How to Describe Food in English - Two English Teachers Try Food From Around the World. 🍪🦐🍅

- So you might notice that there's a lot of food

on the table in front of us.

Brent and I are going to try some of this food

in this English lesson,

and you might recognize some of this food.

None of this food is from Canada or the United States.

It's all from different countries around the world.

Maybe some of this is from one of your countries.

- So in this English lesson,

you are going to learn how to describe food,

and we're gonna have a lot of fun tasting it.

- Yes, and this is part one of two videos.

This lesson is on my channel.

Part two will be on Brent's channel,

Speak English With This Guy,

and you can go watch it right after this one.

(bright upbeat music)

(camera shutters)

(keyboard clacking)

So we're gonna try these one at a time.

The first thing we're going to try are these

plantain chips from Colombia.

I think I would say this as Maduritos.

Hopefully I'm saying that properly.

- Yeah, please don't get mad at us if we mispronounce

something that's not English.

- Here we go.

You wanna try one first? - Sure. Thank you.

And I will actually be in Colombia in a few months.

Just a quick stop there

but looking forward to visiting.

(horn blaring) (Brent munching)

Already, from here I can hear crunching.

- Definitely crunchy.

If I was gonna describe these, they are crunchy.

They're a little bit sweet.

We might say in English, there's a hint of sweetness.

Like they're not overly sugary to me

but maybe in North America we eat too much sugar.

So stuff with a normal amount of sugar doesn't taste sweet.

- These remind me a little bit of potato chips.

But where potato chips are definitely unhealthy

and you can feel the grease as you are eating them.

These seem like a healthy version of potato chips.

- Yes, definitely, and it even says on the package

that they're crunchy.

So that's the word I would pick above all,

these are crunchy and yummy, by the way.

So this next food item is from the United Arab Emirates,

and in Canada we would call these Cheezies.

You would probably call them...

- We'd call 'em cheese curls.

- Cheese curls. Yeah, and it looks pretty yummy.

I do wanna mention before we taste these though,

we will be talking with food in our mouth occasionally,

which is considered rude.

But for the sake of this English lesson

and for the sake of time, we're gonna try

and do that as little as possible but it will still happen.

(plastic rustling)

- Talking and eating are often difficult to do.

Whoa. Okay, first thought.

These look different.

- Yeah, it's a tube. I wasn't expecting that.

- No.

- It's definitely cheesy.

- Absolutely.

- That is very cheesy.

- These are way more flavorful

than the cheese curls I eat in the United States.

- Yes, there might be a little more

than just cheese flavoring in here

but they're definitely crunchy as well, crispy, crunchy.

But I would say cheesy is the best word to describe these.

- Absolutely. They got a little bit of a bite too.

The cheese is sharp.

- Yes, but it's very good.

So this next food item is called Choco Pie,

and they come individually wrapped.

It's like a little chocolate cookie or cake.

Hopefully they're easy to open.

- And I know we're describing food here

but we can describe this crinkly wrapper.

- Oh, it's definitely crinkly.

- I was trying to be quiet while you were talking

but it's difficult.

I'm a bit of a chocoholic.

So in English, when you really love something,

that might be a little messy too, huh?

- It's a little crumbly.

- Mmm, mm. Little dry.

- A little dry.

Tasty. Again, not as sweet as I was expecting.

- Mm-mm.

- I think again, as North Americans we have a sweet tooth

and this is less sugar than we're used to.

Not as crunchy as I was expecting.

I thought the wafers inside and the filling,

that's what's inside, I think is marshmallow, it is tasty.

- It is tasty but definitely less sweet

than something you would normally buy here in North America.

- It's a little crumbly too,

I don't know if I mentioned that.

- A little messy to eat.

We may want to put a bib on later.

- Definitely delicious. That's a good word to describe it.

- I'm just gonna keep eating this.

- I'm gonna eat the whole thing.

I think we forgot to mention where these are from.

Where are they from?

- Yeah, they're from South Korea.

- Yes. Thank you for sending them over.

So this next item I'm a little worried about

because I don't really like shrimp.

These are from China, and they are shrimp flakes,

shrimp flakes.

- Yeah, I'm not sure how flakes are different from chips.

Maybe they're thinner.

Total surprise. Ooh.

- I'm smelling these before I eat them.

- I wonder if any shrimp were hurt

in the production of these shrimp flakes.

- They're lightly salted, I would describe 'em that way.

- I think anytime you eat anything seafood like,

you're going to be tasting some salt.

- And they're lightly flavored. It's not a strong flavor.

So I think these are okay.

I did just taste it though.

At the back of my mouth, there's a bit of an aftertaste

and it's definitely shrimp.

- Yes, that second chip where it really hits.

- Yeah. - The shrimp flavor.

- So I would say I kind of like them.

- Yeah, I could eat a bunch of these

while watching a movie.

- Oh, yeah. That would work. (indistinct)

Yep, and with something to drink for sure.

So this next thing is a drink.

I didn't mention this at the beginning

but we do have some drinks as well.

