Popular expressions with typical Spanish dishes
As you already know from the article Quick Spanish recipe with prawns I am not a culinary expert, but I do know a lot of useful Spanish expressions with food. This time however, I would like to narrow down the list only to idioms and expressions with typical Spanish dishes and products often used in the Spanish cuisine.
Prepare yourself for a language and kitchen experience! On the one hand, I have prepared Spanish expressions with Spanish food. On the other, I have chosen some interesting recipes or articles about food in Spanish, so that you can practise your reading skills.
Today you'll learn
- Eight food-related expressions in Spanish.
- Eight examples of how to use them with translation into English.
- Several links in Spanish with recipes or other interesting stuff.
Que te den morcilla
The Spanish morcilla is similar to the black pudding, when someone says "que ten den morcilla", he's not offering you a Spanish sausage though. Quite the opposite, in a rather disgusting way he wants you to get lost.
Manuel dice que no va a alquilar el piso a cualquiera. Pues que le den morcilla, ya me busco yo la vida.
Manuel says he won't rent the flat to anyone. Oh he can get lost, I'll manage anyway.
The origin of this expression is rather sad (at least according to the source I have found). Centuries ago the rabies was a common condition amongst stray dogs and it was a huge safety problem in several Spanish cities. Unfortunately, one of the method to cope with this phenomenon consisted in filling the streets with morcilla pieces stuffed with poison, so that the ill (and not only ill) dogs would die. Quite cruel, isn't it?
Ser un chorizo
You know chorizo, of course you do as it's probably the most famous Spanish sausage in the world. If you're offered some chorizo, congratulations! However if someones calls you "a chorizo" it's not at a good sign at all. The expression ser un chorizo means "to be a crook".
Señor Hernández, es usted un chorizo.
Mr Hernández, you are a crook.
Meter la gamba
Do you like prawns? I adore them! They're tasty, easy and quick to prepare. Meter la gamba however means something rather embarrassing which is "to put your foot in".
¿Estás seguro de que Lucía no es vegetariana? No quiero meter la gamba.
Are you sure Lucía is not vegetarian? I don't want to put my foot in.
¡Ostras!
Oysters! Say Spaniards when they are surprised, shocked or amazed (and it doesn't have to do only with your bank statements after having top up your Oyster card). To be honest, Spanish oysters are really tasty and there many ways to prepare them. Some people prefer them raw, others rather fancy the cooked version. If you belong to the second group, here you'll learn how to properly cook oysters.
¡Ostras! Acabo de ver a tu prima por la calle. ¿No decías que estaba en México?
Blimey! I've just seen your cousin in the street. Didn't you say she was in Mexico?
Estar como un fideo
Los fideos - noodles you can usually find in your soup or on the frontpage of certain magazines full of models with XXS size. Well, yes "estar como un fideo" means to be really really slim like a pencil.
Tienes que comer más que estás como un fideo.
You should eat more, you're so slim!
Ser el garbanzo negro
Normally you are (if you are) the black sheep. In Spain you can be either the black sheep or the black chickpea. Where does it come from? Well, when you buy a packet of dry, uncooked chickpeas amongst the yellow ones there is always a black one.
Javi siempre ha sido el garbanzo negro de la familia.
Javi has always been the black sheep of the family.
Estar hecho un flan
When I was a kid my parents used to prepare me a sort of hot milk pudding which I hated with all my little heart. As an adult I still don't like it. No wonder then then the Spanish flan is not my favourite dessert either. I don't remember when I saw it for the last time close to me, oh wait...I do see (with frequency) nervous students whose hands are shaking before an important exam, and in Spanish we say that "están hecho un flan" which is far more descriptive than a simple "to be a bag of nerves".
¡Estás hecho un flan! Cálmate, hombre, que todo saldrá bien.
You're a bag of nerves! Calm down, man, everything is gonna be fine.
If unlike me you like this particular texture, you'll probably enjoy the Spanish flan that you often can order as a dessert. You can prepare it at home as well, so if you're feeling like cooking, here's the recipe (in Spanish of course).
Esto son lentejas, si quieres las comes y si no, las dejas
1-0-1-0-1 - sometimes it seems that the world is black and white and there is no place for grey (or other colours), when in theory you don't have to accept to only available solution, but since it's the only one, can we really call it a choice? You just can take it or leave it and in Spanish you can eat the lentils or not, as simple (and as complicated) as that.
Mamá, no quiero pasar las vacaciones con la abuela…
Y yo no quiero tener que trabajar fuera del país durante este periodo, esto son lentejas…
Mum, I don't want to spend the holiday with grandmother...
And I don't want to have to work abroad during this period, but this is what it is, you leave it or you take it...
And of course, here's the recipe for a delicious Spanish dish with lentils.
And now what?
- If you are wondering why in the expression "que te den morcilla" there is no accent above the letter e in que, you'll find the explanation (with exercises) in the post What's the difference between que and qué in Spanish.