If you're going to be a truly cosmopolitan foodie, you've got to know the lingo. Cityscape breaks it down.

Indian

Aloo: potato. Bhaji: vegetables dipped in chickpea flour batter and deep-fried. Biryani: a mixed rice dish. Dahl: a lentil curry similar to thick lentil soup. Dosa: similar to a crêpe in appearance and made from a fermented rice batter. Ghosht, josh or ghosh: meat, usually lamb. Kofta: meatballs or vegetable dumplings. Korma: braised in yoghurt and/or cream and nuts. Often mild but rich. Lassi: a yoghurt drink, ordered with salt or sugar, sometimes with fruit. Murgh or murg: chicken. Naan: teardrop-shaped flatbread cooked in tandoor. Paneer: Indian cheese, a bit like tofu in texture and taste. Pasanda: thin fillets of lamb cut from the leg and flattened with a mallet. Pilau: flavoured rice cooked with meat or vegetables. Popadom: large thin wafers made with lentil paste and flavoured with pepper, garlic or chilli. Raita: a yoghurt mix, usually with cucumber. Roti: a round, sometimes unleavened, bread, thicker than a chapatti and cooked in a tandoor or griddle. Tandoor: clay oven in which food is cooked without oil. Thali: literally ‘metal plate’. A large plate with rice, bread, containers of dahl and vegetable curries, pickles and yoghurt relishes. Tikka: meat, fish or paneer cut into cubes, then marinated in spicy yoghurt and baked in a tandoor. Vindaloo: originally a hot and spicy pork curry from Goa that should authentically be soured with vinegar and cooked with garlic.

Japanese

Bento: a meal served in a compartmentalised box. Daikon: a long, white radish, often grated or cut into fine strips. Dashi: the basic stock for Japanese soups and simmered dishes. It’s often made from flakes of dried bonito (a type of tuna) and konbu (kelp). Donburi: a bowl of boiled rice with various toppings, such as beef, chicken or egg. Edamame: fresh soy beans boiled in their pods and then sprinkled with salt. Gari: pickled ginger, usually pink and thinly sliced; served with sushi to cleanse the palate between courses. Gohan: rice. Gyoza: soft rice pastry cases stuffed with minced pork and herbs; northern Chinese in origin, cooked by a combination of frying and steaming. Katsu: breaded and deep-fried meat, hence tonkatsu (pork katsu) and katsu curry (tonkatsu or chicken katsu with mild vegetable curry). Maki: the word means ‘roll’ and this is the style of sushi where the rice and filling are rolled inside a nori wrapper. Mirin: a sweetened rice wine used in many Japanese sauces and dressings. Miso: a thick paste of fermented soy beans, used in miso soup and some dressings. Miso shiru: classic miso soup most commonly containing pieces of tofu and wakame. Nori: sheets of dried seaweed. Ponzu: usually short for ponzu joyu, a mixture of the juice of a Japanese citrus fruit (ponzu) and soy sauce, used as a dip. Ramen: Chinese-style egg noodles. Sake: rice wine, around 15% alcohol. Usually served hot, but may also be chilled. Sashimi: raw sliced fish. Shoyu: Japanese soy sauce. Soba: buckwheat noodles. Somen: thin white wheat-flour noodles, usually served cold as a refreshing summer dish – hiyashi somen – with a chilled dipping broth. Sukiyaki: pieces of thinly sliced beef and vegetables are simmered in a sweet shoyu-based sauce at the table on a portable stove. They are then taken out and dipped in raw egg for eating. Tempura: fish, shellfish or vegetables dipped in a light batter and deep-fried. Served with tsuyu to which you add finely grated daikon and fresh ginger. Teppanyaki: ‘grilled on an iron plate’, or originally ‘grilled on a ploughshare’. Teriyaki: cooking method by which meat or fish – often marinated in shoyu and wine – is grilled and served in a sauce made of a thick reduction of shoyu, sake, sugar and spice. Tofu: soy beancurd used fresh in simmered or grilled dishes, or deep-fried (agedashidofu) or sometimes eaten cold (hiyayakko). Tsuyu: a general term for shoyu/mirin-based dips, served both warm and cold with various dishes ranging from tempura through to cold noodles. Udon: thick white wheat-flour noodles. Wakame: a type of young seaweed most commonly used in miso soup and kaiso (seaweed) salad. Yakimono: ‘grilled things’. Yakitori: grilled chicken served on skewers. Zensai: appetisers.

Greek

Baklava: a pan-Middle Eastern sweet made from sheets of filo dough layered with nuts. Dolmades: young vine leaves stuffed with rice, spices and minced meat. Halloumi: a cheese traditionally made from sheep’s or goat’s milk but increasingly from cow’s milk. Best served fried or grilled. Hummus: a dip of puréed chickpeas, sesame seed paste, lemon juice and garlic, garnished with paprika. Meze: a selection of either hot or cold appetisers and main dishes. Moussaka: a baked dish of mince (usually lamb), aubergine and potato slices and herbs, topped with béchamel sauce. Souvlaki: chunks of meat quick-grilled on a skewer. Spanakopita: small turnovers, traditionally triangular, stuffed with spinach, dill and often feta or some other crumbly tart cheese. Taboulleh: generic Middle Eastern starter of pourgouri, chopped parsley, cucumber chunks, tomatoes and spring onions. Tzatziki: a dip of shredded cucumber, yoghurt, garlic, lemon juice and mint.

