A: do you like cooking?
B: I love it. I really enjoy creating a meal from various ingredients and watching my friends enjoy it. It gives me a real sense of satisfaction. Do you enjoy cooking?
A; I don’t like it. It takes up too much time and I really hate having to clean up after the meal. I can’t stand doing the washing up, drying up, and putting all the dishes and cutlery away.
B; you can ask the guests to help. My guests usually insist on doing the washing up. I just have to remind them where everything goes.
A: so, what kind of dishes do you usually make? I know you like Italian food.
B: Italian, Indian, and Chinese. I’ve only recently started cooking Chinese meals and I need some more practice.
A; do you find it hard to get ingredients for Chinese food?
B: not at all. You can find most of them at supermarket. The ingredients are usually the same as in western food. The way that the food is prepared is the big difference, not the ingredients.
A: how long does it take you to cook a meal for five or six people?
B; obviously, it depends on what I’m cooking, but I ‘d say it generally takes about one and a half hours.
Intermediate
A: hi. You said that you might need some help with preparing dinner. What would you like me to do?
B; thanks for coming over to help. I really appreciate it. First, could you peel the vegetables? I’ve put them all in the skin and there’s a peeler.
A: Ok, I’ll peel the vegetables and you chop them. I’m terrible at chopping vegetables. I always seem to chop them into pieces that are either too big or too small. … wow! You can chop vegetable really quickly, just like professional chefs on TV!
B; after you’ve chopped the vegetables, could you fry the meat in a little oil? Just use a very small amount of oil. Fry the meat until it is cooked, then we’ll add some spices to flavor it.
A: which spices are you going to add to the meat?
B; these ones here. The one on the left is very spicy1, so we must be careful about how much we add.
A: yes. We don’t’ want everyone to burn their mouths and have a drink gallons of water! OK. I’m really to do the meat. Should I cook it over a low flame?
B; cook it over a high flame, so that it will be ready quickly. Keep stirring the meat around the frying pan. Don’t let the meat stick to the bottom of the pan.
A; right. What are you doing over there?
B; I’m mixing the sauce. It’s my specialty2. I make it according to my own secret recipe!
Words
Utensils bowl pan mix plate knife fork spoon chopsticks stir boil fry chop cut
Slice raw vegetable meat ingredients cooker hotplate oven grill spices add heat
Simmer bake
