This is a sample response for IELTS Speaking Part 2 and 3. In addition to the model answer there are highlighted words and phrases. Teal is for vocabulary relating to this topic, yellow is for generally useful words and phrases.
IELTS Speaking Part 2
Describe a traditional dish from your country that you personally enjoy eating.
You should say:
- the name of the dish
- what ingredients are used to make it
- why you enjoy it
and explain what significance this dish has in your country’s culinary culture.
Model answer
I’d like to tell you about hummus, a famous Turkish dish. There are various theory about the origin of the recipe – some say it’s Syria, others claim it to be Egypt. I like to think that Lebanon is responsible for introducing the world to this delicious dish. The ingredients are quite simple – chick peas, lemon juice, garlic and tahini – that’s a ground sesame seed condiment. Said ingredients are mixed into a thick dip that can be a separate dish, an appetizer or an addition to a full course. I am very fond of it for it’s unparalleled taste and because of how nutritional it is – it really makes you feel full of energy.
The significance of this dish is difficult to explain. Maybe it has helped to put to put Lebanon on the culinary map of the world? This is arguable though as it is uncertain where hummus came from originally. What I can definitely say is that it is definitely a big part of national cuisine and can often be seen served for family celebrations.
IELTS Speaking Part 3
Food and diets
With the rise of plant-based diets and alternative protein sources, do you think traditional meat-based cuisine will become less popular in the future? Why/why not?
This is likely to be the case, yes. In order to understand this dynamics and how it progresses we have to consider a number of factors. A major contributor is the ever-increasing popularity of vegetarian diet and its multiple variations. People give up eating meat for a variety of reasons – their beliefs, taste preferences or intolerance to certain products, to name a few. The general trend is on the rise and is likely to continue. Secondly, meat is getting more expensive. A good slice of tenderloin is almost twice as expensive as it was several years ago. This could partly be attributed to yearly inflation, but there is another factor at play here. Stricter health and quality standards get included in the price and the consumer ends up paying for all of that. While not a bad thing in itself, such regulations do make meat less affordable to us.
Should people be encouraged to eat more healthily? Why?
This is an ethical question, so in order to answer it we have to bear this fact in mind. Can you make a person live the way you see fit or should they be entitled to freedom in all regards? Even if you think you know better, you have no moral right to order a person around. If we forfeit the ethical aspect, then the answer is a resounding “yes!”. General populace should be definitely educated on the numerous benefits of well-balanced, nutritionally-rich diet.
People need to be more informed. Some are oblivious, others are ignorant, many simply live in denial of how essential proper food is for us. I say we should educate them on the matter in a non-intrusive way. Changes take time and they have to be organic to be met with acceptance. If we abide by these principles, it ought to work out for everyone just fine.
Obesity among young people is a growing concern in many countries. How can this situation be solved?
Obesity mean calorific surplus, so you either have to eat less or spend more energy. Let’s consider both options. Cutting down on nutrient intake is a big stress both physically and mentally. It takes considerable will power to force yourself not to eat less food than the amount you have grown accustomed to. Effectively this can do more harm than good, so cutting down on food has to be taken at a pace that is comfortable. The second approach is to increase physical activity. This forces the body to make use of the stockpiled nutrients in the form of fat, therefore slowly but steadily making the person more fit. The benefits go beyond weight loss, but let’s focus on the matter at hand
As with most things in life, dieting should have moderation. If one takes it easy, it is naturally going to feel less stressful. Therefore, ideally a person aiming to lose weight should combine the two approaches. Eat a bit less, introduce some exercising routine in your life and you will see your weight go back to normal in no time!
Eating in and out
In your opinion, what are the advantages of eating at home instead of dining out?
To kick off with the obvious reasons, it is much cheaper. A good example is a steak. A restaurant served steak is going to cost you three to six times more than a home-cooked one gram for gram. Naturally, at the restaurant you are supposedly getting one cooked by a professional, but the mark-up is still ridiculously high. This is true for most dished if you go eating out as you have to pay for the service and other things.
Another reason of choosing to eat at home is confidence in what you eat. There’s no telling how fresh the ingredients are at your place of choice for the night out. Nor can you check the credentials of the cook who makes the food for you. There is a lot of uncertainty involved, so one might as well cook their own food to stay on the safe side. However, this downside can be disregard if you have been coming to a place for years or it is a popular chain with strict quality control. Then the risks of food poisoning or subpar services are minimal.
How has the trend of ordering food online affected the restaurant industry?
One might think that it has affected the restaurant in the worst way possible. I mean much fewer people come to the restaurants now, they don’t leave tips and there is no service charge either. But it’s not that grim for the catering industry entrepreneurs. Come to think of it: now they can scale their business almost indefinitely through delivery. The restaurant can accommodate only so many people, not matter how big it is. With deliveries only sky is the limit. And this doesn’t always mean fewer clients coming to the establishment itself. Some just can’t resist the glamour of attending a nice eatery. Therefore, if anything, development of online food service sector only contributed to financial flourish of such businesses.
What is the role of social media in promoting eating out culture and eating habits?
It seems that there is no one direction in which social media platforms shape the way we eat. People love bragging about their visits to expensive restaurants. They share pictures of the food, sometimes even the bill with astronomic figures. This prompts other to live the high life as well regardless of whether they can afford that. This results in more people going for restaurant food even if it not within their means.
Another possible influence social media could have on the way we approach food is a positive one. There are lots of cooking bloggers around and some of them are properly good. They provide great cooking tips and open the exciting world of culinary arts to the masses. This effectively popularises a more mindful and informed approach to cooking, enabling people to eat delicious, healthy and reasonably-priced dishes.