Spanish menus abroad often keep the original wording, and the cooking method is usually in the name. These six phrases come up often.
The definitions below are standard culinary usage. The restaurant examples come from each venue's own listing.
Six cooking terms to know
A la plancha means cooked on a plancha, a flat metal griddle, at high heat with little added fat. It is common for seafood, vegetables and thin cuts of meat. MoVida Next Door in Melbourne, for example, describes a seafood bar with shellfish a la plancha cooked fresh to order.
Al ajillo means cooked with garlic, typically sizzled in olive oil, often with a little chilli. Gambas al ajillo, garlic prawns served bubbling in the oil, is the classic. Our gambas al ajillo dish page goes into it.
A la romana means coated in batter and fried. Calamares a la romana are squid rings in batter. Our calamares page covers the squid dishes.
En escabeche describes fish, poultry or vegetables kept in a marinade built on vinegar and oil, usually with herbs and spices. These dishes are often served cold or at room temperature.
Al horno means baked in the oven, for dishes such as roast fish or lamb. Al pil-pil is a Basque method in which garlic and chilli are cooked in olive oil. In the classic bacalao al pil-pil, the sauce is made by working the oil with the gelatin from the salt cod. See our bacalao al pil-pil page.
How to use the terms at the table
- Look for the method, then the ingredient. "Pulpo a la plancha" and "pulpo a la gallega" are two different dishes. Our pulpo a la gallega page explains the Galician version.
- Frying is not one thing. A la romana tells you there is a batter. "Frito" on its own just says fried.
- A cool dish en escabeche is normal. They are often served cold or at room temperature.
- Ask when unsure. A short question about the method often explains a menu faster than a translation does.
Where to see the terms in real listings
We checked which restaurants in the directory name these dishes. Each line below comes from that restaurant's own listing:
- MoVida Next Door, Melbourne, describes shellfish a la plancha and a seafood bar cooked fresh to order.
- Barceloneta, Warsaw, lists gambas al ajillo among its iconic dishes.
- Vaso, Bangkok, names gambas al ajillo on its changing menu.
- La Cava Phuket calls gambas al ajillo its signature.
- Ay Manuela!, Xiamen, describes its gambas al ajillo as garlic shrimps.
For more on ordering, see our guides to tapas etiquette and pintxos vs tapas.
