31 People Made These Silly Food Name Mistakes So You Don't Have To

It is part of being human to make mistakes. We commit them everywhere, from our jobs to relationships, and often, even in the kitchen.

We have to admit, some of these mistakes are more embarrassing than others. For example, some people never realized that cilantro and coriander are one and the same.

Did you just move to another country? Then you might have experienced looking for a specific ingredient at a grocery store only to realize that it's not available there.

We also have people who cannot differentiate scallions, shallots, onions, and spring onions. If you want to make yourself feel better after committing these silly mistakes, head over to annamagda's Reddit thread under the r/Cooking subreddit.

After she shared her mix-up about coriander and cilantro, others started sharing their own cooking blunders and food mistakes. The confessions by Redditors were so hilarious that we've compiled the best ones in this post.

If you've committed the same mistakes, that's completely fine. According to cooking experts, just embrace those blunders.

Because in the end, these experiences will be your teachers. Take those mistakes as opportunities to learn and improve.

And don't dwell on them. Have fun reading the blunders that people shared instead!

What started it all

annamagda

A redditor made an intense lasagna.

According to the recipe, 3 cloves of garlic were needed. They didn't know what cloves meant and ended up using 3 garlic knobs.

vinsanity820, Matthew Pilachowski

Isle of Man

Two friends were at a grocery store, waiting for their turn at the deli counter. There was a sign behind them indicating that there were Isle of Man cheeses.

The roommate wasn't happy with what she saw, wondering if getting cheese was now gendered. Then the other friend, through her tears, explained that it's the name of an actual place in England.

With a whisper, the roommate told her to never tell anyone about it. Of course, she did the opposite.

femmilybronte, iomcreamery

Someone from the US who moved to the UK was shocked to learn that whipped cream in England is called squirty cream.

TheSpaceship, Nikky

A redditor's husband recently discovered that popcorn is made from corn.

bergskey, Eduardo Casajús Gorostiaga

The redditor was a teenager at the time, and this was before the internet. The entire family thought that Italians were so smart to have invented such a dish.

They had nothing but a poorly translated recipe from a South Asian magazine. The meat sauce needed two tablespoons of red chili powder.

In truth, it needed paprika. On top of that, the redditor was only aware of Indian red chili powder.

This was the first "Italian" food they made for family and friends. It was served only on special occasions since it was hard to acquire cheese at the time.

Everyone enjoyed the dish as they wiped the tears falling down their faces. They also commented on how the heat of the chili weirdly complemented the coolness of the cheese.

allamadehshat, Volodymyr Hryshchenko

The redditor's dad is from Scotland and his mom is from the US.

The couple met in the States and then moved to Scotland after marriage. The dad had been on a scholarship.

Its terms stated that he had to work for the Church of Scotland for a couple of years. That's why they went there.

The redditor's mom wanted to make baked goods with coconut. But since she was in a foreign country, it was hard for her to find it.

The dad told her that she could not find coconut in Scotland. But when the mom mentioned it to the women of the church group, she eventually found out the truth.

There were indeed coconuts in Scotland, and she was told where to find them. The mom went home and talked to her dad in anger.

The truth is, the dad wanted to test how long he could keep it up. They're still married after 46 years, but the talk about the coconuts comes up once in a while.

canbritam, Louis Hansel

What paprika really is

I just learned three years ago that paprika is just dried ground-up red bell peppers. I'm 44. I felt like the world had betrayed me.duffs007, Vitolda Klein

A redditor from the US lived in Germany for nearly a decade.

She typically tries to shop in local stores instead of American ones. If she does purchase from an American store, she avoids buying cheese.

She also thought it was strange for German stores not to carry Swiss cheese despite sharing borders with Switzerland. So she had no choice but to replace Swiss cheese with something else (Emmentaler, Edamer, and more).

But it was only recently that she realized the Swiss likely won't call it Swiss cheese. Until now, she doesn't know which one is the Swiss cheese among the 18,000 kinds that the store carries, but she says they all taste good.

