10 words to stop spelling if you want to speak like in Fenua!
Have you ever heard “fifiri” instead of “firifiri”? “Meimei” instead of “mahi mahi”? Yes, it stings the ears here in Tahiti! 😅
So to avoid ending up as a subject of family ridicule or a linguistic debate on social networks, Chefs de Tahiti has concocted a little update for your gourmet vocabulary. Tested and approved by grannies and chefs 😄
Here are the 10 most common mistakes… and how to avoid making them again:
➤ We don’t say “la coco”, we say “le coco”
Here, the coco is a gentleman. That’s the way it is. If you want to use “la” you have to say la noix de coco.
➤ You don’t say fifiri, you say firi firi
Firifri comes from the figure-eight shape of the doughnut, “Firi” means to braid. “Fifiri” means nothing, not even in your dreams.
➤ You don’t say poe, you say po’e
Poe is the pearl. And Po’e is the dessert. Even if we all agree that both are real nuggets.
➤ You don’t say meimei, you say mahi mahi
No, meimei isn’t cute, it’s just wrong. Mahi mahi is the Tahitian name for dolphinfish. The ‘H’ is pronounced here, but it may not be obvious to everyone.
➤ We don’t say punupuatoro, we say pua’a toro
Punu means tin can. Pua’a toro is beef. So if you eat Punu Pua’toro, it’s because you like metal 🎸
➤ We don’t say soy sauce, we say soyou
We still haven’t worked out where it comes from, but here it’s ‘soyou’, full stop. And that’s how you say it, even if it doesn’t say so on the bottle.
➤ We don’t say chomène, we say chao men
This Chinese dish of stir-fried noodles is called “Tchao men” because tchao means stir-fried, and men means noodles.
➤ We don’t say chopow, we say chao pao
These steamed buns are called chao pao because Chao = ‘hot’ and Pao = ‘bun’ (or bread).
➤ We don’t say hima’a, we say ‘ahima’a
The ‘ahi is the fire. The ‘ahima’a is the traditional Tahitian oven. Hima’a has no flame, and therefore no taste.
➤ And above all… you don’t say Tahitian salad, you say raw fish in coconut milk
Here, Tahitians are very attached to the name “Poisson cru lait de coco” (raw fish in coconut milk) and not “salade tahitienne” (Tahitian salad), which is used in the rest of the world.
