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ESL Podcast 769 – Trying Unusual Foods

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1

GLOSSARY

to stink – to smell very bad; to have a very unpleasant odor
* Blue cheese stinks! It smells like dirty socks.

bite – one mouthful; the amount of food taken into one’s mouth at once
* Once you have a bite of this cake, you won’t be able to stop!

to stomach – to be able to eat something that is very unpleasant without getting
sick
* William hates his mother-in-law’s cooking, but he had to learn to stomach her
meals.

foul – very unpleasant and disgusting; awful
* Please don’t use foul language around the children.

don’t knock it until you’ve tried it – a phrase used to ask someone to keep an
open mind and be willing to try something before forming an opinion or saying
bad things about something
* - I can’t believe you signed up for a course in basket weaving.

*

- Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it. I expect it to be a lot of fun.

acquired taste – something that one initially does not like but learns to like over
time as one has more exposure to it
* Opera can be an acquired taste. I didn’t like the music at first, but now going to
the opera is one of my favorite forms of entertainment.

to develop a taste for (something) – to gradually begin to like something that
one didn’t originally like
* Did you always know you wanted to be an insurance agent, or did you develop
a taste for it over time?

to crave – to have a strong desire to have or do something, especially to eat a
specific food
* Many women crave pickles when they are pregnant.

unappetizing – with an unpleasant appearance or smell that does not make one
feel like eating
* The food tasted good, but it looked very unappetizing.

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ESL Podcast 769 – Trying Unusual Foods

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2

to go over the edge – to go overboard; to do too much of something; to take an
idea or action to an extreme; to go crazy
* I know giving money to help others is important to Becky, but she really went
over the edge when she gave away all of her savings.

to take the cake – to be the most extreme instance or example of something; to
be the most outrageous or unbelievable occurrence of something
* Omar has always dressed strangely, but when he came to school wearing a
bathrobe, he really took the cake.

to open (one’s) mind – to be open-minded; to be willing to consider all
possibilities or options without making a decision or forming an opinion before
experiencing something
* Studying abroad opened Cindy’s mind to other ways of thinking about the
world.

culinary – related to cooking and food
* Yoshihiro is applying to culinary schools because he wants to become a chef.

taste buds – the small dots on one’s tongue that can taste flavors (sweet, salty,
bitter, and sour)
* This drink will be a treat for your taste buds. Try it!

palate – one’s sense of taste; one’s ability to detect, identify, and enjoy different
flavors in foods and drinks
* Do you believe that an individual’s palate is affected by the types of food he or
she eats as a young child?

to puke – to vomit; to throw up
* Shane got food poisoning and spent all night puking in the bathroom.

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ESL Podcast 769 – Trying Unusual Foods

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3

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

1. Why is Candace eating the bad-smelling dish?
a) Because she knows it’s good for her.
b) Because she thinks it tastes delicious.
c) Because she doesn’t want to offend her roommate.

2. Why does Candace want Antonio to try the food?
a) Because she thinks it will make him feel better.
b) Because she spent a lot of time and money preparing it.
c) Because she thinks he can learn to like it.

______________


WHAT ELSE DOES IT MEAN?

bite
The word “bite,” in this podcast, means one mouthful, or the amount of food
taken into one’s mouth at one time: “Take smaller bites, or you might choke!” Or,
“May I have a bite of your chicken?” The phrase “a bite to eat” refers to a small
or informal meal: “Let’s grab a bite to eat after the movie.” The word “bite” can
also refer to the injury caused when an animal or insect uses its mouth on one’s
skin: “Yevgeny has a spider bite on his arm, and now it’s red and swollen.”
Finally, the phrase “(one’s) bark is worse than (one’s) bite” describes someone
who says a lot of mean things or makes many threats, but doesn’t actually do
anything: “Don’t worry about what the boss said. Her bark is worse than her
bite.”

foul
In this podcast, the word “foul” means very unpleasant, disgusting, and awful: “A
foul smell is coming from the bathroom.” Or, “We’re going to need a lot of air
fresheners to cover up that foul smell.” If someone is in a “foul mood,” he or she
is in a very bad mood and is easily angered: “Mom is in a foul mood today, so try
not to do anything to make her mad.” The phrase “foul weather” refers to cold,
wet, unpleasant weather when one does not want to be outside: “They’re
forecasting foul weather, so be sure to take a jacket and an umbrella.” Finally, in
sports, a “foul” is some action that breaks the rules and results in a punishment:
“The player received a foul for hitting another player.”

