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Interviews

“Cooking Tips”

Level

Intermediate

Pre-Listening Question

What cooking tips can you recommend for preparing these items?

  • eggs
  • rice
  • chicken
  • fish
  • bread
  • soup
  • steak
  • salad

Vocabulary and Expressions

Here are some words and expressions that appear in the video:

along/in a similar (same) vein (expression): in the same way
– These books are written in the same vein as the ones you have on your bookshelf. They deal with very similar topics.

– Not all classes are taught in the same vein. Our teachers have many different teaching approaches and styles.

Bolognese  sauce (noun): a type of Italian sauce for pasta
– This Bolognese  sauce is very rich. Where did you learn how to make it?

versatile (adjective): having many uses or applications
– These ingredients are very versatile, and you can use them in a variety of cuisines.

– This pot is a versatile cooking instrument. You can cook almost anything in it.

Listening Comprehension Questions

Now, watch the interview and answer the comprehension questions. You can also turn on the automatically-generated captions for the video once you start it.


Transcript

Randall: In this video, Aubrey and Emily, and I are going to be talking about some basic cooking tips to keep in mind to make some of those delicious meals that you inspire to make. Emily, any thoughts on just anything simple? A cooking tip, a cooking idea that could be a benefit to those that are watching this video.

Emily: Get an air fryer.

Randall: Ah . . .

Aubrey: Ah. Those are so nice.

Randall: Now, talk about an air fryer. What do you mean by that? And how has that changed the way that you’ve approached cooking?

Emily: Um, well, it . . . I Don’t I don’t know, by some magic, it fries things with air instead of oil, so it makes things a lot healthier because you’re not drowning things in tons of oil. My air fryer can also, like, bake or roast or make a rotisserie chicken. I don’t know. It’s just versatile, and I use it a lot.

Randall: Great.

Aubrey: I think on a similar vein, buying a pressure cooker. Um, because it’s so easy to cook things in a pressure cooker; you just throw it in and let it do its thing. Like I like to make bolognese sauce and normally that’s an all-day activity, but I can make it in like an hour, um, by putting it in the pressure cooker.

Randall: And what does that contain? That type of sauce?

Aubrey: Bolognese sauce. Like it’s, it’s meat-based, like meat and, um, like, so it’s like beef and pork and tomatoes and onions, celery, carrots, wine, you know, just a few things like that.

Randall: Okay. And Emily, you mentioned about using that uh . . . 

Aubrey and Emily: Air fryer?

Randall:  Yeah, the air fryer. The air fryer. Does it cut down on the amount of time that you cook?

Emily: The way I use it when I, uh, air fry like chicken thighs and stuff, instead of putting them in the oven, I can get chicken thighs out in 15 minutes.

Randall: All right. Well, thank you very much for sharing your thoughts on cooking tips.

Conversation Questions

Many students who live away from home don’t have much money to spend on food. What are some suggestions on buying and preparing food for convenience sake? Consider ideas for cooking rice, meat, vegetables, and any beverage.

Related Language Activities on Randall’s Web Site

The following activities deal with related topics to give you additional language practice.

Try More Free Listening at Dailyesl.com