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In Spanish class we learned that the word for "sandwich" is "sándwich." Okay.

In DuoLingo, we learn that the word for "sandwich" is "emparedado." Interesting. "Pared" means "wall," "paredado" means "walled," and so "emparedado" means enwalled. In bread.

But DuoLingo also has a comments section. One guy commented that no one's ever heard of "emparedado," and a bunch of people offered up some interesting information.

In Spain, a sandwich on sliced bread is commonly called a "sándwich," but also "emparedado," which is considered old-fashioned. But the kind of sandwich that is made with a baguette is called "bocadillo." "Boca" means mouth, so this is a whole different way to think about this item. (However in Colombia, a "bocadillo" is a kind of dessert made of guava.)

In the US, I generally eat sandwiches made with sliced bread, but in Spain I had many, many bocadillos, and they were surprisingly good. Like with "French omelet" for a filling. In Belgium, my favorite sandwiches were on baguettes, even though tuna salad totally wants to squish out of them.

In Mexico, "sándwich" is similarly used for the sliced-bread type of sandwich, but a sandwich made with a bun or other round bread or as a sub is called a "torta."

"Torta" can mean a lot of things, including cake or a flatbread considered to be something you settle for when nothing better is available. The Native American flatbread was named tortilla, or little torta, by the Spaniards.

Googling shows me that the tortas sold around here tend to have a LOT of fillings in them. Like several meats plus several other things like maybe refried beans and/or avocado. And they can be "drunken" or doused in hot sauce.

Apparently Mexico also has a "layered" sandwich called a sandwichon. I was wondering what a layered sandwich might be exactly, so I went exploring and found Claudia Bolles' how to make a sandwichon. Wow. Let's just say it makes a lot more sense that "torta" can mean both "sandwich" and "cake." I giggled several times throughout this video. As an ignorant gringo, there were plenty of plot twists for me throughout, starting right from the beginning when you see that it takes three loaves of bread to make a sandwichon. I recommend this video. (One of the commenters to the video said, "They have something similar in Sweden called Smorgastorta." Sounds like multiculturalism to me!)

The word "sándwich" is also common in several other Spanish-speaking areas, but Argentina also has "sánguche" and Colombia has "sánduches."

English has a lot of words for sandwich, too, of course, especially all those words for sub/hoagie, etc. Not to mention wraps and a bunch of specific sandwiches like hamburgers, quesadillas, gyros, Reubens, etc. So, there's always more to learn, but I think I've gone down enough rabbit holes for one entry.

Ha ha, sandwichon! I'm still chuckling.

No, wait, one more rabbit hole: This collection of sandwichon pictures on pinterest. Amazing.

on 2018-04-25 05:32 pm (UTC)
Posted by (Anonymous)
Hahaha! I think food words are some of the most confusing ones because not only is the language different throughout the Spanish speaking world, the cuisine is too. Of course, we have the same issues in English. If you order "pudding" in the UK you'll get something vastly different from what you were expecting!
-Cat

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