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ESL Podcast 769 – Trying Unusual Foods

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4

CULTURE NOTE

Unusual American Foods

Almost any type of food can be found in the United States, and most of them can
be “traced back to” (understood where something has come from in history) what
people ate before they “immigrated to” (moved to another country) the United
States. But there are some unusual American foods that were developed in the
United States and/or are eaten in only certain parts of the country.

For example, “grits” is a hot cereal made from “ground” (smashed into very tiny
pieces) corn that is boiled in water with salt or sugar. In the United States, grits
are served with cheese, butter, sausage, ham, or even fish. Sometimes blocks
of thick grits are “fried” (cooked in hot oil) and then sliced. Grits are mostly eaten
in the Southern United States.

“Chitlins” or “chitterlings” are another Southern food. Chitlins are the “intestines”
(long, folded internal body parts used for digestion) of a pig or cow that are boiled
in a pot with water and an onion. Sometimes the chitlins are “battered” (covered
in flour and seasonings) and then fried. They are often served with “hot sauce”
(a spicy, red sauce) and/or “vinegar” (a clear liquid made from fermented fruit or
wine).

The City of Philadelphia in Pennsylvania is famous for the “Philly” (Philadelphia)
cheesesteak, which is a sandwich that has many thin slices of “steak” (beef) and
melted cheese on a long white “roll” (large piece of bread). Sometimes
cheesesteaks have mushrooms, peppers, or other toppings, but normally they
have only meat and cheese.

______________

Comprehension Questions Correct Answers: 1 – b; 2 – c

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ESL Podcast 769 – Trying Unusual Foods

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5

COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT

Welcome to English as a Second Language Podcast number 769: Trying
Unusual Foods.

This is English as a Second Language Podcast episode 769. I’m your host, Dr.
Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in
beautiful Los Angeles, California.

If you like listening to ESL Podcast, consider becoming a member by going to
eslpod.com.

This episode is a dialogue between Antonio and Candace. We’re going to be
talking about eating strange, different, unusual food. Let’s get started.

[start of dialogue]

Antonio: What is that smell?! It stinks!

Candace: This is a dish my roommate taught me to make. It’s really good.
Want a bite?

Antonio: You’ve got to be kidding me! You actually eat that? You can stomach
something that smells that foul?

Candace: Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it. I admit that it’s an acquired taste,
but once you develop a taste for it, you’ll not only like it, you’ll crave it like I do.

Antonio: I would never crave something that unappetizing. You’ve gone over the
edge. I’ve always known you were weird, but this takes the cake.

Candace: You need to open your mind to new culinary experiences. You need
to wake up your taste buds. Your palate will thank you for it. If you try it, you
might like it.

Antonio: If I try it, I may puke!

[end of dialogue]

Antonio begins by saying, “What is that smell?! It stinks!” “To stink” (stink)
means to smell very bad, to have a very unpleasant odor or smell. Candace
says, “This is a dish my roommate taught me to make.” Your “roommate” is a

English as a Second Language Podcast

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ESL Podcast 769 – Trying Unusual Foods

These materials are copyrighted by the Center for Educational Development (2012). Posting of
these materials on another website or distributing them in any way is prohibited.

6

person that you usually share an apartment with or a house with. Candace says
that the food – the dish that Antonio smells was something her roommate had
taught her to cook. She says, “It’s really good. Want a bite?” A “bite” (bite) is a
small piece of food, a small bit of food that you give someone just to taste
something. So she says, “Want a bite?”

Antonio says, “You’ve got to be kidding me (meaning you’re joking, right)! You
actually eat that?” He can’t believe that Candace is eating whatever this food is.
He says, “You can stomach something that smells that foul?” “To stomach”
(stomach) is to be able to eat something, something that is very perhaps
unpleasant; it smells bad or it tastes bad. “To stomach it” means to be able to
eat it without getting sick. Antonio asks Candace if she can stomach something
that smells that bad – that foul (foul). “Foul” has another meaning in English, as
does the word “bite.” Both of those can be found in our Learning Guide.

Candace says, “Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it.” This is an old expression.
“Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it” means to ask someone to keep an open mind,
not to say no to something just because it’s different or weird. First, you should
try doing it yourself, and then you can decide whether you want to criticize it. “To
knock (something)” here means to criticize it. So don’t criticize it – don’t knock it
until you’ve yourself actually tried it yourself. Candace says, “I admit that it’s an
acquired taste.” The expression “an acquired taste” means something that
perhaps you don’t like the first time you try it, but eventually – after a while – you
learn to like something. This happens a lot, I think, with food, when you try new
food. Maybe at first you don’t like it, but eventually you learn to like it more and
more. Well that’s what Candace is saying about the food she’s eating. She
says, “once you develop a taste for it, you’ll not only like it, you’ll crave it like I
do.” “To develop a taste for (something)” means to gradually begin to like it;
slowly, after each time you eat it, you like it more and more. You develop a taste
for it. Once you do that, she says, you’ll crave this food like I do. “To crave”
(crave) means to have a very strong desire for something. We use this
especially when talking about food: “I crave a piece of apple pie.” I really want a
piece of apple pie. The noun is “craving.” We say, “I have a craving for
(something).” “I have a craving for apple pie.”

