Projects on food are always particularly rich in peculiar collocations. In one of them, acid cabbage was used as one of the ingredients in a recipe for I-don’t-remember-what. Personally, I’d rather not try eating such a meal. Acid is a chemical compound which damages things that it touches and I’m still quite young. Sauerkraut would taste much better, I suppose. We can use the adjective acid in some collocations concerning food, however. We can say, for example, acid fruit in the meaning of sour fruit, i.e. one having a bitter sharp taste.
Another student described a recipe for chocolate wreaths in her project. Sounds a bit morbid, doesn’t it? A wreath is an arragement of flowers and leaves, especially in the shape of a circle, placed on coffins and graves as a sign of respect for the dead. A wreath can also be hung on doors as a decoration at Christmas, or worn on the head. So what should we call round cakes with a hole in the middle? Chocolate rings, probably.
I’d like to remind you that a set of instructions that tells us how to cook something and the items of food we need for it is a recipe, pronounced [‘resipi]. Do not confuse it with a receipt [ri’si:t], which is a piece of paper that shows that goods or services have been paid for, or with a prescription, which is a piece of paper that enables you to get the medicines which your doctor has prescribed you from a chemist, or with a formula, which is a particular method of doing or achieving something.
Speaking of food and cooking, students fairly frequently claim that their mother, grandmother, aunt, sister, or whoever is a good cooker. It is not so surprising, however, since the suffix –er is quite commonly used to form words naming jobs and functions, for example, to teach – a teacher, to drive – a driver, to work – a worker, to play – a player, and so on. But it doesn’t work in this way for a person who cooks. A cooker is a piece of equipment for cooking food, containing gas or electric rings on top and usually an oven, too. Some people call a cooker a stove, which also used to be used for heating rooms by burning various fuels, such as coal or wood. In any case, a person who prepares food by heating it or whose job is cooking is a cook, not a cooker.
Another typical confusing word concerning people involved in cooking is that of chef, i.e. the most senior cook in a restaurant, hotel, etc. Students sometimes use it in the meaning of a word naming a person who is in charge of other people in a factory or a company. Such a person is normally called a boss, a chief, a director, a head, a manager, a leader, etc., depending on their position and the type of organization.
A student sitting his oral ‘maturita’ examination claimed that his mother collects cooked books. A highly unusual hobby, isn’t it? But you never know – she might like eating them. Anyway, it is highly probable that the student’s mum collects cookery books, or cookbooks for short, i.e. books giving instructions on how to cook different dishes.
A tasteful meal is another collocation which students sometimes incorrectly make up. A meal that tastes good is a tasty meal, and there are several synonymous adjectives, e.g. delicious, or yummy in an informal style. The adjective tasteful especially collocates with clothes, furniture and decorations, and it shows that the person who chose them can recognize what is attractive and of good quality. The opposite of both above-mentioned adjectives is the same word – tasteless, i.e. having little or no flavour (as opposed to tasty), and showing a lack of the ability to choose things that people recognize as attractive and of good quality (as opposed to tasteful).
Last but not least, one more remark concerning food. Students tend to use the invented expression ‘Good taste!’ in their projects on food. People from English-speaking countries usually don’t say anything before they start eating. But if you really wish to say something in such a situation or write something suitable at the end of your piece of work, use the expression ‘Enjoy your meal!’ or the French phrase ‘Bon appetit!’
