What’s the shape of this taste?

In this Advanced ESL lesson about the science of flavor, the student practices listening, reflects on flavor perception and the correlation of the sense of taste to all the other senses, and learns several food idioms through a series of written and oral exercises.

Warm up

The student is shown two different photos of food. They try to guess the names of dishes they are looking at. 

Food idioms

The student learns a few food idioms (bring home the bacon, eating on the high hog, tough nut to crack, etc.) and uses them to complete sentences. 

Video: The science of flavor

To better understand the topic and the video, the student will first learn some important expressions in relation to food texture and flavor (crisp, velvet, umami, etc.). 

They watch the video The science of flavor and answer the video comprehension questions. The student classifies food items based on their categories as seen on the video. They also check if the statements based on the video are true or false. 

To complete a mind map, the student remembers which types of flavor perceptions are experienced by the stimuli provided (holding something velvet or silk and sandpaper in hand).

The student completes a Venn diagram of baking and anesthesiology, to compare and contrast the two (dulling sensation, precision and technique, etc.). 

Reading: The science of flavor

The student reads an excerpt of the article “The Science of Flavour” by Simon Wroe. Then, they complete the reading comprehension practice. Next, they are given an incomplete summary of the text they had read which they need to supply with the missing details.