One of the difficulties when traveling to a foreign country, if you have dietary restrictions or food allergies, is finding food to eat. In this m-episode we’ll practice asking if a dish has a specific ingredient.
Let’s start by reviewing some ingredients that people normally ask about due to dietary restrictions or allergies.
Repeat the following:
| Carne | Meat |
| Marisco | Shellfish |
| Gluten | Gluten |
| Cacahuates | Peanuts |
| Nueces | Nuts in general |
| Leche | Milk/Lactose |
Now let’s practice asking a waiter if a dish contains those ingredients.
Doing so in Spanish is pretty easy. You simple say the name of the dish you are asking about. Let’s say “La sopa azteca” and add the word:
“tiene” or “tienen”
These are just different conjugations for the Spanish word “to have”. The difference between the two is whether the item you are asking about is singular or plural. Here are some examples of bot
Singular -> “La sopa Azteca tiene carne?”
Plural -> ”Las enchiladas tienen leche?”
Normally the waiter will answer this question with either “Si”/”Yes” or “No” which is the same in English and Spanish.
So for this exercise we will give you the a typical dish from Mexico and then the ingredient you will ask about in English. Then follow this example to ask the question.
Example: La carne asada – gluten -> ¿La carne asada tiene gluten?
Los tacos– milk -> ¿Los enchiladas tienen leche?
Repeat the following.
Let’s get started!
¡Empecemos!
| El pozole – meat | ¿El pozole tiene carne? |
| La tostada – gluten | ¿La tostada tiene gluten? |
| Los chiles en nogada – peanuts | ¿Los chiles en nogada tienen cacahuates? |
| Los chilaquiles – shellfish | ¿Los chilaquiles tienen mariscos? |
We’ll see you in the next episode!
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