Actual English 17 - Cooking

Reference: http://home.ebse.co.kr/actualenglish/

 

Actual Talk

https://my.pcloud.com/publink/show?code=XZjvEx7Z9NsRNvtQxX78F1dxIfphFjhnjfsV

 

M:       Last night I made some of my famous tomato soup and grilled cheese and I’m thinking of the aromas, still in my head now.

W:       Wow. You’re making my mouth water right now. You like cooking?

M:      I would say, I’m a good cook, but I’m not a chef. I have two very good friends at home who are excellent chefs.

W:       Do you do most of the cooking at home?

M:       I tend to, because my wife is busy cooking separate meals for the babies. So then I’ll throw something together for us.

W:       So you tend to cook western style dishes?

M:       Only! She’ll cook Korean style stuff.

W:       Do you like eating Korean food?

M:       I love eating Korean food. I’m just not good at making it.

W:       So what’s the favorite dish that you like to make?

M:       I have this great summer pasta. It’s a lemon, cream pasta with some sautéed broccoli and chicken. It’s really nice.

W:       Is that your special recipe?

M:      That is my favorite special recipe to make for people when they come over. I love cooking for guests. I have twenty to thirty people over for Christmas every year. I’ll cook a big turkey, a ham, and all the fixings.

W:       So you've got the drinks before the main meal and the appetizers?

M:       Oh, and the cheese plate, and everything. I kind of go all out. I love entertaining. What about you?

W:       Me? I tend to cook for a smaller group. I can’t cook for twenty to thirty people. All I can cook on a large scale is/would be ramyun. I like to cook little nibblies, (snack, tidbit of food) like cheese crackers and cheese platters and stuff like that. I like to cook Korean food, ‘cause I learned that from my mother when I was back in Australia. Back (at) home, we used to cook it at home, because there was nowhere else to buy it. So any party food like japchae, I tend to cook.

 

• aroma: [uh-roh-muh]   syn. scent, fragrance           (good-smell from spices, plants, cooking)
• chef: [shef]      syn. chief cook, gourmet chef cuisine  (chief cook – esp. in a restaurant or hotel)                  
• sauté: [saw-tey]                                      (cooked or browned in a pan containing a small quantity of butter, oil)
• recipe: [res-uh-pee]                                 (a set of instructions for making or preparing something, especially a food dish)
• appetizer: [ap-i-tahy-zer]    syn. antipasto, aperitif
• (a small portion of a food or drink served before a meal to stimulate the desire to eat)

 (not) good at making / cooking ~.

• I’m not good at making side dishes.

• I’m good at cooking Western food.

 

have ~ (people) over for + occasion.

• I have twenty-some people over for my birthday every year.

• I had a whole bunch of friends over for my house-warming party.

 

All I can cook is / would be + (type of) food.

• All I can cook would be ramyun.

• All I can cook is something simple.

• All I know how to cook is fried rice.

 

 

Actual Story

https://my.pcloud.com/publink/show?code=XZRvEx7ZFy9xp1U7lYJMLNDxMJIvbzFKQgj7

(Actual Interview Question: Tell us about cooking at home.)

 

I really like cooking. I think that to gather everything at home, to chop things, to smell all the food that you're cooking, to boil it in a pot, to wait for it - it´s sort of in a way, a very therapeutic experience. I remember last year when I had this really bad breakup - all I would do is cook at home. I would make all these pastas, I would bring it to people and because cooking for somebody is such a loving thing to do, I think that constantly cooking for somebody is your way of showing affection to them. So when you´re going through a hard time or through a breakup, to remember that there are other people you love and there are still people that you can cook for, and you can cook for yourself - it can be sort of a very therapeutic, very enjoyable experience. Of course, I did gain a lot of weight by doing all this cooking and doing all this eating but I still think that cooking is a really pleasant thing to do. I would like to cook more in the future but of course, it can be a very time consuming thing. So, every now and then, I try to make sure I cook at home a couple of times a week. I think that it’s a really fun thing to do and I think that you can also give joy to other people doing it. So I think it’s a really great experience.