Anyone who has been afraid to order the dish or drink that they really wanted for fear of looking silly will know: there are some food names that are just hard to wrap your tongue around. Whether they’re dishes or cocktails that many people get wrong, or ingredients that you rarely hear said out loud, it can be an edible minefield. Here are some of the most commonly mispronounced foods – and how we should be saying their names.

This South American grain has become a hugely popular superfood in the past decade or so – and it’s always been a victim of mispronunciation, especially when it was relatively new to many people. Rather than “keen-oh-ah”, as the spelling suggests, it’s actually supposed to be a slow-spoken “keen-wah”. The name comes from Quechua, a language mostly spoken in the Andes.

Chorizo is one of those words that people either aren’t sure how to pronounce, or are too shy to say correctly for fear of sounding a little pretentious. It’s also one of the most common food names people get wrong, perhaps because there’s no clear guidance on exactly how we should be pronouncing it. “Chuh-ree-zoh” and “chuh-ree-soh” are both considered acceptable, though in Castilian Spanish the spicy, paprika-laced sausage should be spoken as “chuh-ree-tho”.

This creamy, oh-so-oozy cheese has nothing to do with any Bert (as far as we know). The “t” is silent so the cheese, from the Normandy region of France, should be spoken out loud as “cam-om-bear”. And, in our opinion, it should be baked so the inside is runny and the white rind just-soft – and scooped up with lots of crusty bread.

This delicious Greek dish, a popular street food, is best eaten with lots of refreshing yogurt sauce and best said with a silent “g”. The correct pronunciation of gyro is “yee-roh”, or “yee-ree” (gyri) if you’re referring to more than one. The wraps are made with soft pittas traditionally wrapped around tender lamb or mutton cooked on a vertical rotisserie, but often made with pork, chicken or beef too.

The spelling of this infinitely slurp-able Vietnamese soup might suggest it’s spoken as “po” or “foe”, though the correct pronunciation is actually “fuh”. The fragrant soup is made with a deep, flavoursome broth to which rice noodles, herbs and meat are added, and is so synonymous with Vietnam it’s widely considered the country’s national dish.

The name of this nutty, semi-hard cheese is more complicated to say than it might appear. It’s produced from cow’s milk in South Holland so is supposed to be said with the Dutch “g”, which is more like an “h” but said with a guttural throat-clearing sound, like “gh-ouw-da”. It can also be pronounced, a little more simply, “how-da”.

Whether it’s seafood-only, a veggie version or has chunks of chicken stirred through it, paella can be as tricky to pronounce as it seems. The double-l is pronounced as a “y” sound, so the right way to say paella is “pie-aye-ya”. Originating in Spain’s Valencian region, the rice dish is cooked in broth and typically has a combination of meat, seafood and vegetables, with saffron giving it a distinctive yellow hue. The name comes from the pan it’s cooked in.

This Swiss, semi-hard cheese, made from unpasteurised cows’ milk, is pronounced “grew-yeah” in US English or the ever-so-slightly different “gree-yeah” in British English. It’s named after the Swiss town of Gruyères and is known for its nutty, fruity taste. It melts beautifully and is a champion when it comes to adding a delicious richness and depth to recipes, or just transformed into a gooey fondue.

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Buffalo mozzarella (pronounced “boof-a-la motz-a-reh-la”, FYI) may be a cool, creamy delight, but burrata takes things up several notches. The king of mozzarellas is a meltingly beautiful marvel made with water buffalo–milk cheese filled with a velvety combination of cream and milk curds. Its pronunciation – “boo-rah-ta” – is almost as gorgeous.

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No matter how busy you are, this tiny coffee is not pronounced “ex-press-oh”. It’s easy to see why so many people get mixed up, though, as cups of espresso are made for knocking back speedily – or as the starting point for so many coffee styles from cappuccino to cortado. The single shot of coffee, properly served with a toffee-hued crema or head, is pronounced “ess-press-oh”.

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The grape-like berries of the açaí palm have reached superfood stardom in many countries and are packed with antioxidants. Their slight sweetness, balanced with a sharp tartness, means they’re also pretty delicious in a breakfast bowl or smoothie – though the name isn’t so easy to say. Despite its brevity, this Brazilian berry’s name has three syllables and is correctly pronounced “ah-sigh-ee”.

Serious whisky fans tend to swoon at the sound of “Laphroaig”, the favoured Scotch for lovers of peaty single malts. Unless the name is said wrongly, perhaps. Anything with this many vowels is easy to get wrong. This whisky from the Scottish island of Islay (“eye-luh”) is pronounced “lah-froyg”, which is harder to remember than its distinctive, slightly salty taste.

This is such a common coffee order you would think we’d all know how to say the name, though there’s often debate as to exactly how latte is pronounced and especially how long and drawn out those vowels should be. Not very, in fact, as this velvety coffee, usually made with a double espresso topped up with steamed milk, is pronounced “la-teh”. The coffee is technically a latte macchiato as latte alone translates as simply “milk”.

