,  and it means anything that's not 'sweet'.

'Salty' food is more specific, and it's  used to describe food that tastes of salt,

like crisps.

So, we'd say—'I prefer a savory breakfast  like eggs or bacon', not a 'salty' breakfast.

Unless you are specifically saying that  you want your breakfast to be 'salty'.

And my final pair of confusing  words—'dessert' and 'pudding'.  

'Dessert' is a general term for  a sweet food eaten after a meal.

In some areas of the UK and other places  around the world, 'pudding' or 'pud' for short,  

is also a sweet food eaten after a  meal, so it's a synonym for dessert.

But we can also use 'pudding' to talk about  certain dishes, like 'sticky toffee pudding'.

We wouldn't say 'sticky toffee  dessert'. It's a set name.

However, a 'pudding' can be 'savory' too,  and we will see one later in the video.

And just to add to the confusion,  

in North American English, 'pudding' is  a specific type of cold, creamy dessert.

Okay, we've reached 50 words, which  means we're halfway through the lesson.

Let's move on to our next category. We're going to  

dive back into pronunciation  with 2 different exercises.

First, we'll look at homophones. I'm going  to show you 5 pairs of words. They have  

the same pronunciation, but different  spellings and different meanings.

For each pair, I want you to identify  which one is the food, which one is edible?

First—'mussels', 'muscels'.

Which one is the food? It's the  first one—'mussels'. E-l-s are  

a small type of shellfish. They have black shells.  

And your muscles are here and all  over your body. They help you move

Next—'moose' and 'mousse'.

The second one is a food. It's a cold dessert  

made with eggs and cream. It's  quite light. It's quite airy.

The moose with two 'o's' is a big deer that lives  in North America. Next one—'cereal', 'serial'.

The first one is a food. 'Cereal' with  a 'c' is often eaten for breakfast.

'Serial' with an 's' is a story or  programme published in several parts.  

'Stranger Things' is a popular serial.

Now, we call them series.

Pair 4—we have 'chilli' and 'chilly'.

Okay, this time the food is the first one again.  A chili with an 'i' is a small hot vegetable.

It's normally spelt with one 'l'  in North American English. Now,  

if you're a 'chilly' with  a 'y', you're a bit cold.

And the final pair—a 'leak' and a 'leek'.

I know which one I'd prefer to have under my sink.

The second one is the food.

'Leek'. L-e-e-k. And notice the long  'e' sound—/ˈliːk/ not /ˈlik/—/ˈliːk/  

is like a long onion. It's white at  the bottom and it's green at the top.

It's also the national symbol of Wales.

And a leak with 'ea' is a small hole or crack  that lets liquid or gas flow out by accident.

Okay, for the second part of  our pronunciation category,  

we're going to look at some  commonly mispronounced words.

Here are some 'qu', and 'cu' words that  students often find difficult to pronounce.

Can you say them? Here are the first 3 with 'qu'.

We have 'quiche', 'quiche' with a /k/ sound.

'Squid' with a /kw/ sound,

and 'croquette'. 'Croquette'  with a /k/ sound again.

And here are 2 words containing the letters 'cu'.

This one really gets people—'biscuit'.

That has a /k/ sound. /ˈbɪskɪt/, 'biscuit'.

And the last one is 'cucumber'  with a /kju/ sound, /ˈkjuːkʌmbə/.

Okay, let's leave pronunciation for now  and move on to our next category—different  

food groups. We're talking about  protein and carbohydrates or carbs.

I want you to divide 10 foods according to whether  they are protein rich or carbohydrate rich.

What do they have more of? The foods are 'beef',  'pasta', 'pork', 'chicken', 'rice', 'bread',  

'Greek yoghurt', 'banana', 'fish' and 'oats'.  Pause the video now and try to categorise them.

Okay, here are the answers. Foods  that are protein heavy—'beef',  

'pork', 'chicken', 'Greek yoghurt' and 'fish'.

And foods that are carb heavy—'pasta',  'rice', 'bread', 'banana' and 'oats'.

How did you do with those 10?

Next, I'm going to show you the names of 10 foods,  

and I want you to tell me where they're  from before I tell you the answer.

And I'm only going to say one country  for each, but I'd love it if you could  

name some other countries where they  are popular in the comment section.

We have 'poutine' from Canada, 'kimchi'  from South Korea. I love 'kimchi'.

'Pupusa' from El Salvador.

We have 'nasi lemak' from Malaysia and 'fufu'  

from Ghana. I had this when I was  there recently. It was amazing!

I know, it's popular in lots of other West African  

countries too. We have 'goulash' from  Hungary, 'adobo' from the Philippines.

We have 'salo' from Ukraine,

and 'pho' from Vietnam.

And the last one? 'Ceviche' from Peru.

Okay, 2 more categories to go. We have  traditional British Christmas foods.

Look at this Christmas table!

This is everything we like  to eat on Christmas Day!

We have 'turkey', 'stuffing', 'roast potatoes',  'cranberry sauce', 'Yorkshire puddings',

'gravy', 'pigs in blankets', which are sausages  wrapped in bacon. Everyone's favorites.

'Sprouts', also called 'Brussels sprouts'.

'Christmas pudding' and 'mince pies'.

Now, 'Brussels sprouts' and 'Christmas pudding'  

have a bit of a bad reputation. People  like to say that they don't like them,  

but love them or hate them—they're nearly always  on the table and it becomes very nostalgic for us.

Okay, our final category is the best category,  

and I'm very biased. I love fruit! If I could eat  fruit for the rest of my life and nothing else,

I'd be cool with that. I really would.

I'm going to show you 10 pictures of different

fruits.

You can pause the video and  try to name as many as you can.

Let's name them with clear pronunciation. We  have 'strawberry', /ˈstrɔːbri/, an 'apple',  

/ˈæpl/, a 'passion fruit', /ˈpæʃn  fruːt/. I love 'passion fruit',  

but it's really hard to find good ones in the UK.

'Kiwi', /ˈkiːwi/. 'Pineapple',  /ˈpaɪnæpl/. 'Coconut',  

/ˈkəʊkənʌt/. A 'plum', /plʌm/.  'Blueberries', /ˈbluː briz/.

A 'fig', /fɪɡ/.

and word number 100 is a 'watermelon',  a /ˈwɔːtəmelən/. And I had to end the  

video on 'watermelon' as it is my  favorite food in the entire world.

How many of those fruits did you manage  to name correctly? And out of all of  

those foods? Which one is your favorite  or which one would you most like to try?

Now, as I said, there's a lot of  information that I couldn't fit  

into this video, so I've added it to the free PDF.

There, I go into more detail about  British foods, as well what they contain.

Maybe, if you're planning a trip to the UK, you  could use this to help you decide what to eat.

I really hope you enjoyed this  lesson. I really enjoyed making it,  

and it's made me quite hungry,  so I need to go for dinner now.

Don't forget to download that free PDF.

Also visit englishwithlucy.com  to check out my courses.

We talk a lot about food and British culture in  my B1, B2 and C1 Programmes. You might like those!

I will see you soon in another lesson. Muah!