Pronunciation Rant

I'm actually making a bloggable dinner, but it's still in the works, so I'll rant instead.

Why do people have no idea how to pronounce foreign food items? Ya only have to learn it once, people. Case in point -- that overly-muscled idiot in Dinner: Impossible. No matter how many times it was said to him, he just couldn't remember the pronunciation for "gyoza". Gyoza are those Japanese dumplings, as you recall. It's easy. Hard "g" Gee--yo--zah.

But he was calling them "guy yo za" and he ended up calling them "goyas." Can you believe that a nationally syndicated so-called chef could mangle a simple "gyoza" into "goya"?

So, following are my pet peeves:

Sake. Sake is pronounced "sah-kay". NOT "sah-kee." You say sahkee and I say seeya.
Jalapeño. This is pronounced "ha-lah-pain-yo." Not "Halapeeno."
Cumin. This is pronounced "Kyuumin", not "koomin" or, god forbid, "cummin."
Basil. This is apparently called lots of things, but the best thing for you to call it is "Bay-zill."
Habanero. This spicy little beast is always confused with the jalapeño, but it's pronounced "ha-bah-neh-ro" without the tilde.
Sauvignon Blanc. This is pronounced "so-vee-nyohn-blohn" with a nasal "n" sound at the end and not "saveenyonne blank."
Pasta is pronounced "pah-sta", not as these cretins in Canada pronounce it: Paaasta ("a" as in "animal").

Capiche?

Don't you dare get me started on tagliatelle. Or tortiglioni, which happens to be on the menu tonight.