This floral, honeyed wine, with notes from mango and peach to vanilla and clove, is delicate, complex and sure to impress – unless you stumble over its stilted-looking spelling, that is. It’s pronounced “vee-own-yay”, though “vee-nyay” is often accepted without an eye-roll, too. Viognier originates in southern France and is the only permitted grape in the Rhône Valley wine Condrieu, though it’s widely grown in other wine regions, too.

Occasionally an ingredient becomes the next big thing despite lots of people having no clue how to say its name. Sriracha is a prime example. The spicy, tangy Thai sauce, made with red jalapeños, garlic, vinegar, sugar and salt, has achieved a cult-like status, with fans drizzling it on prawns, eggs, chips and pretty much everything else. Its name looks like a trip-hazard for your tongue, but it’s actually pretty simple: just drop the first “r” and pronounce it “see-ra-cha”.

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This is another of those cocktails that becomes increasingly hard to order the more you’ve had. Brazil’s national cocktail, the caipirinha is a zingy mix of cachaça – a spirit made from sugarcane, incidentally pronounced “ka-cha-sa” – muddled with sugar and lime and served with lots of ice. It’s pronounced “kai-puh-reen-ya” – but try saying that after a few sips.

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The Norwegian “j” is pronounced like the English “y”, so this nutty, buttery cheese should be pronounced “yarls-berg”. It was first made in the 1950s in Ås, a small village in Norway. It’s a protected brand produced by the Jarlsberg company in Norway and at dairies in the US and Eire. Made with cows' milk and a secret-recipe starter culture that gives it a distinctive taste, each wedge has bubbly holes or air pockets dotted through it, meaning it’s often compared to Swiss Emmental.

Baking enthusiasts and pizza fans might have met Dr. Oetker. The company, which was founded in Germany in 1891, is a familiar sight in grocery stores. It's famous for its frozen Ristorante pizzas and for making a wide range of cake mixes, as well as pretty much any staple baking ingredient you can think of. Founded by Dr. August Oetker, the company's name is correctly pronounced “ert-ker”.

It forms the foundation of many a cheeseboard but, despite the spelling, Roquefort has nothing to do with forts, or any castle for that matter (though it’s probably been served in a few). The “que” has a “k” sound and the “t” is silent, so the name of the crumbly, buttery blue-veined cheese is pronounced “rock-for”. It’s made from unpasteurised sheep’s milk in southern France, where it’s matured in underground caves.

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The name of these pillowy, puffed-up doughnuts should be pronounced “ben-yay”. The second syllable is easy to remember once you’ve taken a bite, because it’s probably what your tastebuds want to exclaim. French in origin, beignets have become synonymous with the US city of New Orleans, where they’re usually served buried under a mound of icing sugar and with a café au lait for dipping.

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Quesadilla is one of those words that can have you panicking while waiting in line at a Mexican restaurant or food truck, because it’s so easy to say its name wrong. The correct pronunciation is “ke-sah-dee-yah” or, in Spanish, “ke-sah-thee-yah”. Meaning “little cheesy thing”, these popular street-food snacks are made with tortillas (“tor-tee-yas”) folded over cheese and sometimes other fillings and cooked on a griddle so the filling becomes a delicious ooze.

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Spicy, spreadable and sensational in dishes from stews to pasta sauces and pizza toppings, this Italian pork sausage from Calabria (at the toe of Italy’s boot) has become something of a hero ingredient. Yet it can be a little tricky to say and is often mispronounced due to the “ja”. The name should actually be spoken as “en-doo-ya”, with the “j” melting away like the soft sausage in a frying pan.

 

Whether you’re referring to the chilli peppers or the popular fast-food chain that bears the same name, chipotle should be pronounced “chi-poat-lay” (as opposed to the commonly uttered “chi-pot-el”). The chillies are ripened jalapeños that have been smoked and dried, giving them a distinctive deep maroon hue and wrinkly skin. They bring a deep, rich, smoky flavour to many Mexican dishes.

From the same Italian company as Nutella, these indulgent bite-sized treats have a similar chocolate and hazelnut flavour. The filling of hazelnut cream is encased in crisp wafer, smothered in chocolate and more hazelnut and wrapped in the signature gold foil. Oh, and the name is pronounced “fur-rare-row row-shey” – but “yum” is also perfectly acceptable.

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Bruschetta, an Italian dish of lightly toasted bread topped with garlic, perfectly ripe chopped tomatoes and a drizzle of olive oil, is summer encapsulated in one dish. But its name is as tricky as the dish is to share (cutting up topped toast rarely occurs without spillage). It’s commonly mispronounced with a “ch” sound, which should actually be a “k” – meaning its name is spoken as “broo-sket-tah”.

You’d think this one would be straightforward, but this hugely popular and widely craved hazelnut-chocolate spread isn’t actually pronounced “nut-el-ah” in the US, but “new-tell-uh”. Its surprising pronunciation is down to its Italian origins. The spread was created by Piedmont bakery owner Pietro Ferrero in the 1940s as a way of making pricey cocoa go further.