Mandarin Monday: All Your Pizza Vocab Essentials
With our 2024 Cheesy Pizza Month well underway, we thought we'd bring you some must-know pizza vocab to help you on your Cheesy Pizza Month journey!
First things first, pizza in Chinese has a few different transliterations, but the two most common are 披萨 pīsà and 比萨 bǐsà. However, you may also see it sometimes written as 批萨 pīsà, 匹萨 pǐsà and 皮萨 písà. Basically, as long as you're saying something along the lines of "pisa" you should be fine!
Now, let's move onto some specific vocab and phrases for our Cheesy Pizza Month itself…
- Cheesy Pizza Month: 起C披萨月 Qǐ C Pīsà Yuè
- Cheesy Pizza Month passport: 起C披萨月护照 Qǐ C Pīsà Yuè hùzhào
- I want to participate in the Beijinger’s Cheesy Pizza Month. I’d like a Pizza Month passport: 我要参加theBeijinger起C披萨月,我想要一张披萨月护照 。Wǒ yào cānjiā theBeijinger Qǐ C Pīsà Yuè, wǒ xiǎng yào yī zhāng Pīsà Yuè hùzhào
- I’m participating in the Beijinger’s Cheesy Pizza Month. Please stamp my Pizza Month passport: 我正在参加theBeijinger起C披萨月, 请在我的披萨月护照上盖章。Wǒ zhèngzài cānjiā theBeijinger Qǐ C Pīsà Yuè, qǐng zài wǒ de Pīsà Yuè hùzhào shàng gài zhāng.
Toppings
Next up, let's take a look at some of the most common pizza toppings.
Meat and Seafood
- Pepperoni: 意大利香肠 yìdàlì xiāngcháng
- Bacon: 培根 péigēn
- Chicken: 鸡肉 jīròu
- Beef: 牛肉 niúròu
- Lamb: 羊肉 yángròu
- Ham: 火腿 huǒtuǐ
- Prosciutto: 风干火腿 fēnggān huǒtuǐ
- Sausage: 香肠 xiāngcháng
- Salami: 萨拉米 sàlāmǐ
- Parma ham: 帕尔马火腿 pà'ěrmǎ huǒtuǐ
- Seafood: 海鲜 hǎixiān
- Shrimp: 虾 xiā
- Squid: 鱿鱼 yóuyú
- Tuna: 金枪鱼 jīnqiāngyú
Vegetables and Fruit
- Tomato: 番茄 fānqié
- Chili peppers: 辣椒 làjiāo
- Green peppers: 青椒 qīngjiāo
- Red bell peppers: 红椒 hóngjiāo
- Yellow bell peppers: 黄椒 huáng jiāo
- Jalapeños: 墨西哥胡椒 mòxīgē hújiāo
- Artichokes: 洋蓟 yángjì
- Mushrooms: 蘑菇 mógū
- Truffle: 松露 sōnglù
- Sweet corn: 甜玉米 tiányùmǐ
- Spinach: 菠菜 bōcài
- Arugula: 芝麻菜 zhīma cài
- Onions: 洋葱 yángcōng
- Olives: 橄榄 gǎnlǎn
- Basil: 罗勒 luólè
- Pineapple: 菠萝bōluó
- Durian: 榴莲 liúlián
Different kinds of cheese
No pizza is complete without some cheese! The word cheese itself has two common translations in Chinese, either 芝士 zhīshì or 奶酪 nǎilào. Now, let's take a look at some different types of cheese.
- Mozzarella cheese: 马苏里拉芝士/奶酪 mǎsūlǐlā zhīshì/nǎilào
- Parmesan cheese: 帕尔马芝士/奶酪 pàěrmǎ zhīshì/nǎilào
- Cheddar cheese: 切达芝士 qiēdá zhīshì/nǎilào
- Ricotta cheese: 瑞可塔芝士/奶酪 ruìkětǎ zhīshì/nǎilào
- Burrata: 布拉塔芝士/奶酪 bùlātǎ zhīshì/nǎilào
- Blue cheese: 蓝纹芝士/奶酪 lánwén zhīshì/nǎilào
- Goat cheese: 山羊芝士/奶酪 shānyáng zhīshì/nǎilào
Different types of pizza
Lastly, here are some common types of pizza in Chinese.
- Margherita Pizza: 玛格丽特披萨 mǎgélìtè pīsà
- Hawaiian Pizza: 夏威夷披萨 xiàwēiyí pīsà
- Pepperoni Pizza: 意大利香肠披萨 yìdàlì xiāngcháng pīsà
- Vegetarian Pizza: 素食披萨 sùshí pīsà
- Seafood Pizza: 海鲜披萨 hǎixiān pīsà
- BBQ Chicken Pizza: 烧烤鸡肉披萨 shāokǎo jīròu pīsà
- Meat Lover's Pizza: 肉食爱好者披萨 ròushí àihào zhě pīsà
- Four Cheese Pizza: 四种奶酪披萨 sìzhǒng nǎilào pīsà
- Truffle Pizza: 松露披萨 sōnglù pīsà
To read about all the pizza purveyors, participating pizzas and deals, you can check out this post. To find out all the details about how you can join in Cheesy Pizza Month, take a look at this post.
Don't forget, to keep up to date with everything related to Cheesy Pizza Month, join our Beijing Pizza Lovers group chat by scanning the QR code below to add TBJButler and ask to be added to the group!
Cheese from the USA
This year's Cheesy Pizza Month is brought to you by Cheese from the USA. Here are a few words from them:
"Cheese has been produced in America since the early 19th century when European immigrants brought their knowledge of dairy farming and cheese making with them from the Old World to the New English colonies. European cheese making traditions provided a good base of knowledge, but Americans built upon that base and began to experiment with new techniques and processes, producing delicious new cheeses as a result.
Today, the United States has grown to be the world’s largest cheese producer and exporter, offering over 1,000 cheese varieties, from classic favorites such as mozzarella, cheddar and parmesan to American Originals like monterey jack, cream cheese and BellaVitano. 29 percent of the world’s cheese is produced in the United States. It is home to some of the world’s largest cheese manufacturers. However, America is also the land of specialty cheese making where hundreds of artisans across the country craft some of the world’s best artisanal cheeses.
The U.S. cheese community has gained recognition and praise on the international stage for many years, winning numerous awards and competitions. These accolades from cheese experts are a clear testament to the fantastic quality and craftsmanship of USA cheeses."
The 2024 Cheesy Pizza Month will be taking place from Fri, Nov 29, until Mon, Dec 30. You can read the full details on how to take part by scanning the QR code in the poster above.
READ: Cheesy Pizza Month Spotlight: Fusion Pizzas
Images: Unsplash, the Bejingers
