August 7, 2007
Sounds SO Good...The A-Z on "Writing" Good Food
As a chef and a writer, I am always curious about words used to create images of flavors whether in menus or cookbooks. I am currenly writing my next cookbook (release date: March 2008) and always looking for descriptive words that convey tastes, textures and flavors. In thinking about this week's article, I was struck by the need for stronger technique in writing menus, copy and marketing materials. Supermarkets, restaurants and food manufacturers need to describe how delicious their product and menu item are. Food is exotic, enticing and creates emotions. Don't believe me...close your eyes and think of your favorite brownie...warm, rich, chocolaty. Get my meaning? How can this drive more business to your bottomline? People want an experience when shopping or eating out.
Instead of saying "chips and salsa", I say "warm, light and crispy corn tortilla chips with spicy, fresh roasted tomatillo salsa"- oooh, it makes my mouth water! Your menu, display, or circulater/flyer will speak volumes for you to your customers. Take a moment and think about your last promotional item in your store or on your menu. Did it sell as well as you had hoped? What words or tone did you use? Creating temption with words to get your customers to try something new, explore new flavors is just the ticket to get that product or menu item sold. Be creative, paint a picture with words.
To help you get started, here are a few of my favorite descriptive words:
Bitter
Bright
Brittle
Chewy
Chunky
Cold
Colorful
Cool
Creamy
Crisp
Crumbly
Crunchy
Crusty
Curly
Delicate
Dry
Fizzy
Freezing
Fresh
Frosty
Fruity
Gooey
Hearty
Hot
Juicy
Leafy
Lean
Light
Mashed
Mild
Moist
Mushy
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Peppery
Popping
Raw
Red
Rich
Ripe
Round
Runny
Salty
Savory
Scaly
Scrumptious
Sharp
Slurpy
Smooth
Sour
Spicy
Steaming
Sticky
Succulent
Sweet
Tangy
Tart
Tasty
Tender
Thick
Toasted
Warm
Wet
Wrinkled |
Chef LaLa
Contributing Editor, Comida News
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