Spanish for food lovers: from dal to paellapaellaValencia's famous rice dish.

Ask any Indian what they miss most when they travel, and the answer is almost always the same: the food. Ask a Spaniard, and you'll hear exactly the same thing. Two cultures that love to eat, love to cook for guests, and love to talk about food while eating food. That's why food words are the perfect place to start building your Spanish vocabulary.

Food vocabulary is also the easiest to practise. You eat three or four times a day, so you get three or four free revision sessions without opening a book. In this post I'll walk you through the basics, then the spices and dishes we cook at home in India, the taste words you'll need, and the phrases that get you through a Spanish restaurant. There's a big table to save and flashcards at the end. ¡Vamos!Let's go!Used to cheer someone on or get moving.

Basic Spanish food words to learn first

Start with the words you see on your plate every day. Learn each noun with its article, eltheMasculine article. or latheFeminine article., because Spanish nouns have a gender and the article teaches it to you for free.

• el panbreadA masculine noun.: our Mumbai pav comes from the Portuguese word for bread, a close cousin.
• el arrozriceA masculine noun.: the base of paellapaellaValencia's famous rice dish., and of half the meals in India.
• el aguawaterFeminine, but it takes el because it starts with a stressed a.: a feminine word that takes eltheMasculine article.. Don't worry about why for now, just learn it as el aguawaterFeminine noun with el..
• la lechemilkA feminine noun., el huevoeggThe h is silent., el quesocheeseA masculine noun., la frutafruitA feminine noun., la verduravegetablesOften used in the plural, las verduras..
• la carnemeatA feminine noun., el pollochickenSay POH-yo., el pescadofishFish as food..

That last one has a little trap. A fish swimming in the sea is un peza fishA live fish.. The fish on your plate is el pescadofishFish as food.. Spanish uses two different words, and getting them mixed up will make a waiter smile.

And the word for food itself? La comidafood, meal, lunchFrom comer, to eat.. It comes from comerto eatAn -er verb., and in Spain it also means lunch, the big meal of the day.

The meals of the day in Spanish

Spanish meal times are famously late, and the names can confuse you at first. Here's the usual pattern in Spain:

• el desayunobreakfastFrom desayunar, to have breakfast.: often light, maybe toast and a coffee.
• el almuerzomid-morning snack or lunchThe meaning depends on the region.: in many parts of Spain, a mid-morning snack. In Latin America, usually lunch.
• la comidalunchThe main meal in Spain.: the main meal, usually eaten around two or three in the afternoon.
• la meriendaafternoon snackLike our evening chai and snacks.: an afternoon snack. Think of our evening chai with biscuits or pakoras.
• la cenadinnerFrom cenar, to have dinner.: dinner, often late at night.

Each meal has its own verb too: desayunarto have breakfastA regular -ar verb., comerto eat, to have lunchAn -er verb., merendarto have an afternoon snackA stem-changing verb. and cenarto have dinnerA regular -ar verb.. So instead of saying "I eat dinner at nine", a Spaniard says Ceno a las nueve.I have dinner at nine.One verb does the job.

If you've ever wondered why dinner is so late in Spain, I've written a whole post on why Spaniards eat dinner at 10pm.

Indian food in Spanish: dal, chai, roti and more

Here's the fun part. How do you describe the food you eat every day at home? Some Indian dishes simply keep their names. Dal, biryani, samosa and naan are usually just called that in Spain, especially in Indian restaurants. But you'll often need to explain what's inside, so these words are gold.

Dal is lentils, so it's lentejaslentilsAlways used in the plural.. And here's a lovely link: lentejaslentilsA classic Spanish home dish. are a classic Spanish home dish too. Many Spanish families make a lentil stew, so if you tell someone dal is a kind of Indian lentejaslentil stewDal, Spanish style., they'll understand straight away.

