Bread
spread bread with (butter)
Could you spread some butter on the bread, please?
make bread
My grandmother has always made her own bread.
bread goes stale
Bread goes stale quickly if you don't cover it.
rye/wholemeal bread
The baker sells white, brown, wholemeal, and rye bread.
sliced bread
I always buy sliced bread because I usually make a mess if I cut it myself.
fresh bread
Fresh bread is delivered daily to our local store.
the smell of freshly baked bread
There was a delicious smell of freshly baked bread coming from the kitchen.
a slice of bread
Put a couple of slice of bread in the toaster, would you?
a (large) chunk of bread
They serve hot bowls of soup with huge chunks of bread in the school canteen. It's better for you than burgers and chips!
a loaf of bread
My mother took a large loaf of wholemeal bread from the bread bin and sliced it thickly.
Sandwich
order a sandwich
When the waiter came to our table, I ordered a ham sandwich and a cup of coffee.
have a sandwich
I normally just have a sandwich for lunch. I'm never that hungry at that time of day.
serve a sandwich
We only do main meals in the restaurant, but we serve sandwiches and other snacks in the bar.
make a sandwich
Why don't we buy a loaf of bread and some cheese, and made some sandwiches to take on the journey?
Notes
Note these verb collocations:
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I’ll fix you a sandwich. (make you one)
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I had no time for lunch so I grabbed a sandwich on the way to the station.
Note these common expressions:
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What do you won’t in your sandwich?
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Would you like a cheese sandwich?
Cake and Biscuit
eat a cake
Who's eaten all the cake? I was hoping to have some with my coffee!
bake/make a cake
I'm baking/making a special cake for Andrew's 21st birthday.
try a cake
Would you like to try one of my mother's tea cakes?
cut a cake
Get your camera! The bride and groom are about to cut the wedding cake.
a birthday cake
I managed to blow out all 30 candles on my birthday cake.
a slice/piece of cake
Would you like another slice of cake?
a home-made cake
She says these cakes are homemade, but I think she got them from the supermarket!
a recipe for a cake
This carrot cake is fantastic. You must give me the recipe for it.
a chocolate cake
My diet doesn't allow me to eat chocolate cake. It has too many calories in it.
a packet of biscuits
Annette passed round a packet of biscuits during the coffee break.
chocolate biscuit
I've got to cut out chocolate biscuits from my diet.
cheese and biscuits
Would you prefer cheese and biscuits or a piece of fruit?
plain biscuit
I'll just have a plain biscuit if you don't mind.
pass the biscuits
Do you think you could pass the biscuits, please?
Notes
Note the verb + preposition in the following:
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She divided the cake (equally) among the children.
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She divided the cake into ten (equal) slices
Note these ways of saying the cake was good:
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Her cakes are delicious. / Her cakes are (simply) out of this world.
The idiom 'It was a piece of cake' means that something was very easy to do:
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The exam was a piece of cake. I finished half an hour before the end.
Pasta
cook pasta
Pasta is the easiest thing in the world to cook! My mother usually over-cooks it and it's horrible!
boil pasta
I think you only need to boil fresh pasta for about 5 minutes before it's ready to eat.
eat pasta
I always eat a lot of pasta when I'm in Italy.
drain the pasta
When the pasta is cooked, drain it over the sink, then add the sauce and serve. What could be simpler!
a (large) helping of pasta
She gave me a huge helping of pasta, but I couldn't finish it.
a bowl of pasta
The waiter placed a huge bowl of pasta in the middle of the table.
the pasta sticks to the pot
There wasn't enough water in the pot, so some of the pasta stuck to the bottom.
a plate of pasta
I gave him a large plate of pasta and he finished it in minutes!
Rice
a diet of rice
The refugees are living on a simple diet of rice and fish.
a bowl of rice
She gave me a large bowl of rice and a pair of chopsticks.
wash rice
Make sure you wash the rice thoroughly before cooking it.
boiled/fried rice
I think curry is best served with boiled rice or fried rice.
eat rice
It is a fact that rice is eaten by more than half of the world's population.
grow rice
Unfortunately, the country can't grow enough rice to feed its people.
a grain of rice
The bag of rice had a hole in it, so grains of rice fell all over the kitchen floor.
Notes
There are lots of different kinds of rice:
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brown rice
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basmati
-
white rice
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long-grain rice
-
short-grain rice
Rice pudding is rice boiled with milk and sugar.
A rice dish is a dish made with rice:
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Risotto is a kind of rice dish.
Potatoes
boil potatoes
Potatoes need to boil for about 15-20 minutes before they're ready.
peel the potatoes
My mother was standing at the sink, peeling potatoes for dinner.
slice the potatoes
Could you slice the potatoes thickly and we'll have chips tonight with the chicken.
grow potatoes
We grow our own potatoes in our garden. We plant them in the spring and dig them up around August.
