Friday Focus: Sweet Talk

Chocolate!

Easter often brings thoughts of chocolate – chocolate eggs, chocolate bunnies, and all sorts of delightful treats. But beyond the sugary goodness, chocolate offers a rich landscape for learning new English words and phrases.

Let's unwrap some of the ways we talk about this popular delight!

1. Describing Chocolate: Vocabulary of Deliciousness 😋🍫😋

When we talk about chocolate, we often use specific words to describe its qualities. Expanding your vocabulary in this area can make your descriptions more vivid and precise.

• Types of Chocolate:

  • Milk chocolate: A sweet chocolate containing milk solids. (Example: "My favourite is creamy milk chocolate.")

  • Dark chocolate: Chocolate with a higher percentage of cocoa solids and less sugar and milk. (Example: "He prefers the intense flavour of dark chocolate.")

  • White chocolate: Technically not a true chocolate, it's made from cocoa butter, sugar, and milk solids. (Example: "White chocolate has a very sweet and buttery taste.")

• Textures and Flavours:

  • Smooth: Having an even and agreeable texture. (Example: "This chocolate bar is incredibly smooth.")

  • Creamy: Rich and smooth, like cream. (Example: "The filling of the egg was wonderfully creamy.")

  • Rich: Having a full and satisfying flavour. (Example: "Dark chocolate often has a very rich taste.")

  • Intense: Very strong or concentrated. (Example: "The intense bitterness of the dark chocolate was surprising.")

  • Sweet: Having a sugary taste. (Example: "Milk chocolate is generally quite sweet.")

  • Bittersweet: A flavour that is both bitter and sweet. (Example: "Bittersweet chocolate is a good balance of flavours.")

  • Melty: Easily turning to liquid when heated. (Example: "The melty chocolate on the biscuit was divine.")

• Key Vocabulary:

  • Cocoa solids: The non-fat components of cocoa beans.

  • Cocoa butter: The fat obtained from cocoa beans.

  • Percentage: A rate, number, or amount, expressed as so many hundred parts of something.

  • Texture: The feel, appearance, or consistency of a surface or a substance.

  • Flavour: The distinctive taste of a food or drink.

  • Bitterness: A sharp, pungent taste; not sweet.

  • Divine: Extremely good, excellent.

Try this: Can you describe your favourite type of chocolate using some of these words? What other words could you use to describe the taste or texture of food?