Middle Eastern

Baba ganoush: a purée of chargrilled aubergines mixed with sesame sauce, garlic and lemon juice. Falafel: a mixture of spicy chickpeas or broad beans ground, rolled into balls and deep fried. Fatayer: a soft pastry with fillings of cheese, onions, spinach and pine nuts. Fattoush: fresh vegetable salad containing shards of toasted pita bread sumac. Labneh: Middle Eastern cream cheese made from yoghurt. Moujadara: lentils, rice and caramelised onions mixed together. Sumac: an astringent and fruity-tasting spice made from dried sumac seeds. Tabouleh: a salad of chopped parsley, tomatoes, crushed wheat, onions, olive oil and lemon juice. Shawarma: meat (usually lamb) marinated then grilled on a spit and sliced kebab-style. Shish kebab: cubes of marinated lamb grilled on a skewer, often with tomatoes, onions and sweet peppers.

Mexican

Burrito: a rolled up flour tortilla filled with chicken, pork or beef, and rice, beans, lettuce and salsa. Enchilada: a rolled up, filled tortilla covered in a chilli pepper sauce. Burrito Suizo: a burrito with melted cheese or a cheese sauce on top. Mole: a dark-coloured sauce with lots of spices. While chocolate is one of the ingredients, the sauce is not necessarily sweet. Chimichanga: a deep-fried burrito, sometimes topped with a cheese, green chilli, or sour cream-based sauce. Chipotle: chipotle peppers are jalapeno peppers that have been smoked. Churro: a fritter typically made from choux pastry dough pushed into long, ridged shapes before being deep-fried. Gordita: cornmeal flatbread stuffed with a meat filling such as braised beef stew, pulled chicken or slow-cooked pork. Quesadilla: a wheat or corn tortilla that’s cooked flat on a grill with cheese, vegetables and often protein on top before being folded over to make a half moon. Tamale: a spiced meat mixture that’s covered completely with a cornmeal dough. Each tamale is then steamed in a corn husk.

Spanish tapas

Tapas are a variety of small savoury Spanish dishes, often served as a snack with drinks, or with other tapas as a meal. Albóndigas: meatballs – most often pork, but also of beef or seafood. Arroz del día: rice of the day, with meat and/or seafood, served at lunchtime. Bacalao: salt cod, breaded and fried or stewed in tomato sauce. Calamares del campo: breaded and fried onions and peppers. Calamares: fried squid rings. Chipirones: small squid, usually cooked “a la plancha” (on the griddle). Chocos: cuttlefish, usually breaded and deep fried. Ensaladilla: potato salad with mayonnaise and either tuna or prawns. Espinacas con garbanzos: spinach and chickpeas with olive oil and garlic. Gambas al ajillo: fresh prawns in sizzling olive oil with garlic and chilli peppers. Gazpacho: cold tomato soup with cucumber and garlic. Montaditos: small filled buns, often served toasted. Patatas bravas: fried potato wedges served with a spicy alioli sauce. Revuelto: scrambled eggs with various fillings. Salmorejo: a thicker version of gazpacho, often used as a sauce. Tortilla: potato omelette.

Thai

Gaeng, kaeng or gang: the generic name for curry. Yellow curry is the mildest; green curry (gaeng keaw wan/kiew wan) is medium hot and uses green chillies; red curry (gaeng pet) is similar but uses red chillies. Jungle curry: hottest of the various curries, made with red curry paste and bamboo shoots. Massaman or mussaman: also known as Muslim curry because it originates from the area along the border with Malaysia where many Thais are Muslim. For this reason, pork is never used. It’s a rich but mild concoction, with coconut, potato and some peanuts. Khanom jeep or ka nom geeb: dim sum – little dumplings of minced pork, bamboo shoots and water chestnuts, wrapped in an egg and rice (wun tun) pastry, then steamed. Laab or larb: minced and cooked meat incorporating lime juice and various other ingredients such as ground rice and herbs. Miang: savoury appetisers with a variety of constituents (mince, ginger, peanuts, roasted coconut), wrapped in betel leaves. Sen mee: rice vermicelli. Sen yai (river rice noodles): a broad, flat, rice noodle. Sen lek: a medium flat noodle used to make pad thai. Ba mee: egg noodles. Woon sen (cellophane noodle): transparent vermicelli made from soy beans or other pulses. These are often prepared as stir-fries. Pad thai: stir-fried noodles with shrimps (or chicken and pork), beansprouts and salted turnips, garnished with ground peanuts. Penang, panaeng or panang: a dry, aromatic curry made with ‘penang’ curry paste, coconut cream and holy basil. Poh tak or tom yam potag: hot and sour mixed seafood soup, sometimes kept simmering in a ‘steamboat’ dish. Popia or porpia: spring rolls. Tom yum: a hot and sour consommé-like soup, smelling of lemongrass. Yam: refers to tossed salad, hot or cold.