Part 2 cue cardFood and diet

Describe a person you know who is good at cooking

"How they learned" is the bullet most answers skip, and it is often the best story. In the last bullet go beyond "it's delicious": name a dish, a smell or an occasion, and say what the food means at your table.

1 minute to prepare
Up to 2 minutes
Samples at Band 6, 7 and 8
Updated 20 October 2026

Describe a person you know who is good at cooking.

You should say:

who this person is
what they like to cook
how they learned
and explain why you enjoy their food

Rehearse the long turn

1 minute to prepare · 2 minutes to speak

Sit this card with the AI examinerThen the Part 3 discussion, and a full report

A 60-second plan

who this person isDad, accountant, Fez
what they like to cookFriday couscous, harira, prune tagine
how they learnedstudent in Lyon; phoned his mother
and explain why you enjoy their foodcooks by smell; feeds the neighbours

Sample answers

231 words · about 2:01 spoken at a Band 6 pace

I want to talk about my father, because he is very good in cooking. This is a little bit unusual in Morocco, because normally the mothers do the cooking, but in my family my father cook most of the food. He is an accountant, so he is busy, but in the weekend he is always in the kitchen.

He likes to cook traditional food. His favourite is couscous, we eat it every Friday. He cooks the semolina with steam many times and he puts lamb and seven vegetables on it, and we all eat from one big plate. In Ramadan he cooks harira, it is a soup with tomato and lentils, and for guests he makes tagine with prunes.

He learned to cook when he was student in France. He missed the food of his mother very much, so he called her every Sunday and she explained him the recipes. The calls were expensive, so she spoke very fast and he wrote quickly. At the beginning his food was terrible, he burned many things, but slowly he became better.

I enjoy his food because it is very tasty and he never measures anything, he just smells and tastes. Also he is very generous, he always makes too much food and gives some to the neighbours. When I eat his couscous, I feel I am in home. No restaurant can match it.

The mistakes that keep it at Band 6

very good in cooking should be very good at cooking
my father cook most of the food should be my father cooks most of the food
in the weekend should be at the weekend
cooks the semolina with steam should be steams the semolina
when he was student should be when he was a student
the food of his mother should be his mother's food
she explained him the recipes should be she explained the recipes to him
I feel I am in home should be I feel I'm at home

Why this is Band 6, not Band 7

Fluency and coherence: Willing to extend each bullet, and the story of how he learned is told in order. Not Band 7 because the links are simple ("so", "Also", "At the beginning") and the reasons for enjoying the food are listed quickly rather than developed.
Vocabulary: Enough food vocabulary to be clear ("semolina", "lentils", "generous"), but with awkward choices: "cooks the semolina with steam" is an unnatural way to describe steaming, and "very good in cooking" has the wrong preposition. Band 7 needs more precise words and collocations.
Grammar: Mixes simple and complex sentences, with frequent errors: agreement in "my father cook", a missing article in "when he was student", a verb pattern in "she explained him the recipes", and "the food of his mother" for the possessive. That is typical of Band 6.

Pronunciation is the fourth criterion; it is judged from your voice, so a written sample cannot show it.

262 words · about 2:01 spoken at a Band 7 pace

I'd like to talk about my father, who's easily the best cook I know. It's a bit surprising, because he's an accountant and in Morocco it's usually the mothers who do the cooking, but in our house it's definitely my dad.

He likes cooking traditional Moroccan dishes. His best one is couscous, which we have every Friday after the midday prayers. He steams the semolina several times and serves it with lamb and seven different vegetables, all in one huge plate in the middle of the table. He also makes harira, a thick soup we eat during Ramadan, and when we have guests, he usually cooks a lamb tagine with prunes and almonds.

He learned to cook when he was a student in France. He was really homesick, and he missed his mother's food so much that he used to call her every week and ask her for recipes. Apparently the calls were so expensive that she had to speak really fast while he wrote everything down. He admits that his first attempts were a disaster, but by the end of his studies he'd become a really good cook.

There are a few reasons why I love his food. First, he never follows a recipe; he just tastes and smells and adjusts things until they're perfect. But the main thing is how generous he is. He always cooks far too much and sends some to our neighbours, so our kitchen is always busy. For me, his couscous is basically the taste of home, and nothing in a restaurant comes close to it.

The slips

in one huge plate should be on one huge plate

Why this is Band 7, not Band 8

Fluency and coherence: Speaks at length easily and moves clearly through what he cooks, how he learned and why the food matters ("Apparently", "There are a few reasons", "But the main thing"). Not Band 8 because the reasons are still listed ("First") rather than woven into the description.
Vocabulary: Some less common, natural items ("homesick", "a disaster", "adjusts things", "nothing in a restaurant comes close"). Band 8 would use more vivid and idiomatic language for the dishes and the kitchen.
Grammar: A good range of complex structures, mostly accurate: "so much that" and "so expensive that" for results, "used to" for a past habit, a past perfect ("he'd become"). One slip, "in one huge plate", where food is served on a plate.

Pronunciation is the fourth criterion; it is judged from your voice, so a written sample cannot show it.

279 words · about 1:55 spoken at a Band 8 pace

The best cook I know is, somewhat unexpectedly, my father. He's an accountant in Fez, and you'd never guess from his very serious work suit that he's at his happiest with flour up to his elbows.

His speciality is Friday couscous, which in our house is practically a sacred event: semolina steamed three times over a stew of lamb and seven vegetables, the whole thing piled into one enormous dish that everyone eats from. During Ramadan he takes over the harira, the tomato and lentil soup we break the fast with, and when guests come, he makes a lamb tagine with prunes and almonds that people still bring up years later.

The way he learned is the part I love. In his twenties he studied in Lyon, and he was so homesick for his mother's cooking that he started phoning her every Sunday to ask how to make things. International calls were expensive then, so she'd dictate recipes at top speed while he scribbled them down. Most of them didn't work at first, and he says he lived on burnt onions for a whole term. But by the time he came home, he could cook better than his brothers, which, in a family of men who'd never so much as boiled an egg, caused quite a stir.

I enjoy his food partly because he cooks by instinct. He never measures anything; he just smells the pot and adds a pinch of something. But mainly it's the generosity. He always makes twice what we need and sends plates round to the neighbours, so for me his cooking isn't just about taste; it's what home smells like on a Friday afternoon.

Why this is Band 8, not Band 9

Fluency and coherence: Fluent and fully coherent, with the learning story told as a lively anecdote and a conclusion that pulls the answer together ("what home smells like on a Friday afternoon"). Short of Band 9 only because the final paragraph opens with a familiar partly-but-mainly frame.
Vocabulary: Wide, precise and idiomatic: "flour up to his elbows", "practically a sacred event", "caused quite a stir", "cooks by instinct". Band 9 would sustain this command across every sentence.
Grammar: A wide range used accurately: a hypothetical ("you'd never guess"), would for a past habit ("she'd dictate recipes"), a past perfect inside a relative clause ("who'd never so much as boiled an egg"). No errors; the gap to Band 9 is the occasional safe structure.

Pronunciation is the fourth criterion; it is judged from your voice, so a written sample cannot show it.

Rounding-off questions

Is cooking a skill everyone should have?: Yes, at least the basics. If you can cook a few simple meals, you eat more healthily, spend less, and you're not helpless the first time you live alone, which is exactly what happened to my father.
Why do fewer people cook at home nowadays?: Mostly time. When both parents work long hours, delivery apps are very tempting. Ready meals have also become cheaper and better, so cooking from scratch starts to feel like a hobby rather than a daily task.