What is “desert island food” in English?
Choosing Cheese Over Fruit On A Desert Island
A2 English listening practice · American English · Picked for people who know a little
Desert island food is a classic American small-talk question: if you were stuck alone on a desert island and could only bring one food, what would it be? It comes from an older BBC radio show called Desert Island Discs, which started in 1942. The idea crossed the Atlantic and got simpler. Today you hear the question at the start of podcasts, on first dates, and in many TikTok videos.
In this Amy Poehler “Good Hang” episode, the guest skips fruit and picks bread and cheese as her desert island answer. Some people think skipping fruit is a strange choice. Her pick shows a Hollywood taste for comfort food over healthy food. The question is short, but it does what it always does: it shows who a person really is, faster than a list of favorite films would.
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Source: wordfreq 3.1.1 (general) · SUBTLEX-US 2012 (spoken). These numbers are close, not perfect.
- ▸On podcast cold-opens like *SmartLess, Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend and Armchair Expert*
- ▸On BBC Radio 4's long-running *Desert Island Discs* archive
- ▸In American food journalism by Bon Appétit, Eater and Food & Wine running the question on chefs
- ▸In late-night interviews on *The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel Live!*