Question
Describe a traditional food item you enjoy.
Sample answer
Tandoori chicken with paratha is a traditional meal that we prepare in our country on many different occasions. This is a famous meal in our country and people can have them from some restaurants but they prepare this meal during festivals at home.
Tandoori chicken is originally Punjabi dish that we adopted and this dish consists of roasted chicken with spices, testing salt and yogurt. This meal is usually prepared in a cylindrical clay oven, a tandoor, in which this dish is usually prepared. The city people usually buy this special oven which is made of steel or metal but in village, people make the oven with mud and wood.
The paratha is a special kind of baked bread. Usually the paratha is made from wheat flat breads and then dough with cooking oil or ghee. We have this meal almost in all occasions. Not necessarily this is the only meal we prepare in our festivals but this is a very common meal along with other traditional meals. People love to have this meal in festivals and it seems like they usually assume that this is something they must prepare for the guests. In the different parts of the country, this meal get some other variation in terms of cooking process, presentation and ingredients, but they are almost same in all part and the custom of making it in festival is quite common.
From my childhood I have always found this meal delicious and very common during festivals. So phycologically and in terms of its great taste, I love to eat this meal. Our people have good hand on preparing delicious meals and as a traditional meal we enjoy it very much. For me, I don't have the chance to eat this meal always as I live in a city far away from our hometown. So during the festival when I stay at my hometown, I really enjoy a known meal which is delicious and traditional to us.
Tips for answering this Cue card topic:
First important thing about his cue card is that, you should talk about a special menu/ dishes/ food item/ meal you prepare on a special day (festival day) in your country. By ‘you’ the cue card does not mean that you prepare it yourself, but the people in your country mostly prepare the meal for the special occasion. The special occasion can be a national day like liberation day, a widely celebrated cultural day like New Year day, can be a religiously sacred day like Eid, Puja, Christmas etc. You should pick an occasion and think about a meal you are familiar with. Since you need to describe the occasion, the significance of this occasion, the meal itself, the ingredients to prepare this meal, the tradition of preparing this meal and why this meal is a part of the occasion. Though you need to give some details of the occasion, its significance in your culture and country, you have to emphasize on the meal itself as the cue card topic is about the traditional meal but not on the occasion.
For the first question, ‘When you eat that meal’, describe if this is a traditional meal that you prepare on that special day or on some other days of the year as well. For example, some cakes and food items are particularly prepared on special occasion like New Year and other seasonal occasions but people eat it in other days as well. Give the background of the food relating it to your tradition. For instance, in some Asian countries, preparing cakes in winter season in traditional.
For the second and third questions “How you prepare it” and “What ingredients are used to prepare it” you should talk about the ingredients required and the processes involved to prepare it. Be very careful about describing the process as this is the most interesting part of the topic. The examiner might be interested to learn a new meal which is specially and differently prepared in your country. So being able to give a good description about the preparation of this meal would give a good impression to the examiner. Failing to do so might give a negative impression that your speaking is not as on the topic as it supposed to be.
Finally, give your own reason why you enjoy this meal. To answer this final question, say that this is a really delicious food and this is prepared for the special occasion only. Relate the tradition of this food in your country and culture and also mention that how people of your country love to eat that meal. You should also mention that you remember having this meal on that special occasion from your childhood and that had become your way of celebrating the occasion. Mention how this occasion and meal you prepare in your country are related to your tradition and celebration and conclude your speaking with that.
Being able to answer the questions listed below the cue card topic correctly and convincingly would ensure a good score in your speaking section of the IELTS exam.
If you can answer this cue card topic, you should also be to answer the following cue card topics:
1. Describe a traditional food item in your country.
2. Describe a meal you know how to prepare.
3. Describe a national festival in your country.
4. Describe a meal you enjoy eating.
5. Describe a widely celebrated occasion in your country.
6. Describe an occasion that you celebrated recently.
