Val (Hi!) pointed me in the direction of this list of Menu Minefields – commonly mispronounced food items. The comments are worth a read as well.
This is so apt considering our recent discussions on bruschetta (brusKETTA) at Inoteca (yes, my post on NY is coming up, finally) not to mention our daily debates at work over the British vs American butchering of risotto (I am guilty of the latter).
Porchetta: por-KETT-ah
Guacamole: huaca-MO-lay
Espresso: ess-PRESS-oh (there’s no “ex” sound)
Tagliatelle: tahl-ya-TELL-eh
Gewurtzraminer: ge-VOORTZ-tra-meener
Cassoulet: cass-ooh-LAY
Rillettes: ree-YET
Macaron: mah-cah-ROn (swallow the R at the end; don’t confuse it with the coconutty “macaroon,” which is pronounced as it’s spelled)
Quinoa: KEEN-wah
Nicoise: nee-SWAhs
Paillard: pie-YARD
Paella: pa-EYH-ah
Claret: cla-rett (exactly as it’s spelled — this isn’t a French word)
Bouillabaisse: BOOL-ya-base
‘Clearly this isn’t a complete set of words that sound awfully different than they look. What menu items always trip you up?’
Top 10 at 10: Mispronounced Foodie Words [The Stew/Tribune]
Please – baby’s first words were Por-KETTa – and KEEN-wah. Haha – just kidding, thanks for the shout out!
pfft my first word was BOOlyabase bien sur. 😉 happy you’re reading!! xx
Baby’s first words may have been Por-KETTa but I seem to recall correcting someone on the KEEN-wah pronunciation just last week. Personally I have problems with tahl-ya-TELL-eh and still don’t know how to pronounce Gnocco – not that that keeps me from ordering it 🙂
NOkki (ie gnocchi), me thinks.
The point about how this doesn’t stop anyone from ordering these things is particularly apt haha.
The Guardian did something on this last week too. I think there’s a PhD thesis in the wilful mispronunciation of Chorizo in there somewhere. Delia Smith (British cook halfway between Julia Child and the cooking-only bits of Martha Stewart, for US readers), goes for the full-on Italianate ‘ko-RIT-so’, which makes me want to strangle puppies.
I’ll try to find the Guardian article and post a link, thanks!
Oh my god re: koRITso. I have noticed that a lot of people manage to somehow slip in a ‘t’ into that word.
– K