And this is Mexican Cola from...

Where do you think it's from?

- I'm gonna guess Mexico. - Yeah, it's from Mexico.

So you wanna talk about the kind of top.

- Sure. Yeah, for this, it's not a twist off.

Later on. - Oh, it's fizzy.

It's fizzy. - Oh, yeah, definitely fizzy.

You need a bottle opener for this kind of soda.

And living in the United States,

I know there is a difference between regular cola

and Mexican Cola.

Mexican Cola is usually made with real sugar cane,

while the American stuff is usually made

with the fake sugar.

- So it's definitely fizzy

and it definitely has a different kind of sweetness,

like a more natural tasting sweetness.

I'm making it sound like I'm a sugar expert.

I kind of am a sugar expert, I think.

- I think anybody living in North America

we're sugar experts because we consume so much of it.

- Yes. So it's definitely yummy, I would say that.

It's definitely something I would drink

unless it has caffeine in it

and then I would try to avoid it.

But I give this two thumbs up actually.

- Yeah. This is pretty good.

This is a nice alternative to the regular Coke.

- Yeah. Thanks, Mexico.

Our next food item, our next snack is from the Netherlands,

and these are cookies and they're called Speculaas cookies.

I ate these growing up and I love them

and I'm looking forward- - Oh, wow.

- To seeing how Brent reacts to the flavor.

- I've never seen them, I've never heard of them.

- Sorry, I'm struggling a bit with this packaging.

There's another package inside.

- Sometimes it's as if the manufacturer

doesn't want you to eat the product.

- We also called them windmill cookies

'cause there's a design.

This is not the windmill though

but some of them have windmills on them.

(both munching)

- Mmm.

- Okay.

- I would describe this as spicy.

Now be careful. We have two types of spicy in English.

Spicy might be made with lots of spices

like clove or ginger.

I taste something like clove or ginger in these,

but they're not hot.

- Yeah, it's definitely not a sweet cookie.

It has some sweetness to it,

but it's definitely a spice cookie,

which is what I like about it.

It's really good with tea, it's really good with coffee.

And as kids, we did fight over who got the one

with the windmill on it, but I love 'em,

but we buy these all the time.

- It reminds me of something we call a gingersnap.

- Yes. Very close to that.

I think I am doing most of the sweet stuff,

but these are biscuits with chocolate and cherry.

They're from Poland, from a company called Krakus, I think.

So you might hear some rain while we're doing this one.

It is starting to rain. (plastic rustling)

But we're under a canopy, so...

- And I've actually had these before. They're very good.

I could eat the whole package, I could eat the whole sleeve.

You might call something thin like this,

a sleeve of cookies.

- Yes. So it's kind of a wafer.

A wafer cookie is kind of like a cookie like this.

I don't know how else to describe it

and it has cherry filling.

So filling again is something inside of something

and it's very good.

- Yeah, it tastes almost like a jam or a jelly.

- Mm-hmm. Yeah, I like this one.

- It's a good one.

- Yeah. Sorry for talking with my mouthful again.

I'm just excited when something tastes really good

and usually when it has chocolate on it

but definitely good.

- We could call this a keeper.

If you really like it, it's a keeper.

- Definitely.

So another drink here, another soda

or in Canada we would call it pop, and this is Fanta orange.

I bought this because every international food store

I went to had this and one of the people working there

insisted that this is one of the most popular drinks

in the world.

So we're gonna give it a try.

- Which I thought was interesting when Bob told me this

because in the United States, I know we have orange Sunkist

and we also have an orange soda called Crush.

I wouldn't even consider Fanta the most popular orange soda

in the United States.

- It definitely smells orangey.

Is that a word, orangey?

- I think so. It is now.

Should we Cheers. (glass clinking)

- Cheers. - Cheers.

- Again, fizzy, but you would expect that from a soda.

- Right.

I think the cola we had a little while ago

was more carbonated.

- Yes. - It had more bubbles.

- This is a little more flat,

that's how we would describe it.

Definitely a little more flat, maybe because it's imported.

Maybe if it was made here it would be a little more fizzy

But I like it.

It's not my cup of tea, but I know it's not tea

but it's not necessarily something I would drink.

I liked the cola better.

Hopefully that doesn't offend the people at Fanta.

So these next cookies are from Croatia

and they are called chocolate cream wafers.

So let's give them a try.

(plastic rustling)

- You didn't want to pronounce the Croatian name.

- Napolitanke, so I'm not sure I'm saying that.

- Nailed it, I think.

- It's okay.

I don't wanna say anything offensive to people in Croatia,

but it's a little stale.

- I think so. - A little stale.

- They might have been in the package a little too long.

- It's not your fault, Croatia.

I think that they were probably just on the boat too long

and maybe in the store too long.

They do have a subtle,

like the chocolate flavor is very subtle, I do like that.

- Yeah, it doesn't hit you in the face with chocolate.

And we noticed that there's a best by date on here.

That might be a good term to know.

- Yes.

- A best by date is usually on a package saying like,

"Eat this before this date." - Before this date.

best by, sometimes best before date.

