Have you ever come home from a trip and tried to recreate a dish you fell in love with there? How did it go?

B Natural answer

Yes, after a trip to Italy I tried to make a simple pasta dish I had in a small restaurant there. I followed a video and bought the same kind of cheese, but my version still wasn’t quite right. The biggest issue was the sauce; it was tasty, but the texture came out wrong. It was too thick at first, then too dry after I added water. After a few tries, I got something that was good enough to remind me of the trip, even if it wasn’t exact. It really took a lot of trial and error.

Key phrases in this answer

• followed a video — used a video as instructions for how to do something“I followed a video to make the dish at home.”
• the texture came out wrong — the food had the wrong feel or consistency“The flavor was okay, but the texture came out wrong.”
• a lot of trial and error — many attempts with mistakes before success“Cooking that dish took a lot of trial and error.”
• went by taste — used your own judgment instead of measuring exactly“I didn’t have the recipe, so I went by taste.”
• ask someone for the real recipe — request the original ingredients and steps from someone who knows the dish“If I loved it that much, I’d ask someone for the real recipe.”
• more trouble than I expected — harder or more annoying than you thought it would be“Recreating that dish was more trouble than I expected.”