But Antonio doesn’t think he will like this food. He says, “I would never crave
something that unappetizing.” Something that is “appetizing” makes you want to
eat it; it looks good, it smells good. The opposite would be “unappetizing.”
Antonio says that he would never crave something that unappetizing or so
unappetizing. He says to Candace, “You’ve gone over the edge.” “To go over
the edge” (edge) here means to go crazy, or do too much of something, to take
an idea to the extreme point. For example, you may like to gamble and you

English as a Second Language Podcast

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ESL Podcast 769 – Trying Unusual Foods

These materials are copyrighted by the Center for Educational Development (2012). Posting of
these materials on another website or distributing them in any way is prohibited.

7

decide you’re going to go Las Vegas – a famous place for gambling in the United
States – and you’re going to bet your entire house. You’re going to say, “I want
to bet my house in a poker game.” Well, that’s going over the edge, that’s going
too far; you don’t want to lose your house in a poker game. Antonio thinks that
Candace has gone over the edge by eating this weird, unusual food. He says,
“I’ve always known you were weird, but this takes the cake.” The expression “to
take the cake” means to be the most unbelievable or crazy example of
something. You may have a friend that likes to wear strange clothing, and one
day he decides to go work wearing his swimming trunks, nothing but the clothes
he would wear to go swimming. You might say, “Well, that really takes the cake.”
That’s the most bizarre, extreme example of this person’s weird behavior.

Candace says, however, “You (Antonio) need to open your mind to new culinary
experiences.” “To open your mind” means to be willing to consider or think about
all possibilities, all different options without saying no right away. You’re going to
think about many different possibilities, that’s to have or to keep an open mind.
Candace says Antonio needs to open his mind – which is the same as to keep an
open mind – to new culinary experiences. “Culinary” (culinary) is anything
related to cooking food. Candace says Antonio needs to wake up his taste buds.
Your “taste buds” (buds) are small, little things on your tongue that are used for
tasting; it’s how you are able to taste something on your tongue, through these
little dots called “taste buds” in English. Candace says that Antonio needs to
wake up his taste buds, meaning he needs to do something different, as if they
were now sleeping. She says, “Your palate will thank you for it.” Your “palate”
(palate) here means your sense of taste; your ability to enjoy different tastes,
different flavors of food. Candace says, “Your palate will thank you for it,”
meaning if you decide to try different foods you will like it, you like the taste. She
says, “If you try it, you might like it.”

Antonio says, “If I try it, I may puke!” “Puke” (puke) is an informal word for vomit,
to throw up. When the contents of your stomach come out through your mouth,
that’s to vomit, to throw up. A little more informal way of saying that would be “to
puke,” and that’s what Antonio says will happen to him if he tries some of this
unusual food that Candace likes to eat.

Now let’s listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.

[start of dialogue]

Antonio: What is that smell?! It stinks!

English as a Second Language Podcast

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ESL Podcast 769 – Trying Unusual Foods

These materials are copyrighted by the Center for Educational Development (2012). Posting of
these materials on another website or distributing them in any way is prohibited.

8

Candace: This is a dish my roommate taught me to make. It’s really good.
Want a bite?

Antonio: You’ve got to be kidding me! You actually eat that? You can stomach
something that smells that foul?

Candace: Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it. I admit that it’s an acquired taste,
but once you develop a taste for it, you’ll not only like it, you’ll crave it like I do.

Antonio: I would never crave something that unappetizing. You’ve gone over the
edge. I’ve always known you were weird, but this takes the cake.

Candace: You need to open your mind to new culinary experiences. You need
to wake up your taste buds. Your palate will thank you for it. If you try it, you
might like it.

Antonio: If I try it, I may puke!

[end of dialogue]

If you listen to ESL Podcast, eventually I think you will crave the wonderful scripts
written by our own Dr. Lucy Tse.

From Los Angeles, California, I’m Jeff McQuillan. Thank you for listening. Come
back and listen to us again here on ESL Podcast.

English as a Second Language Podcast is written and produced by Dr. Lucy Tse,
hosted by Dr. Jeff McQuillan, copyright 2012 by the Center for Educational
Development.