Mama_cheese, LID

One redditor consumed asparagus on the day they quit smoking.

When his pee smelled of asparagus, he was so shocked that he thought he would die. He believed that quitting smoking negatively affected his urination.

Of course, since we all treat Google like a doctor, he looked up his condition. Upon typing "why does my pee smell," Google autocompletes it with "after eating asparagus."

It was such a relief because, after all, it was something that normally happens.

_Permanent_Marker_, Visual Stories || Micheile

A user finally discovered that pickles are cucumbers.

SlowSteadyThumping

A user always thought that curry was its own spice, when in truth, it's a mix of different spices.

nobrahh, mana5280

A user didn't know that scallions and green onions are the same.

wrightsound, Christopher Previte

A redditor used tartar sauce instead of cream of tartar for a cake.

reddit, Marta Dzedyshko

The apple oops cake

I once grabbed cayenne instead of the little jar of "cake spice" (it's a mix of cinnamon & cloves & anise & nutmeg, etc.) when making an apple cake. I realized the mistake before mixing it in and was able to scrape most of it out, but there was a distinct bite to that cake! We referred to it as the "apple oops cake" and have occasionally added a dash of cayenne to cakes since.MiniRems, Towfiqu barbhuiya

A redditor thought that arugula was something that only grows in North America. Then, he found out that it's just the American term for rocket (the annual plant).

Tomgar, sheri silver

A redditor didn't think that bay leaf and laurel leaf are the same.

HanniballRun, Tetiana Bykovets

A user picked up chickpeas instead of garbanzo beans.

tulips_onthe_summit, cottonbro

A user checks the recipe carefully for bicarbonate of soda, baking powder, and baking soda.

reddit, Mikhail Nilov

A British woman loved blackcurrant squash, which is a type of juice.

But when she came to America, she wasn't led to a shelf of juices. The Walmart worker guided her to the root vegetable section.

BelleButch, sainsburys

UK English uses the French terms for eggplant, zucchini, and rutabaga, which are aubergine, courgette, and swede, respectively. A user was surprised to learn about this.

Dydey, Melanie Andersen

A user who migrated to the US was shocked to find out that Americans use 'entree' when ordering the main course.

muffinmallow, Leaky Cauldron Entree Menu

The fact that mincemeat does not contain minced meat surprised a user.

Pindakazig, hans peter meyer

A redditor who moved to Belgium loved the country's hot chocolate.

It is made using bars that melt in milk. But what she didn't realize was that she wasn't purchasing 2% milk.

She was using full-cream milk all along. No wonder she was gaining weight.

kristianmae, Karina Zhukovskaya

This user searched for zucchinis in a local mart.

He could not find them in the store, but he saw something resembling a zucchini called Italian squash. Eventually, he found out that zucchini and Italian squash are the same.

QuentynStark, Igor Osinchuk

A redditor didn't know that all-purpose flour is the same as plain flour.

michaeldble, Addilyn Ragsdil

This redditor was initially confused by three kinds of cinnamon.

Eventually, he discovered the difference. Ceylon cinnamon crumbles in one's hands, while Cassia requires grating.

ronearc, Pixabay

In a game with friends, this redditor learned that grapes and grapefruit aren't the same.

JCorky101, Aliona Gumeniuk

Chipotle and jalapeño are the same, and this shocked one redditor.

depeupleur, Phillip Larking

A user previously thought that artichokes were fish, not veggies.

_Leopluradon_, Ann H

A redditor did not know that the color of the bell peppers determines when they were harvested.

NikkiNaz, Victoria Bowers

Remember that everyone makes mistakes, and that includes matters about food.

You've probably learned some new things from these posts by the Redditors. And now, you don't have to go through the same experiences as they did.

And if in doubt, it's always great to ask and be specific about what you're looking for. And forgive yourself if you indeed committed any food name mistakes!