Chole is garbanzoschickpeasAlways used in the plural.. Spain loves them as well: the famous cocido madrileñoMadrid stewA hearty stew of chickpeas, meat and vegetables. is a hearty stew built around chickpeas.

Rajma is alubias rojasred kidney beansAlubias is the usual word in Spain.. You'll also hear judíasbeansAnother Spanish word for beans., and in Latin America frijolesbeansThe Latin American word..

Paneer is a kind of fresh cheese, so you can say queso fresco indioIndian fresh cheeseA simple way to explain paneer.. Most people will then ask you for the recipe!

Roti is a flatbread: pan planoflatbreadSimple and clear. does the job, though in Indian restaurants people just say roti or naan.

Chai is téteaWith an accent., but for our spiced milky version, say té con leche y especiastea with milk and spicesHow to explain masala chai.. Watch the accent: téteaWith the accent, a drink. with an accent is tea, and teyouWithout it, a pronoun. without it is a pronoun.

Curd or dahi is yoguryoghurtPlain yoghurt., and ghee can be explained as mantequilla clarificadaclarified butterGhee, in Spanish..

Vegetables and fruit in Spanish

Our sabzi is full of vegetables Spain knows well. Note that Spain says patatapotatoThe word used in Spain., while Latin America says papapotatoThe Latin American word.. Both are correct, they're just regional.

• Aloo is la patatapotatoUsed in Spain..
• Gobi is la coliflorcauliflowerA feminine noun..
• Baingan is la berenjenaaubergine, eggplantA feminine noun..
• Palak is las espinacasspinachUsually plural in Spanish..
• Bhindi is la okraokraNot common in Spain., though you'll rarely see it in a Spanish market.
• Pyaaz, lehsun and adrak are la cebollaonionSay the-BO-ya in Spain., el ajogarlicThroaty j: AH-ho. and el jengibregingerThroaty j at the start..
• Tamatar is el tomatetomatoAlmost the same word..

For fruit, you already know some: el mangomangoSame word! is the same word. El plátanobananaThe word used in Spain. is banana in Spain, la manzanaappleA feminine noun. is apple, la uvagrapeUvas in the plural. is grape and la naranjaorangeThe fruit. is orange.

That last one is a real gem. NaranjaorangeThe fruit. and our नारंगी share an ancestor. The word travelled from Sanskrit through Persian and Arabic before it reached Spain. When you say naranjaorangeCousin of नारंगी., you're saying a word that has Indian roots.

Spices in Spanish (our especiasspicesThe spice box, in Spanish.)

No Indian kitchen works without the masala dabba. Here's your spice box in Spanish. The general word for spices is las especiasspicesFeminine plural..

Two of these have stories worth knowing:

• AzúcarsugarFrom Arabic, and before that, Sanskrit. came into Spanish from Arabic, and the Arabic word goes back to Sanskrit शर्करा. Our शक्कर is a cousin. Sugar is one of India's oldest exports, and its name travelled with it.
• El clavoclove, nailOne word, two meanings. also means "nail". Look at a clove and you'll see why: it looks like a tiny nail.

Spanish dishes every food lover should know

Now let's go the other way. These are classic dishes you'll find all over Spain, and knowing them makes any menu much less scary.

• La paellapaellaA rice dish from Valencia.: a rice dish from Valencia, cooked in a wide, flat pan. The original Valencian version uses chicken and rabbit. Seafood paellapaellaValencia's famous rice dish. is also very popular.
• La tortilla de patatasSpanish omeletteEggs and potatoes, sometimes onion.: a thick omelette of eggs and potatoes, often with onion. Spaniards argue about the onion the way we argue about pineapple on pizza.
• El gazpachogazpachoA cold tomato soup.: a cold tomato soup from Andalusia, perfect for summer.
• Las tapastapasSmall plates to share.: small plates to share. Going out for tapas is called ir de tapasto go out for tapasA very Spanish evening plan..
• Los churros con chocolatechurros with chocolateFried dough dipped in thick hot chocolate.: fried dough dipped in thick hot chocolate. Think jalebi's distant Spanish cousin.
• El cocido madrileñoMadrid stewChickpeas, meat and vegetables.: the chickpea stew we met earlier.