So they're okay.

That's all. I'll leave it with that.

They're okay.

- Maybe they're a middle of the road kind of snack.

- Yes, and again, Croatia, you're still awesome.

Just these maybe were a little on the shelf for too long.

So these look delicious.

They're from Serbia and it says apricot tart.

- And in the United States we have two ways to say apricot.

I say it like Bob the Canadian,

but if you go to the southern part of the United States,

you might hear apricot.

- I have to figure out how to get these open.

Oh, there's a little pull tab in the corner here.

But that doesn't make it any easier, apparently.

Okay, just a sec. I did bring a knife out.

Watch out, Brent. - Yeah. (chuckles).

I think these snacks are trying to tell us,

"Listen, you've eaten too many already, stop eating."

- There you go. - So...

- So it doesn't have a filling

and I wouldn't call it a topping.

A filling would be in the middle

and this is definitely kind of just inserted.

So let's see what it taste like.

It looks like apricot jam.

- Pleasant.

- It's definitely sticky.

- Mm-hmm.

- The jam is sticky.

That means it's like stuck to my teeth right now.

- It's a little flaky.

It's almost coming apart, little crumbs-

- Yeah. - Are falling off.

- And I would say the bottom tastes a little bit

like a shortbread cookie.

That's a common cookie in this part of the world.

- And shortbread cookies tend not to have a lot of sugar.

- Yeah. This is good though, I like this.

So this next item, it says Toronto

but it's not from Toronto, it's from Argentina,

and these are chocolate covered hazelnuts.

You're not allergic to nuts, are you?

- Oh, no, I'm not. - Okay, good.

- I love hazelnuts. (plastic rustling)

So- - Opens very easily.

- Very good. - Oh.

- If you're not sure what a hazelnut is,

if you ever eat Nutella, that's hazelnut spread.

- They're also individually wrapped.

Very handy. - Oh, nice.

Let's unwrap this.

- Oh, sorry, I went before you.

- Oh. - Oh, well.

- I'm wondering... - It's very shiny.

It's a shiny ball of chocolate.

- One thing you have to be careful of,

when you bite into this, are you going to break your teeth

or are you going to suck on it first?

- It was definitely harder than I was expecting.

- But you can bite through it.

- And, hmm.

- Little crunch from the hazelnuts.

- Yeah, and I think there's little pieces of hazelnut in it.

It's not one big hazelnut. - Mm-mm.

- Definitely bite sized.

I would describe it as bite sized and scrumptious like,

I don't know if you can see on my face,

I look unemotional right now,

but yeah, those are yummy.

- What are you getting more of?

Are you getting more of the hazelnut

or more of the chocolate?

- I'm getting a bit of both.

It's well balanced, but definitely, I taste hazelnut now.

Now that I'm done eating one, I mostly taste hazelnut.

The chocolate was again, subtle,

like some of the other chocolate things we had

but very good, I loved it.

- And as the chocolate melts in your mouth,

it gets nice and smooth and creamy.

- Yeah, so most of these snacks, my kids are eating

after we're done shooting the video,

they will not be eating these,

Jen and I will be eating these.

I might share some with Brent, we'll see.

- So you're going to hoard them?

- I'm gonna hoard them.

So this last snack is from France

and it's one of my favorites.

I love macarons, but most people in North America say...

- Yeah, that's a little tough to say.

So we probably just say macaroons.

- Yes, they're very yummy.

There's a variety of flavors in here.

Let me get it open.

- I've also had these many times,

I've been kind of thinking these might be the best.

One reason I rarely get them

is because they're usually quite expensive.

- Hmm. They were expensive, but they're definitely worth it.

- What I like about-

- That's a great way to describe these.

- Expensive. - These are worth it.

- Oh. - No, they're worth it.

Mmm, mmm.

- And what I like about these

is they have like a little crust

that you have to bite through but the inside is really soft.

- Mm-hmm.

- How many are you going to eat before we stop?

- I know I had the strawberry, I'm gonna have the lemon now.

Oh, I mushed this one a little bit, that's a good word too.

- Mm-hmm. - Mmm.

- I like the lemon because it's tart, it's really sour.

- Hmm. Oh, you have the lemon.

- And it has a little bit of a bite, yeah.

- Crunchy on the outside, bit of a crust.

Soft and delicious and sugary on the inside.

Hmm, and I love it because the flavor is perfect.

It's not too lemony, it's not...

It's perfect. I love them.

Well, hey, thanks so much for watching this video.

I hope Brent and I were able to teach you

some new words that you can use to describe food.

It was a fun video for us to shoot

and we're certainly feeling a little bit full

but not too full.

Remember, if this is your first time here,

don't forget to click the subscribe button.

Gimme a thumbs up, leave a comment

and if you have time...

- Yeah, check out my channel.

If you wanna learn more ways to describe food.

There's probably a link up there somewhere.

- Yeah, somewhere, I'll put a-

- Maybe in the description too.

- A link to Brent's video maybe right here

or in the description.

(bright upbeat music)