Speaking calendar/Gilroy Garlic Festival
July 25th · Food & Social Taboos

Gilroy Garlic Festival

A massive food festival in California known as the garlic capital of the world. Visitors can eat everything from classic garlic bread to bizarre creations like garlic-flavoured ice cream. Today, we debate why one simple cooking ingredient can be so polarising, and whether smelling like food is a social price worth paying for a delicious meal.

SPEAKING LESSONB1 / B2Discussion · Vocabulary · Activities
01 / LET’S TALK

Speaking Discussion

  1. Do you absolutely love the taste of garlic, or do you try to avoid it as much as possible?
  2. Would you be brave enough to eat garlic-flavoured ice cream? Why do people enjoy mixing sweet and savoury flavours?
  3. How important is garlic as a foundation for the cooking and traditional dishes in your own culture?
  4. Do you think smelling strongly of food (like garlic or onions) is a social taboo in your country?
  5. If you were cooking a meal to impress someone on a first date, would you use a lot of garlic or none at all?
  6. Why do we have such strong physical and emotional reactions to certain smells?
02 / PUT IT INTO PRACTICE

Activity 1: The Bizarre Menu

The Task: You are a Chef. You have been asked to create a 3-course dinner where *every* dish must contain garlic (even the dessert).

Explain your menu. How will you make it taste good?

Activity 2: Rapid Fire Cooking

Complete the sentence and justify it in 20 seconds.

  • "The most important ingredient in my kitchen is..."
  • "Food tastes better when it's cooked with..."
  • "I would never eat..."