Saturday, 7 February 2009

CAVA - Simple Enough To Pronounce...Or Not?

It has long been a source of irritation to Crusty the way that people insist on mispronouncing the word CAVA; Cava, of course, is the gorgeous Spanish equivalent of Champagne (although technically it is Catalan) - it is certainly not merely a cheap sparkling white wine as many Lambrini girls would think.

There are many fabulous brands of Cava, such as Mestres and CodornĂ­u, but Dame Crusty's particular favourite is that which is produced by Pere Ventura. This relatively small producer makes the most fabulous, crisp Cavas I have ever tasted - even surpassing the quality of many of the famous Champagne houses. If any of my Crustettes are in the area, I would strongly recommend you arrange a tour.

Anyhoo..enough about my cellar. I recently took my faithful houseboy Chu Me out for a spot of dinner to celebrate another loyal year of service to his mistress; we were walking through the local restaurant, where the annual celebration is religiously held, when a rather shiny, pimply young man, who was clearly trying to impress his orange, ringlet-festooned lady friend, tried to attract the attention of the waiter. As Chu Me and I walked past the table I heard him shout, "Waiter, can you bring us a bottle of CARVA?"

Dame Crusty's diamond encrusted shoes screeched to a halt by his side and poor Chu Me simply ran for cover. I turned to face him, smiled at the orange ringlet stand, picked up his near empty plate and smashed it over the top of his head.

"Do not ask for things one is unable to correctly pronounce, dear!"

Dame Crusty would like to advise all her Crustettes that the gorgeous nectar of Cataluyna is not pronounced CARVA or CARVAR as the toffee nosed "experts" and chefs would have you believe; this may have already been noticed if one has tried to order a bottle while in Spain and the waiter has given that look of what are you talking about, you stupid Englishman?

It is simply pronounced CABA - CA (as in CAT)BA (as in BAT - although the B must be soft), even CA(CAT)VA(VAT) would show more respect than that given by the "professionals" who bastardise the word on a regular basis.

Though Crusty has never wanted to preach to anyone, there are certain things that simply must be! Spread the words, my darling Crustettes...make Crusty proud!

2 comments:

  1. my mate pronounces it as ca (as in ca) va (as in va) .. i told him it's pronounced carva and proceeded to explain how proper thick he was, just shows how thick i am (and what the hells a soft b), at least we're both wrong. I'm still not gonna call it catva, but it's nice to know the correct prononciation.

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  2. Haha I've been corrected many a time for NOT saying car-var but speaking some Spanish I knew it definitely wasn't so despite ridicule it bas always been Ca ba (soft b) for me ❤️

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