Food words that change according to the region - Archived from Duolingo Forums

[justheaven]

Original Post by: HelpfulDuo: https://forum.duolingo.com/comment/25181059 | Archived DL page: https://archive.ph/cAvdA

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HelpfulDuo:

Food is different around the world and so are the Spanish words we use for them. This is a list of common foods that have different names in different Spanish speaking countries.

food	Spanish words by regions
popcorn	pochoclo (Argentina), palomitas (México), cabritas (Chile) , cotufas (Venezuela), pororó (Paraguay and Bolivia), maíz pira (Colombia)
hotdog	pancho (Argentina), hot dog (Chile y México), perro caliente (Venezuela)
beer	zurito o katxi (Basque Country), mini (Madrid), cachi (Castilla León), chela (Mexico and Chile) birra (Venezuela and Argentina) pinta (Panama), jumbo (República Dominicana) caña or clara (Spain)
platters	tapas (Spain), picadita (Argentina), picoteo (Chile), botana (México), pasapalo (Venezuela).
beans	alubias (Spain), habichuelas (Cuba and Spain), porotos (Argentina, Chile and Uruguay), frijoles (México and Guatemala), caraotas (Venezuela)
steak	filete (Spain), bife (Argentina and Uruguay), bistec (Chile, Mexico and Venezuela), beaf-steak (Chile), churrasco (Uruguay)
cake	tarta (Spain), pastel (Spain, Mexico and Chile), torta (Argentina, Colombia and Uruguay), quey (Cuba), keke (Peru), pinller (Guatemala)

Share your experience!
Do you know any other regional word for these or other foods?

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[Dovili22]

Thank you This post is really important. Helps us to have a knowledge about different region's food. This forum is multicultural.

[pawndemic]

If I am not mistaken in Spain you can also order una jarra (de cerveza)

Cake could also be bizcocho which is some sort of sponge cake.

Interesting is also how to order ice cream. Correct me, if I am wrong, but I think at least in Spain you order the size of cup and the tastes, for example Póngame una tarrina mediana de chocolate y vainilla and the price depends of the size of the cup. Whereas in Germany you order the scoops with your desired taste.

[Explorer]

If I am not mistaken in Spain you can also order una jarra (de cerveza)

There are many ways to order a beer in Spain. Ponme una rubia, una caña, una jarra, un tubo... y bien fresquita por favor.

Caña and tubo are synonyms. A jarra is usually bigger than a caña (like a pint). And a rubia refers to the type of beer (Pilsen).

[Cifi]

And quite a lot of fruits and vegetables have different names, don't they?

I remember having learned the following names that are used in Spain as far as I know, and then Duolingo surprised me with different ones, likely used somewhere in Latin America. The first few that come to my mind:

Peach - el melocotón / el durazno

Peanut - el cacahuete / el maní

Potato - la patata / la papa

Banana - el plátano / la banana(?)

[Julian_L.]

And quite a lot of fruits and vegetables have different names, don't they?

I remember having learned the following names that are used in Spain as far as I know, and then Duolingo surprised me with different ones, likely used somewhere in Latin America. The first few that come to my mind:

Peach - el melocotón / el durazno

Peanut - el cacahuete / el maní

Potato - la patata / la papa

Banana - el plátano / la banana(?)

English	Spain	Hispanic America
apricot	(el) albaricoque And similar names	(el) chabacano — Mexico (el) damasco — Argentina, Chile (el) albaricoque — Other countries
artichoke	(la) alcachofa (el) alcaucil — South	(el) alcaucil — Argentina ??? — Other countries
avocado	(el) agacuate	(la) palta — Argentina, Chile, Peru and Uruguay (el) aguacate — Other countries
banana	(el) plátano	Better see on Wikipedia: la banana; el banano; el plátano; el guineo; el maduro; el cambur; el gualele
bean	(Wikipedia)	(Wikipedia)
beet	(la) remolacha (la) beterrada — Canary Islands	(el) betabel — Mexico (la) betarraga — Chile (la) beterraga — Bolivia? Chile? Peru (la) remolacha — Other countries
butter	(la) mantequilla	(la) manteca — Paraguay? Uruguay? Argentina (we do not differentiate between butter and lard) (la) mantequilla — Other countries
cheese puff	(el) cheeto [/chito/]	(el) chizito — Argentina ??? — Other countries
corncob	"(el) maíz"? "(la) mazorca de maíz"?	(el) choclo — South America (except for Venezuela) (el) chócolo — Colombia (el) jojoto — Venezuela (el) elote — Mexico and Central America
croissant	(el) cruasán	(el) cruasán — Colombia (el) cachito — Peru, Ecuador and Venezuela (la) medialuna — Argentina, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay (not really croissants, but too similar) (el) cuernito — Mexico and other countries (el) cangrejito — Other countries
Danish pastry	???	(el) bizcocho — Uruguay (el) dulce — Paraguay (la) factura — Argentina ??? — Other countries
hot dog	(el) perro caliente	See on Wikipedia: el hot-dog; el jocho; el perro caliente; el pan con perro; el pancho; el completo; el shuco
ladyfinger	(Wikipedia)	(Wikipedia)
lime	(la) lima	(el) limón — See Wikipedia and r/learnspanish (la) lima — Most of South America
peach	(el) melocotón	(el) melocotón — Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, Panama, Costa Rica, Cuba (el) durazno
lollipop (spherical)	(Wikipedia)	(Wikipedia)
peanut	(el) cacahuete	(el) cacahuate — Mexico (la) manía — Guatemala (el) maní — Other countries
pineapple	(la) piña	(el) ananá — Argentina and Uruguay (la) piña — Other countries
popcorn	(Wikipedia)	(Wikipedia)
powdered sugar	(Wikipedia)	(Wikipedia)
ravioli → raviolis	(el) ravioli → (los) raviolis	(el/los) ravioli → Venezuela (el) ravioli → (los) raviolis — Colombia (el) raviol → (los) ravioles — Other countries
ricotta	(el) requesón	(la) ricota — Argentina and Venezuela (el) requesón — Other countries
salami	(el) salami	(el) salame — Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay (el) salamín — Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay (if it's a small salami) (el) salami — Other countries
strawberry	(la) fresa	(la) frutilla — South America (la) fresa — Other countries
Welsh onion	(la) cebolleta	(Wikipedia)

