A friend of mine packs yummy looking sandwiches for his son’s lunch. The bread is square and thick, golden on top, and looks delicious with a little ham, cheese, and lettuce tucked inside. I asked him where he found it. (In our little town, we only have Food Lion and Wal-Mart for grocery shopping, and neither one stocks exotic food.) He said it’s ciabatta bread, and he found it in the Wal-Mart bakery.
Wal-Mart? Who knew!
I’ve had this bread before, at fancier bakeries and restaurants , but I was never sure how to pronounce it. My friend called it “key-a-batta”. I thought it might be “che- batta” or “che-a-batta”. My 14-year-old grew weary of my pondering and said, “Mom, just look it up.”
And so, once again, Merriam-Webster helped me clear up this word nerdy confusion, and I will pass on this knowledge to you!
Ciabatta \ chə-ˈbä-tə \ Italian, literally translates “slipper”; a flat oblong bread having a moist interior and a crispy crust
So, when you want to find this delicious bread, ask for ciabatta (pronounced cha-ba-ta).
Word Nerd Workout
Do you enjoy a good ciabatta sandwich? Are there other foody words that give you trouble? Please share. And now I need a snack. 😉
Thanks for getting nerdy with me today!
Thanks! I pat myself on the back! I was pronouncing it correctly! I struggle with acai, also! And whatever the word program is here, thinks I even spelled it wrong!! “giggle”
We eat ciabatta all the time – LOVE IT!. A little olive oil, salt and pepper to dip…I’m hungry…
I always stumble over aioli – that garlicy olive oil mayonnaisey sauce, and acai. I can never remember how to pronounce that.
Me too! Açaí has way more syllables than I expect! I plan on doing a post on açaí soon. 😉
My FAVORITE bread!!! It makes an excellent oven-toasted samich😛
Yummy!
I actually knew this one! (only because I saw it on menus several times and wanted to pronounce it right when I ordered something that had the word in its name :)).
Well good for you to get your words straight!