Cocido

A Quick Overview Of Cocido

The Spanish word ‘cocido’can be used in two ways: 

• 1.As a noun*(m) it means ‘stew’, particularly a traditional stew with meat, vegetable and pulses. The ingredients vary from region to region. One of the most famous is the ‘cocido madrileño’
• 2.As an adjective, 'cocido, cocida' *(adj) it means ‘boiled’, or ‘cooked’. For example:

How To Say It

• ‘carne poco cocida’ means underdone/rare meat. ‘Carne’ is a feminine noun, and so the adjective that describes it must have a feminine ending ‘cocida’;
• ‘huevos cocidos’ means ‘boiled eggs’. ‘Huevos’ is a masculine plural word, and so the adjective reflects this in it’s ending ‘cocidos’;
•  ‘verduras cocidas’ means ‘boiled, or cooked greens’. ‘Verduras is a feminine plural noun, and so the adjective reflects this in its ending ‘cocidas’.

The Best Way To Pronounce It

• cocido
• koh/THEE/thoh (Sp), koh/SEE/thoh (L-A)

• The 'o's are pronounced like the 'o' in 'hot';
• In Spanish, a ‘c’ followed by an ‘i’ or an ‘e’ softens as in English – think of words such as ‘cinema’, and 'city' where the ‘c’ softens to an ‘s’ sound. Depending on the dialect spoken, the ‘c’ thus modified will either sound like an English ‘s’ (in Latin American countries), or like the English ‘th’ sound in ‘thin’ (in Spain);
• The 'i' sounds like the 'i' in the English name ‘Tina’;
• The Spanish ‘d’ here sounds like the ‘th’ sound in ‘the’.