In Argentina we call nectarines «pelón». I don't know where they call them «nectarina» or «pavía».

[Fer²]

Great list by Julián (I don't know if we can do mentions here)!

A few precisions coming from Spain:

• Banana: we also use (la) banana; I think it's getting more and more common. My local supermarket only calls them plátanos is they're from the Canaries (or for cooking, but I guess those are rather plantains anyway).
• Cheese puff: I've always heard it pronounced /cheto/.
• Corncob: I guess we would use (el) maíz (en mazorca) or (la) mazorca (de maíz), yes. It's not such a common preparation that we have adopted a specific term.
• Danish pastry: generally speaking, (el) bollo.
• Hot dog: I've always heard (el) perrito caliente. I'd recommend you avoid perro caliente, as it sounds like a literal dog in heat, but your mileage may vary.
• Ricotta: we're somewhat familiar with the Italian term, but consider it a specific product. So ricota and mató are both requesón, just like champán and cava are both espumoso.
• Nectarines: I've heard both (la) nectarina and (la) pavía, though I only use the former. The latter may be regional here.

Going back to the OP, I think the beer situation is a bit confusing. Most of the terms tagged as Spain refer to different sizes. The words for the drink are still (la) cerveza and (la) birra (more slangy). A katxi/cachi is a large party cup, not necessarily used for beer. And clara is a beer watered down with soda (typically lemon or club). As for how the different sizes relate to one another, it's... complicated. But this image by Cerveceros de España should give you a rough idea.


[Cifi]

Fer! I'm so glad to see you around here!

[Fer²]

Fer! I'm so glad to see you around here!

Still learning the ropes... Glad to see you too (and some other regulars such as Julián himself)!

[John238922]

Going back to the OP, I think the beer situation is a bit confusing. Most of the terms tagged as Spain refer to different sizes. The words for the drink are still (la) cerveza and (la) birra (more slangy). A katxi/cachi is a large party cup, not necessarily used for beer. And clara is a beer watered down with soda (typically lemon or club). As for how the different sizes relate to one another, it's... complicated. But this image by Cerveceros de España should give you a rough idea.


La cerveza me interesa. Soy australiano.

?El corto/zurito/penalti es un vaso bajo, mas ancho que alto? ?O solo pequeño?

?El tercio es una botella de 300/330/375 ml? ?Asi el quinto es 200ml?

?Una caña es cerca de 300ml?

Respuestas complicadas en ingles, por favor.

[Fer²]

?El corto/zurito/penalti es un vaso bajo, mas ancho que alto? ?O solo pequeño?

El vaso típico es más ancho que alto, sí. Pero lo importante es la cantidad. Es menos que un botellín, 100 ~ 150 ml aprox? Alguna vez los he visto en vasos tipo shot, pero no es frecuente.

?El tercio es una botella de 300/330/375 ml? ?Asi el quinto es 200ml?

Sí, exacto, un tercio son 330 ml ~ 1/3 l. Y un quinto son 200 ml = 1/5 l.

?Una caña es cerca de 300ml?

La caña es la medida más variable. En el norte, fácilmente es un tercio o más. De Madrid hacia el sur, es en torno a un quinto. Si quieres más, pides una caña doble = un doble.

Si tienes mucha sed, una jarra suele pasar de medio litro. En sitios especializados en cerveza, no es raro que te ofrezcan también pintas.

I hope my answers are clear enough, but don't hesitate if you need something translated. And note that this info applies only to Spain and is a rough generalization based on personal experience. There are bound to be some outliers and exceptions I'm unaware of.

[John238922]

Fer²

Mil gracias .

Muy claro.