How different regions in the Spanish world name guacamole ingredients
It is amazing how an object, an action, or a verb can have many different meanings depending on the country you are in. This happens quite a bit with the Spanish spoken throughout Latin America, especially when it comes to fruits and vegetables. The interesting fact is that many native Spanish speakers travelling to other Spanish-speaking countries won’t necessarily know how to order the ingredients for their guacamole because the words for the ingredients vary across the Spanish world.
Origins
The word ‘guacamole’ comes from the Nahuatl (an ancient and living indigenous language in Mexico) word “Ahuacatlmolli,” which is a compound word from “Ahuacatl” (aguacate or avocado) + “molli” (mole or salsa).
Avocados are native to Mexico and Central America. In ancient times, they were considered as an erotic and aphrodisiac food by the Aztec people. In fact, Aztec women were not allowed to harvest the fruit because it symbolized the male testicles.
According to pre-Hispanic mythology, the creator of guacamole was none else than Quetzalcoatl, the famous Toltec God, who gave his recipe to his people. They in turn spread the recipe throughout Mesoamerica and then the world.
Same Ingredients Different Words
Let’s begin by describing the typical ingredients that you will likely find in a good guacamole:
- Onions
- Tomato
- Cilantro or parsley
- Lime juice
- Finely chopped chile
- Salt
So, given this great gastronomical dilemma, LanguageTran has provided this infographic for guacamole lovers who love to travel. This way, you can order your guacamole ingredients no matter what country in Latin America you find yourself in.
Translation tip: When translating a document into Spanish that mentions fruits and vegetables, try to use the local words for your reader’s region. If you want to make it broadly accessible, you can ask your Spanish translator to include the alternative words in the text. For instance, one version of the word followed by the other in parenthesis as in aguacate (palta).