The Hardest-To-Pronounce Spices And Condiments

Pronouncing the complicated names of foreign dishes, spices and condiments can be pretty difficult to say the least -- even for those who think they have a handle on languages. If you often find yourself at a restaurant not knowing how to pronounce the spice used in one of your favorite dishes or the condiment at the center of the table, then this guide is for you.

Our guide includes the phonetic pronunciation, what each spice or condiment is made of, and how you can use it in your own cooking. Browse our slideshow below to see the spices and condiments that made our list.

What's been your hardest-to-pronounce spice or condiment? Let us know below.

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Comments

[LemmonHerk]

03:16 PM on 04/15/2012

How about "BRUSCHETTA"? It IS NOT, IS NOT, IS NOT pronounced "broo-shetta". It's pronounced "broo-sketta". If it were a German word, yes, then "sch" would be pronounced "sh", but it's not German, it's Italian -- so the "sch" is pronounced "sk". It drives me nuts when waiters, who should know better, mispronounce this.

[mcinnisja]

03:28 PM on 04/15/2012

How about "ex-PRESS-oh"?

[Juan Gordo]

02:58 PM on 04/15/2012

It's not a spice but I believe that one of the most commonly mispronounced words in the food world is liqueur. It's' li-kur' not 'li-koo-ur' or 'li-cue-ur'.

[kaos42]

12:50 PM on 04/15/2012

What? No Turmeric?

[candlesmp]

12:50 PM on 04/15/2012

those are the hardest to pronounce? that's a laugh and a half. Any foodie would be able to pronounce them.

[Al Schrader]

12:46 PM on 04/15/2012

I've made dishes for over 100,000 guests in the last 15 years including Faith Hill, Hillary Clinton, Rudi Guiliani, Tim McGraw, Generals, presidential candidates, dozens of CEOs, etc. My experience with all-of-it flavorings has not been great. For example, five spice powder. The taste is too complex each spice fighting the other resulting in something indeterminate. Most spices and herbs already have plenty of complexity, I maybe combine two max in a dish. Too many, and it's ruined. I also avoid using black pepper because it doesn't digest. The black pepper spice is conbtained in a cellulose beery called a pepper corn. Cellulose will not digest so it makes it all the way to the large intestine carrying the spice heat with it.
When the large intestine removes the water, it takes the spice into the blood stream causing my guest to become a sneezing sniffling, theatre goer (picking their seat). Not what I intended with my entre...Alfred-

[henery]

03:03 PM on 04/15/2012

Thanks Al----no more black pepper for me lol. I always thought that too many spices spoil the broth, I'm glad you cleared that up. Do you use white pepper? I love pepper. And I guess thats why I spend a lot of time selecting a seat for the movie.

[humbertou]

03:59 PM on 04/15/2012

Look I do not want to disqualify you as expert, but I am sorry you are wrong with the black pepper, we the Hispanic population we used the black pepper in almost every dish and we do not have this "side effect" that you mention, not every body like it, specially white people, by the way see the side effect that you mention have to pass at least two after the meal, that you mean that you are still around? Now the only sneezing that I know that the black pepper produced is when you inadvertently inhaled some black pepper and that produce irritation in the nose and you sneeze to expel it, then if you do not like spicy it is ok, every body has his or her own opinion, but do not come with funny theories.

[henery]

07:11 PM on 04/15/2012

Hi humbler this is not a funny theory. When I cook I use a lot of black pepper. When I serve the dish to my wife she starts to sneeze. This pepper is not laying on top it has been thoroughly cooked through the food for several minutes. I on the other hand do not have a ploblem with sneezing but I do scratch at times. Quit putting black pepper in and sneezing and picking stops. But we like balck pepper so a little sneezing or picking does not bother us. Hispanics, I don't think would sneeze or pick if they eat a bushel of habaneros. At least the ones I work with wouldn't. They eat habanero sandwiches for breakfast.

[littledic]

12:27 PM on 04/15/2012

Another common misprounciation is for the word "Cumin". Cooking shoes deliberately changed the one and only prounciation found in older dictionaries. It's properly prounounced "cuh-men" with the accent on the "cuh". But then due to misusage over the years, added acceptable versions were added to American dictionaries, like "Koo-min" and "Que-min"... it goes to show you how democratic language is by adapting to the population's "majority rules" concept of acceptablity through misuse.

