{"id":7054,"date":"2025-06-30T08:57:55","date_gmt":"2025-06-30T18:57:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chefsdetahiti.pf\/the-gourmet-lexicon\/"},"modified":"2025-07-07T14:42:14","modified_gmt":"2025-07-08T00:42:14","slug":"the-gourmet-lexicon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chefsdetahiti.pf\/en\/the-gourmet-lexicon\/","title":{"rendered":"The gourmet lexicon"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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10 words to stop spelling if you want to speak like in Fenua!<\/b><\/b><\/h3>\n

Have you ever heard “fifiri” instead of “firifiri”? “Meimei” instead of “mahi mahi”? Yes, it stings the ears here in Tahiti! \ud83d\ude05<\/p>\n

So to avoid ending up as a subject of family ridicule or a linguistic debate on social networks, Chefs de Tahiti<\/b> has concocted a little update for your gourmet vocabulary. Tested and approved by grannies and chefs \ud83d\ude04<\/span> <\/p> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

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Here are the 10 most common mistakes… and how to avoid making them again:<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\u27a4 We don’t say <\/b>“la coco”<\/i><\/b>, we say <\/b>“le coco”<\/i><\/b>
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. <\/p>\n

\u27a4 You don’t say<\/b> fifiri,<\/i><\/b> you say<\/b> firi firi<\/i><\/b>
Firifri comes from the figure-eight shape of the doughnut, “Firi” means to braid. “Fifiri” means nothing, not even in your dreams. <\/p>\n

\u27a4 You don’t say<\/b> poe<\/i><\/b>, you say<\/b> po’e<\/i><\/b>
Poe <\/i>is the pearl. And Po’e<\/i> is the dessert. Even if we all agree that both are real nuggets. <\/p>\n

\u27a4<\/span> You don’t say<\/b> meimei,<\/i><\/b> you say<\/b> mahi mahi<\/i><\/b>
No, meimei <\/i>isn’t cute, it’s just wrong. Mahi mahi<\/i> is the Tahitian name for dolphinfish. The ‘H’ is pronounced here, but it may not be obvious to everyone. <\/p>\n

\u27a4<\/span> We don’t say<\/b> punupuatoro,<\/i><\/b> we say <\/b>pua’a toro<\/i><\/b>
Punu <\/i>means tin can. Pua’a toro <\/i>is beef. So if you eat Punu Pua’toro, it’s because you like metal \ud83c\udfb8 <\/p>\n

\u27a4 <\/span>We don’t say <\/b>soy sauce<\/i><\/b>, we say<\/b> soyou<\/i><\/b>
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. <\/p>\n

\u27a4<\/span> We don’t say <\/b>chom\u00e8ne<\/i><\/b>, we say <\/b>chao men<\/i><\/b>
This Chinese dish of stir-fried noodles is called “Tchao men” because tchao <\/i>means stir-fried, and men<\/i> means noodles.<\/p>\n

\u27a4<\/span> We don’t say <\/b>chopow<\/i><\/b>, we say<\/b> chao pao<\/i><\/b>
These steamed buns are called chao pao <\/i>because Chao = ‘hot’ and Pao = ‘bun’ (or bread).<\/p>\n

\u27a4<\/span> We don’t say <\/b>hima’a<\/i><\/b>, we say <\/b>‘ahima’a<\/i><\/b>
The ‘ahi<\/i> is the fire. The ‘ahima’a <\/i>is the traditional Tahitian oven. Hima’a<\/i> has no flame, and therefore no taste. <\/p>\n

\u27a4<\/span> And above all… you don’t say<\/b> Tahitian salad<\/i><\/b>, you say<\/b> raw fish in coconut milk<\/i><\/b>
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.<\/p> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n

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Think you know everything there is to know about Tahitian cuisine? Wait until you see if you’re actually saying the right words! Here are 10 expressions you need to know to speak (and eat) like in Fenua. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":6899,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[93],"tags":[],"restaurant":[],"chef":[],"class_list":["post-7054","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","has-post-title","has-post-date","has-post-category","has-post-tag","has-post-comment","has-post-author",""],"aioseo_notices":[],"builder_content":"

