The sportswear world was recently rocked by the revelation that Nike rhymes with spiky, not bike. While pronunciation issues can easily be cleared up by brands themselves, common words spark a little more debate. The pronunciation of scone, for instance, seems to vary depending which side of the Atlantic you live on: it rhymes with con in the UK and cone in the USA. Closer to home, there are many funny South Africanisms when it comes to food names ­­– tortilla rhyming with gorilla is one notable example – but there’s one pronunciation that has Eat Out up in arms. So much so, in fact, that we’ve decided to conduct a little formal research: How do our countrymen pronounce espresso?

‘Shot’ is an appropriate word to describe the powerful burst of intense coffee flavour in an espresso. It’s more concentrated than ordinary filter because, instead of allowing coffee grains to dissolve in their own time, espresso is brewed by force. Very hot, pressurised water is pushed through finely ground beans to create luscious black gold with a swirl of crema on top. With a tiny amount of espresso as a base, you can whip up all the coffee drinks that Starbucks made famous outside of Italy: caffè latte, cappuccino, caffè macchiato, cafe mocha and caffè Americano. Luckily no-one will judge you on how you pronounce espresso in your own home, so here are a few recipes that call for coffee for you to enjoy in peace.

Affogato
Stylish and delicious, this dessert requires a shot of espresso, a shot of liqueur and a scoop of ice cream.

Coffee cake
This sophisticated tea-time treat that has coffee in the sponge cake and the icing.

Coffee chocolate and hazelnut meringue
Rich coffee, roasted hazelnuts and 70% cocoa chocolate combine to make a layered tower of decadence.

Chocolate, coffee and peanut butter cake
“This is the fudgiest, densest chocolatiest chocolate cake ever,” says blogger Alida Ryder. The recipe comes from her latest book, Cooking from the Heart.

Dense cracked chocolate cake
Chocolate, butter and coffee make for a gloriously gooey cake.

Iced coffee branita
At your next dinner party, serve iced coffee for grown-ups, with a splash of brandy and crushed ice.

Vanilla panna cotta with mocha sauce
For this traditional Italian sweet, panna cotta is drizzled in a sauce of chocolate, cream and coffee and then sprinkled with chocolate-covered coffee beans.

Feature image by Brian Legate