Note
Note the different ways of cooking and serving potatoes:
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Boiled potatoes
-
Mashed potatoes
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Roast potatoes
-
A baked potato
chips
a portion of chips
My meal came with a huge portion of chips. There was too much for one person.
a bag of chips
Two bags of chips, please. And can you put some salt and vinegar on them. please.
greasy chips
The chips were terrible. They were awful - all soft and greasy'
fish and chips
I'd like fish and chips. please.
Note
Note that thinly-cut potatoes, usually sold in packets, are called potato crisps in the UK and potato chips in the US. They are either flavoured or plain:
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All I had for lunch was a packet of cheese and onion crisps.
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I love bacon-flavored crisps.
Chocolate
chocolate melts
Unfortunately, the chocolate had melted in my pocket. What a mess it had made!
milk/plain chocolate
I prefer milk chocolate to plain chocolate - it's much sweeter. What about you?
break off a piece/square of chocolate
He broke off a piece of chocolate and gave it to the child to try to get it to stop crying.
be addicted to chocolate
I think I'm addicted to chocolate. I eat at least two bars a day!
> Well, I like chocolate, but I can take it or leave it.
a box of chocolates
My sister gave us some chocolates on our wedding anniversary, and we ate the whole box between us in a night.
Note
Note these expressions with 'sweets':
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Don't eat a lot of sweets - they're bad for your teeth.
-
As a child I spent most of my pocket money on sweets.
Sugar
have /take sugar in (tea)
Do you take/have sugar in your tea?
contain sugar
It's pure fruit juice. It contains no added sugar so it's OK for diabetics
sprinkle sugar on / over (the fruit)
When you take the cakes out of the oven, sprinkle a little granulated sugar over them.
put sugar on something
Jason, there's no need to put sugar on your cereal. It's sweet enough already!
your intake of sugar
If you're serious about losing weight, reduce your intake of sugar.
a (high/low) sugar content
Most canned soft drinks have a high sugar content.
a sachet of sugar
I tore open the sachet of sugar and it spilled all over the table.
a teaspoon/spoonful of sugar
She puts five spoonfuls of sugar in her tea! No wonder she has such bad teeth.
a sugar cube
There's some sugar cubes in the bowl on the table.
take (a sweetener) in place of sugar
Try adding fruit to your breakfast cereal in place of sugar.
Notes
Note this expression:
-
I like two sugars in my coffee. (two spoonfuls)
A sugar cube is sometimes called a sugar lump.
-
Most junk food is high in sugar and salt.
You sometimes read on labels that something is sugar-free or has no added sugar.
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Is this juice sugar-free?
-
Natural orange juice with no added sugar.
Salt
pass the salt
Norman, Could you pass the salt. please?
add salt to (the soup)
I think if we add some salt to the soup. it will taste better.
sprinkle salt on/over (your chips)
I usually sprinkle a little salt on my food to give it flavor, especially boiled vegetables.
cut down on salt
I have high blood pressure and the doctor has advised me to cut down on the amount of salt I'm eating.
a pinch of salt
Don't add too much salt. Just a pinch will do.
high/low in salt
You should avoid foods like crisps which are high in salt.
a (level) teaspoon of salt
A level teaspoon of salt should be enough.
your salt intake
Most of us should reduce our salt intake.
salt and pepper
Season the soup with salt and pepper.
Notes
Note these expressions:
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Salt helps to bring out the favour in food.
-
A lot of tinned food is high in salt.
-
Hey! Go easy on the salt Too much salt is bad for your health.
The sea is made up of salt water. Lakes are made up of fresh water.
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I don't like swimming in the sea. f hate getting salt water in my eyes.
Could you spread some butter on the toast, please?
Let's make some sandwiches for lunch.
Honestly! I baked the cake myself.
Mike, could you peel the potatoes and slice them for chips?
I don't like milk chocolate. I'd rather have dark chocolate.
I ordered a cup of coffee and a ham sandwich.
I love fish and chips.
No dessert for me, thanks. I’ll just have some biscuits and cheese.
I try to eat wholemeal bread. I think it's much better for your health.
I much prefer plain boiled rice to fried rice.
I failed to blow out all the candles on my birthday cake. I must be getting old!
Sprinkle a little salt over the potatoes before you serve them.
Drain the pasta, then serve it with a little olive oil.
I bought a large unsliced loaf of bread from the supermarket.
You must give me the recipe for your orange and chocolate cake.
Would you like another slice of cake?
What a greedy thing! He ate the whole packet of biscuits himself.
I had a large bowl of pasta for lunch today.
There were some grains of rice at the bottom of the kitchen cupboard.
They serve huge portions of chips at Divernos.
I was so hungry I ate a whole bar of milk chocolate.
Can you bring me a couple of sachets of brown sugar from the counter? I forgot.
I only put a pinch of salt on my food. Too much salt is bad for you.