Instructions: We in the United States are blessed with an abundance of international comestibles - and cursed with an inability to pronounce them. Who hasnt been on the receiving end of a waiters sneer as you haltingly order the coq au vin?

Or the derision of a deli counterman when your rendering of kreplach fails to gargle sufficiently.

Its a linguistic jungle out there, and its about to get worse, as the summer travel season kicks into high gear and we prepare to eat out in restaurants all over the world. Heres a survival guide:

When in France

While the subtleties of pronouncing French take years to acquire, the following cheat sheet should set you on the right track.

Coq au vin: COKE oh-VANH

Although the coq in coq au vin refers to a rooster, the dish usually entails a female chicken braised in red wine (vin).

Duck a lorange: DUCK ah-lo-RAHNGE
Heres an example of one of those hybrids that starts with English, takes a hard right into French and leaves the speaker in the dust. Colman Andrews, editor of the food magazine Saveur (more on that later), thought that for consistencys sake the dish should be billed either as canard a lorange

(ca-NARH ah-lo-RAHNGE) or orange duck.

Steak au poivre: STAKE oh PWAHV
According to Andrews, we should really be calling this pepper steak.

Saveur: sa-VUR
While were at it, we might as well tackle this most unpronounceable of food monthlies. In retrospect, calling it Saveur probably wasnt the wisest thing, but its too late now, Andrews said. He advised, If you speak French pretty well, you can try sa-VEUHR, but I tell Americans to say it as if it were sa-VUR.

In any case, its better than say-VIEW-er or savior - which I hear a lot.

Confit: kohn-FEE
Confit literally means preserved. The term traditionally refers to meat

(often duck) that has been cooked, then preserved in its own fat. A vegetable such as onion or tomato whose life has been cooked out of it are also sometimes called confit.

Cordon bleu: core-donh BLEUH
Cordon bleu is simply French for blue ribbon, and, as in English, the blue ribbon connotes culinary excellence. Veal (or chicken) cordon bleu is made by sandwiching ham and cheese between slices of meat and frying. Le Cordon Bleu is a French cooking school.

Prix fixe: pree feeks
Fancy for fixed price.

Haricots verts: AH-ree-co VAIR
Haricot is French for bean, vert means green, and haricots verts are those very thin, very expensive string beans.

Vichyssoise: vee-shee-SWAHZ
A pureed soup of leeks and potatoes that is served cold. Vichyssoise is named for the French city of Vichy.

Mirepoix: meer-PWAH
Many French preparations start with a mirepoix, a sauteed mixture of chopped carrots, onions and celery. Mirepoix was the first French word chef Michael Maroni learned, and so, disregarding the advice of friends and associates, he used it for the name of his Glen Head, N.Y., restaurant. Although the correct pronunciation is printed on the menu, he and his staff are treated each night to meer-pox, meer-poy and everything in between.

Foie gras: fwah grah
Literally fat liver, foie gras refers to the liver of a goose that has been force-fed for a number of months until its liver reaches gigantic, and fatty, proportions. Mirepoixs Maroni has grown accustomed to requests for fire grass.

Theres no k in Italian
You can improve your Italian by remembering that both che and chi are hard K sounds. You dont call Chianti she-ANT-y, do you?

Bruschetta: brew-SKET-uh
This simple dish of toast rubbed with garlic and anointed with olive oil (and usually topped with tomatoes) is doubtless the most mispronounced word on Italian menus.

Radicchio: ruh-DEEK-yo
This crisp, red-leafed chicory brings up another rule of Italian: the io at the end of a word is one, not two syllables: yo.

Maraschino: ma-rah-SKEE-no
It has become standard English to call the thoroughly denatured cherries that adorn your Shirley Temple ma-ruh-SHEE-noes, but we thought youd like to know the truth.

Ceci: CHEH-chee
The lowly chickpea offers an object lesson in pronunciation: Without an h after the c, ce and ci are pronounced like the ch in chair.

Bet you cant eat just one
Its not a matter of pronunciation per se, but a number of Italian food words seem to have reached these shores only in the plural.

Biscotti: bees-COHT-ee
Biscotti are first baked as a single loaf, then sliced and baked again to achieve their distinctive crispness. Bis means twice, and cotto means cooked. If you cant bring yourself to ask for one biscotto, please, consider asking for one of those biscotti.

Cannoli: can-NOHL-ee
Again, unless youre prepared for a substantial dessert, you want to order one cannolo.

Gnocchi: NYOH-kee
Its unlikely that youll ever have the opportunity to order one gnocco

(NYOH-ko), but now youd know what to call it.

That final e
In French, a final e without an accent is usually silent, but in Italian and Spanish, youre safe pronouncing it.

Tagliatelle: tahl-yuh-TELL-ay
From the Italian verb tagliare, to cut, these 1/4 inch-wide ribbons of fresh pasta are associated with the cooking of Emilia-Romagna and the north of Italy.

In Rome, the comparable pasta - which is often a hair broader - is fettuccine

(feh-too-CHEE-nay.)

Note: the g in tagliatelle is silent.

Pappardelle: pop-par-DELL-ay
Wider than tagliatelle or fettuccine, pappardelle can reach widths of up to an inch.

Mascarpone: mah-scar-POE-nay
Folks often misplace the r in this sweet, creamy fresh cheese, calling it mar-ska-PONE.

Chipotle: chih-POHT-lay
This chili pepper is nothing more than a dried, smoked jalapeno that is frequently canned in adobo sauce.

The Spanish double l
In Spanish, two consecutive ls are pronounced like the English y, as folks with the barest acquaintance with tortillas well know. But this expertise sometimes vanishes with less familiar words.

Tomatillo: toh-mah-TEE-yoh
Looking like small green tomatoes wearing thin paper shrouds, tomatillos are a key ingredient in green salsas.

Paella: pie-AY-ah
This Spanish rice dish, a specialty of Valencia, is made in a special pan called a paellera (pie-AY-rah).

Gargling Yiddish h
Theres no way to express properly in writing that guttural hocking tone thats called for in certain Yiddish words, so were going to use ckh to signify the sound made at the back of the throat when you gargle.

Challah: CKHAH-la
In certain assimilated circles, this egg-enriched loaf traditionally eaten with Sabbath dinner is sometimes called holy bread.

Knaidlach: kuh-NAYD-lackh
Knaidlach is Yiddish for matzo balls. One matzo ball is a knaidl

(kuh-NAYD-ul).

Kreplach: KREP-lackh
The plural form of krepl (KREP-ul), kreplach are boiled, meat-filled dumplings that are pretty close to wontons.

Vegetable kingdom
Weve come a long way since avocado was considered an exotic vegetable.

Celeriac: seh-LER-ee-ak
Also called celery root, this vegetable is indeed the root of a celery plant that has been cultivated to have an extra-large root.

Morel: muh-REHL
A wild mushroom with a distinctive cap - peaked and honeycombed - the morel is sold both fresh and dried.

Sorrel: SOR-uhl
Also called sour grass, sorrel is a leafy herb that can taste shockingly bitter. Sorrel is the principal ingredient in the traditional Jewish soup schav

(SHAHV).

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