Beginner's course on pronouncing food correctly

Say wine, snacks or haute cuisine and the gourmands at online food magazine FavorFlav know where to drink, how to eat it and what to cook. This time our cheffies serve you: steam course food pronunciation.

There is little worse than mispronouncing words. In the culinary field, there are quite a few tongue twisters that we regularly discuss in the editorial team. And to save you endless debates, we have compiled the most difficult names. Learn this list by heart and set a good example for your fellow humans.

Bruschetta
Lesson in Italian grammar: a ‘c’ and a ‘h’ together become a ‘k’ (mnemonic: with an ‘h’ the sound is hard). So it is bruschetta and not broesjetta. This teaches us that you pronounce the pork dish porchetta as porketta and macchiato as makkie–jato. With prosciutto, there is no ‘h’, so the sound is not hard (pros-kjoe-to), but pro-sjoe-to.

Gnocchi
This is a classic, so make sure to remember it well. And for this, we turn to Italian grammar: there is no ‘j‘ in this alphabet, although you hear it a lot in the language. This sound is formed by combining ’g‘ and ‘n’. You pronounce it as ’nj’ like boloGNese and lasaGNe. And just like with bruschetta, you pronounce the ‘ch’ as k. The pronunciation of gnocchi is therefore njokki.

Tequila
From Italy, we go to Spain. Many people pronounce tequila as if there is tequilla (and in Spanish, the double ‘l’ becomes a ‘j’), so: te-kie-ja (or worse: te-kiel-ja). But nothing could be further from the truth: it really says tequila and it is pronounced as: te-kie-la. Paella is indeed with double ‘l’ and thus becomes: pa-eh-ja

Quinoa
Quinoa is a South American word, so it is polite to pronounce it in the Spanish way. The only correct pronunciation is therefore: kien-wa. So please forget kie-no-wa forever. Oh, and quinoa is not a grain, but a relative of amaranth and completely gluten-free.

Phở
This rich Vietnamese broth is trending. Filled with meat, heartwarming flavors like star anise and Thai basil. Phở is exactly what you need now that it’s getting colder outside (or if you have a hangover). But how do you pronounce this? The sound is hard to describe, so here’s a funny video:

Avocado
Where people get the ‘d’ from, we don’t know, but avocado looks nothing like the drink advocaat. So it’s just a-vo-ca-do and not aDvocado.

Chipotle
This notorious tongue twister you keep forgetting, so we’re refreshing your memory: chi-pot-lé. These smoked and dried jalapeño peppers, which are often sold in cans with a spicy sauce. Especially that drying explains the slightly sweet taste of the peppers. We find them indispensable with a Mexican meal.

Worcestershire sauce
This ultimate flavor enhancer is an essential asset in everyone’s kitchen cupboard. The origin of the product, made by the brand Lea & Perrins, is still unclear. What we do know is that the iconic bottles have been sold since 1838. The pronunciation takes some practice: woes-ter-sjer-sauce.