Notice something? Lots of Spanish favourites are built on the same base ingredients as Indian food: rice, chickpeas, lentils, onion, garlic, tomato. The flavours are different, but the kitchen feels familiar.

How to describe taste in Spanish

Every food lover needs taste words. Indian food is all about balance: sweet, sour, salty, spicy. Spanish has words for all of them.

• dulcesweetFor desserts and sweets.: sweet. Our mithai is dulcesweetVery, very dulce..
• saladosaltyFrom sal, salt.: salty.
• ácidosourFor tamarind, lemon and the like.: sour, like imli or lemon.
• amargobitterThink karela.: bitter, like karela.
• picantespicy, hotThe word you'll need most.: spicy hot.
• sosoblandNot enough salt or flavour.: bland, not enough salt or flavour.
• ricotastyWith estar, it means tasty. and deliciosodeliciousAlmost the same as English.: tasty and delicious.

A small grammar note: to say a dish is tasty right now, Spanish uses estarTo be (right now)For how or where something is: feelings, states, location.: ¡Está muy rico!It's really tasty!Estar plus rico. If you say a person es ricois richSer plus rico means wealthy., you're talking about money, not flavour. I explain this fully in ser vs estar, finally explained.

And the most useful question of all for an Indian in Spain? ¿Pica?Is it spicy?From picar. It comes from the verb picarto sting, to be spicyUsed for spicy food in Spain.. Fair warning: Spanish food is generally mild, so when a Spaniard says something pica muchois very spicyPica plus mucho., you may find it pleasantly gentle.

Spanish restaurant phrases you'll actually use

Knowing the food words is half the job. Here's how to order without stress.

• Una mesa para dos, por favor.A table for two, please.Change the number as you need.: a table for two.
• La carta, por favor.The menu, please.Carta is the menu.: the menu. Careful, the menu is la cartathe menuNot a letter here.. El menú del díaset menu of the dayA fixed-price lunch menu. is a set lunch menu with a starter, a main and a dessert.
• Para mí, el pollo.For me, the chicken.A simple way to order.: a simple, polite way to order.
• Quería un café con leche.I'd like a coffee with milk.Quería sounds soft and polite.: queríaI'd likeLiterally I wanted, used to sound polite. sounds softer than quieroI wantMore direct..
• Soy vegetariano.I'm vegetarian.Vegetariana if you're a woman.: say vegetarianavegetarianThe feminine form. if you're a woman.
• ¿Lleva carne?Does it have meat?Llevar means to carry or contain.: ask this a lot if you're vegetarian, because ham turns up in surprising places in Spain.
• Sin cebolla, por favor.Without onion, please.Sin means without.: sinwithoutVery handy for food. is your friend.
• La cuenta, por favor.The bill, please.For the end of the meal.: the bill.

The big Spanish food vocabulary table

Save this one. It pulls together the most useful words from the whole post.

Flashcards: the food words people mix up

Flip each card and try to say the meaning before you look.

Keep going

Food words stick because you use them every day. Here's a little challenge: at your next meal, name five things on your plate in Spanish, out loud. Tomorrow, add a taste word: El arroz está muy rico.The rice is really tasty.Estar plus rico. Poco a pocoLittle by littleProgress comes step by step., your kitchen becomes a Spanish classroom.

If you want more words to build on, start with my list of 100 everyday Spanish words, then try family words in Spanish, perfect for describing who's at the dinner table. And if you'd like to practise ordering, describing and chatting about food in real conversations, join one of my live A1 batches on Google Meet. Small groups of up to 5, plenty of speaking, and yes, we do talk about food a lot. ¡Venga!Come on!A friendly push to get going.