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Glossary entry

Spanish term or phrase:

huevos de choco

English translation:

cuttlefish sweetbreads

Added to glossary by Justin Peterson
Mar 30, 2023 08:12
1 yr ago
57 viewers *
Spanish term

huevos de choco

Spanish to English Other Cooking / Culinary Protocol
Menu: Huevos de choco
Proposed translations (English)
4 +2 cuttlefish sweetbreads
4 cuttlefish eggs
3 cuttlefish relish

Discussion

Elsa Caballero Mar 30, 2023:
As Justin previously suggested, these are glands, indeed. And they belong to the female cuttlefish, which in Spain, is known by different names depending on the part of Spain they come from. For example, in western Andalucía (Huelva, Cadiz, Seville) "chocos" are small cuttlefish.

If their size is larger, they're called "sepia"; alternatively, they are also known as "jibias" in Cantabria....

https://www.mariscosapolo.com/blog/pescados-mariscos-salud/d...

I'm not sure if this sounds or looks very appetizing for the Anglo palate, if the menu comes from a restaurant located in Spain, I would simply leave it as "huevos de choco".

Likewise, how do you explain "haggis" for a Spanish speaker? Finely chopped sheep´s heart, lungs and liver mixed with fine herbs and boiled the animal´s stomach? Yummy!
Marie Wilson Mar 30, 2023:
Here's another explanation, but good luck to anyone finding a tasty name for it!
https://mariscoscarrillo.es/2021/06/huevos-de-choco-que-son-...
Marie Wilson Mar 30, 2023:
Agree with Lisa re body parts, but if from Bay of Cádiz, more likely cuttlefish:
CHOCO DE HUELVA (Sepia)

ladespensadelmar.com
https://www.ladespensadelmar.com › ...
choco de huelva from www.ladespensadelmar.com
El choco es el nombre por el que se conoce a la sepia en Huelva, Cádiz y Sevilla.
Lisa McCarthy Mar 30, 2023:
@Justin Nothing surprises me anymore, people will eat anything. All that stuff turns my stomach:-))

As Matt says though, 'choco' may well be cuttlefish. Here's the difference:

"So how can you tell these captivating cephalopods apart?

Both squid and cuttlefish have remnants of their ancient external shells, but these hard structures look quite different. Squid have a flexible, feather-shaped structure inside their bodies called the pen, where cuttlefish have a broader internal shell called the cuttlebone. The cuttlebone is porous and helps the cuttlefish stay buoyant underwater."

https://oceanconservancy.org/blog/2017/04/07/how-to-tell-the...
Justin Peterson (asker) Mar 30, 2023:
With all due respect, more context is NOT needed What these are is clear from a simple google search.
No, they are not cuttlefish cut into shapes. They are glands.
The question is whether these have a more precise, and appetizing name, in English.
I provided a website that clarifies exactly what they are.
matt robinson Mar 30, 2023:
Choco can refer to cuttlefish, especially in the south of Spain. These might not be the eggs of the creature itself, but simply egg shapes made from the cuttlefish. Depends what kind of restaurant it is, I guess. More context would be useful.
https://saboreahuelva.com/marisco-online/moluscos/cefalopodo...
Joel Schaefer Mar 30, 2023:
More context will help us help you. What else is on the menu?
Justin Peterson (asker) Mar 30, 2023:
Lisa, that looks right :) though not very appetizing (ugh). Perhaps this is why the Spanish name is totally misleading. It sounds better. Imagine "glándulas". Oh well, there are people here who eat sesos, criadillas, callos ... I guess some glands wouldn't faze them.
Lisa McCarthy Mar 30, 2023:
Squid glands These are glands in the female squid :-)

https://mariscoscarrillo.es/2021/06/huevos-de-choco-que-son-...
Justin Peterson (asker) Mar 30, 2023:
Not roe https://cadiz.cosasdecome.es/los-huevos-huevas-huevos-huevas...
Justin Peterson (asker) Mar 30, 2023:
Chocolate Eggs? LOL Searches yield Chocolate Eggs (LOL !) and Cuttlefish roe/caviar. Nope. That's not it. This is a strange culinary item.

Proposed translations

+2
5 hrs
Selected

cuttlefish sweetbreads

I think this would be an attractive-sounding euphemism.

sweetbread, type of offal, or variety meat, deriving from the thymus or pancreas of a young animal (such as a calf or lamb) and prepared as food, though **the term is often casually used for an assortment of organ meats and glands** eaten as delicacies.

--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 5 hrs (2023-03-30 13:16:16 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------

http://www.britannica.com/topic/sweetbread
Note from asker:
That's an interesting idea. Nice.
Peer comment(s):
agree neilmac : Sounds tempting, which is important in a menu. AKA "choquitos"...
5 hrs
agree Lisandro Johnston
4 days
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Very clever idea"
3 hrs

cuttlefish relish

The name in English would be "nidamental glands" but it sounds pretty off putting in a menu so my suggestion would be something like the above or "eggs" (between inverted commas).
You might want to add an explanation.

Los huevos de choco no son ni huevas ni huevos ya que no son ni los óvulos de la hembra ni los testículos de los machos. Son una glándula del aparato reproductor de la hembra, por lo que mientras que la hembra tiene dos huevos de choco, el macho no presenta ninguno.
https://mariscoscarrillo.es/2021/06/huevos-de-choco-que-son-...

Nidamental glands of cuttlefish are eaten as food in various parts of the world, included either in dishes in which the whole animal is consumed, or separately. In southern Spain, for example, they are cooked whole and known as huevos de choco and there is a popular notion that these organs are the gonads of the male cuttlefish.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nidamental_gland
Peer comment(s):
neutral philgoddard : I think of relish as something used to add flavour, like chutney.
1 hr
You are right, maybe then a word like delight, or as suggested "eggs".
Something went wrong...
6 hrs

cuttlefish eggs

If they are called "huevos" in Spanish, someone needs to explain why they cannot be called "eggs" in English. Which they are, as the following examples show:

latticini di seppia/laht-tee-CHEE-nee dee SEHP-pyah/
[Italian]
Cuttlefish eggs, which are about 3 cm in size, with softer meat than the cuttlefish itself (not chewy but with a good consistency, ie. not too soft). For this typical Venetian dish, the eggs are boiled, cut in half and served with lemon juice.

File:Cuttlefish eggs at the Rialto fish market (6295247114). ...

Here is a photo:
Wikimedia
https://commons.wikimedia.org › wiki › File:Cuttlefish...
Original file ‎(2,000 × 1,333 pixels, file size: 871 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg). File information. Structured data. Captions. Captions Edit. English.


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Note added at 7 hrs (2023-03-30 15:33:58 GMT)
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Not a valid argument, Justin. Fish fingers are not fingers and chocolate Easter eggs are not eggs either, they are just egg-shaped, which is why "huevos de choco" have that name, in Spanish and English.
Note from asker:
"Huevos" are a misnomer in Spanish. They're called that because not even the Spanish realize what they really are: "Los huevos de choco no son ni huevas ni huevos ya que no son ni los óvulos de la hembra ni los testículos de los machos. Son una glándula del aparato reproductor de la hembra, por lo que mientras que la hembra tiene dos huevos de choco, el macho no presenta ninguno."
No, they are not eggs. Now, if one wishes to argue that sustaining the misnomer in the translation is valid, that's fine, but they are not eggs. The author of that passage was just confused.
Not a valid argument: when one orders chocolate eggs, or chicken fingers, they know they are not, literally, getting eggs or fingers. Wouldn't you have to agree that's an important difference?
Something went wrong...
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