[hyperstan]

11:33 AM on 04/15/2012

People at school always think I have something to do with food and cooking and stuff cause they say I smell like broccoli. My room even smells like broccoli. Don't get me wrong. I like broccoli. Thanks.

Stan.

[thricethricebaby]

09:58 AM on 04/15/2012

Okay, I'm no foodie, but only one of those caught me up. Add "cumin" to the list--so many insist it's "kooomin," and get quite pissy when disagreed with. Fact is, it's "koomin" in some areas, "koomeeno" in some, and "kuhmin" or "kahmin" in yet others--depends on where you're from.

[littledic]

12:36 PM on 04/15/2012

You're wrong... it's actually should be prounounced "Cuh-min". You can prove this by looking this word up in any dictionary printed before 1950. There is only this way noted. Then, through misuse and the influence of foreign languages entering into our populations, the two added misprounciations were slowly added into the dictionary. These adaptations were from populations that used that spice in their cooking. " So now, those foreign versions of "koo-man" and "Que-min" have been added into the prounciation gazette, but in second and third positions of preference behind the proper english version.

[thricethricebaby]

06:26 PM on 04/15/2012

"You're wrong!" Boy, you sure know how to start a post. Actually, I'm NOT wrong, and what's hilarious is that you just agreed with me! I said that pronunciation varies with geographic origin, and there you are, saying that foreign languages introduced screwed up pronunciations. That's just a less polite way of saying exactly what I just said. Personally, since "cumin" isn't actually an English THING, I go with the Middle Eastern pronunciation--I learned to use cumin in Arab dishes. Arabs? They say "kuh-min." Just like you like it :-)

[Solitaire727]

08:03 AM on 04/15/2012

These are not spices that I either use or pronounce! I'll stick with basil and orgegano!

[beetlejuice666]

09:41 AM on 04/15/2012

You might also want to try "oregano".

[alabamajack]

10:48 AM on 04/15/2012

What's "orgegano", is this a new type of spice?

[henery]

03:05 PM on 04/15/2012

It's a very complex spice lol

[arturchanik]

01:19 AM on 04/13/2012

Dean&Deluca charges $30 for four oz. of berbere?!!!! I used to get it in Atlanta on Buford Highway for $20 a lb! I'm in Utah at the moment so I had to order it online from Ethiopia and it was only $12.50 a lb. Not quite the same as what I bought in Atlanta but everyone has their own mix.
My point is, what horrible price gouging.

[mcinnisja]

03:33 PM on 04/15/2012

You're right, and I see you've exercised your perogative to shop elsewhere.

[grittygranny]

07:51 PM on 04/12/2012

Is the guy with chicken friend steak married? Hope I'm not too late for dinner! YUM

[bluefire66]

02:20 PM on 04/11/2012

I always have a bottle of Sriracha in my fridge.

[allmywickedsins]

08:06 AM on 04/12/2012

Love the stuff, we use it almost daily.

[Kaila]

02:40 AM on 04/14/2012

I have to be honest I'm not crazy about it (which is weird because I'm a hot sauce fiend, everything from Tabasco to Chalula), it's a little too caustic and garlicky for me

[chicagomike]

09:10 PM on 04/20/2012

To me, sriracha is too sweet -- I'd love it except for the sugar they put in it.

[bluefire66]

02:18 PM on 04/11/2012

That Piri Piri sauce sounds delicious! I'm gonna have to find me some of that.

[The Internets]

02:18 PM on 04/11/2012

Great. An article on how to pronounce the names of spices misspells "chili."

[mia8485]

05:17 PM on 04/14/2012

"Chili" is the dish made with meat.
"Chile" is the country and the pepper

[beetlejuice666]

09:44 AM on 04/15/2012

"Chili" is the dish made from peppers; "chili con carne" is the dish made with peppers and meat.

[The Internets]

06:47 PM on 04/15/2012

Not quite. The country is "Chile." The meat dish and the pepper are both "chili." "Chillie," however common the spelling, is an ignorant Americanization of a simple Spanish word. Why would anyone add unnecessary letters to a simple word?

[chicagomike]

09:13 PM on 04/20/2012

Nonsense. In all the Latin American countries I've been in, it's "chile." Never once have I seen "chili."

[american-dolt]

01:51 PM on 04/11/2012

Can you please pass the Jelly?