10 words to stop spelling if you want to speak like in Fenua!<\/b><\/b><\/h3>

Have you ever heard \"fifiri\" instead of \"firifiri\"? \"Meimei\" instead of \"mahi mahi\"? Yes, it stings the ears here in Tahiti! \ud83d\ude05<\/p>

So to avoid ending up as a subject of family ridicule or a linguistic debate on social networks, Chefs de Tahiti<\/b> has concocted a little update for your gourmet vocabulary. Tested and approved by grannies and chefs \ud83d\ude04 <\/p>\n

Here are the 10 most common mistakes... and how to avoid making them again:<\/strong><\/h3>

\u27a4 We don't say <\/b>\"la coco\"<\/i><\/b>, we say <\/b>\"le coco\"<\/i><\/b>
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. <\/p>

\u27a4 You don't say<\/b> fifiri,<\/i><\/b> you say<\/b> firi firi<\/i><\/b>
Firifri comes from the figure-eight shape of the doughnut, \"Firi\" means to braid. \"Fifiri\" means nothing, not even in your dreams. <\/p>

\u27a4 You don't say<\/b> poe<\/i><\/b>, you say<\/b> po'e<\/i><\/b>
Poe <\/i>is the pearl. And Po'e<\/i> is the dessert. Even if we all agree that both are real nuggets. <\/p>

\u27a4 You don't say<\/b> meimei,<\/i><\/b> you say<\/b> mahi mahi<\/i><\/b>
No, meimei <\/i>isn't cute, it's just wrong. Mahi mahi<\/i> is the Tahitian name for dolphinfish. The 'H' is pronounced here, but it may not be obvious to everyone. <\/p>

\u27a4 We don't say<\/b> punupuatoro,<\/i><\/b> we say <\/b>pua'a toro<\/i><\/b>
Punu <\/i>means tin can. Pua'a toro <\/i>is beef. So if you eat Punu Pua'toro, it's because you like metal \ud83c\udfb8 <\/p>

\u27a4 We don't say <\/b>soy sauce<\/i><\/b>, we say<\/b> soyou<\/i><\/b>
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. <\/p>

\u27a4 We don't say <\/b>chom\u00e8ne<\/i><\/b>, we say <\/b>chao men<\/i><\/b>
This Chinese dish of stir-fried noodles is called \"Tchao men\" because tchao <\/i>means stir-fried, and men<\/i> means noodles.<\/p>

\u27a4 We don't say <\/b>chopow<\/i><\/b>, we say<\/b> chao pao<\/i><\/b>
These steamed buns are called chao pao <\/i>because Chao = 'hot' and Pao = 'bun' (or bread).<\/p>

\u27a4 We don't say <\/b>hima'a<\/i><\/b>, we say <\/b>'ahima'a<\/i><\/b>
The 'ahi<\/i> is the fire. The 'ahima'a <\/i>is the traditional Tahitian oven. Hima'a<\/i> has no flame, and therefore no taste. <\/p>

\u27a4 And above all... you don't say<\/b> Tahitian salad<\/i><\/b>, you say<\/b> raw fish in coconut milk<\/i><\/b>
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.<\/p>\n\"cdt","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chefsdetahiti.pf\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7054","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chefsdetahiti.pf\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chefsdetahiti.pf\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chefsdetahiti.pf\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chefsdetahiti.pf\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7054"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/chefsdetahiti.pf\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7054\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7055,"href":"https:\/\/chefsdetahiti.pf\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7054\/revisions\/7055"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chefsdetahiti.pf\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6899"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chefsdetahiti.pf\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7054"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chefsdetahiti.pf\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7054"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chefsdetahiti.pf\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7054"},{"taxonomy":"restaurant","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chefsdetahiti.pf\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/restaurant?post=7054"},{"taxonomy":"chef","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chefsdetahiti.pf\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/chef?post=7054"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}