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OVER May 30-June 1, 2023, students from all over the US will vie for a chance to be this year's champion at the Scripps National Spelling Bee. They'll have a tough few rounds ahead, as they progress from the preliminaries to the quarter and semi-finals, and then the finals themselves on this Thursday.
About 231 of the keenest spellers in the US have already arrived at a venue in Maryland for "Bee Week 2023", a series of events, educational programmes and excursions that precede the actual competition. These spellers have aced contests at their school, district and regional levels in order to qualify for the national contest.
Last year's winner, 14-year-old Harini Logan, had to clear a total of 18 rounds in order to lift the Scripps trophy. An article published after her win, in June 2022, noted that "over the past 20 years, Indian Americans have come to dominate the Scripps National Spelling Bee – with 21 of the past 23 champions being of South Asian descent".
Since 1925, the Scripps National Spelling Bee has gone through a few changes and iterations. The words given to the contestants have also gone through an evolution. But terms related to food have always featured generously on the competition list over the years.
Before the 2023 edition (its 95th!), here's a short list of words contestants have grappled with during the competition, or while mastering the study material. Get a friend to test how many of these you can correctly spell!
Note: We've left out several of the beginner-level/commonly-known words (even if their spellings can be tricky), including but not limited to Croissant, Decaffeinate, Éclair, Mayonnaise, Mousse, Mozzarella, Sorghum, Spaghetti, Tablespoonful, Tiffin, Trough, Vanilla, Vermicelli, Vindaloo and Zucchini.
| WORD | MEANING |
| Abattoir | Slaughterhouse |
| Ageusia | Complete loss of taste |
| Agua Fresca | Non-alcoholic beverages made from one or more fruits, cereals, flowers, or seeds blended with sugar and water |
| Albumen | Egg white or protein |
| Andouille | Smoked pork sausage |
| Angus | Cattle breed |
| Antipasto | First course/appetiser |
| Arborio | Italian short-grain rice |
| Asado | South American BBQ |
| Avgolemono | Sauces and soups made with egg yolk and lemon juice mixed with broth |
| Badderlocks | Edible seaweed |
| Bancha | Japanese green tea; second flush of Sancha |
| Bialy | Polish bread roll |
| Bodega | Wine shop/cellar/grocery store |
| Bottarga | Salted, cured fish roe pouch |
| Bouillon | Broth in which meat, fish or vegetables have been simmered. Is used as a base for soups, sauces, gravies etc |
| Boysenberry | Large bramble fruit |
| Bresaola | Air-dried and aged salted beef |
| Buisson | Fruit tree on low stem |
| Burgoo | Dish similar to Irish or Mulligan stew, served with cornbread or corn muffins |
| Béarnaise | Sauce made of butter, egg yolk, white-wine vinegar and herbs |
| Béchamel | "Mother sauce" of French cuisine, made with white roux, milk, nutmeg |
| Cannellini | White kidney beans |
| Carafe | Glass container for serving beverages |
| Caribou | Reindeer |
| Carpaccio | Appetiser made of raw, thin-sliced/pounded meat or fish |
| Caryopsis | Botany term for simple fruit |
| Chapon | Bread rubbed with garlic and placed in a salad for flavour |
| Charcuterie | Branch of cooking devoted to prepared meat products |
| Choumoellier | Cabbage, kohlrabi, kale hybrid |
| Clementine | Citrus fruit |
| Consommé | Clear soup |
| Courgette | Type of summer squash; baby marrow/zucchini |
| Cruller | Deep-fried doughnut-like pastry |
| Daikon | Winter radish |
| Damson | Plum-like fruit |
| Demiglace | Rich brown sauce |
| Demitasse | Small coffee cup |
| Dragée | Bite-sized confectionery, or silver ball used for decorating cakes |
| Enoki | Type of mushroom |
| Entremets | Light dish served between two courses |
| Etouffée | Shellfish prepared in sauce and served over rice, in Cajun/Creole cuisine |
| Fra Diavolo | Spicy Italian-American tomato sauce for pasta or seafood |
| Fricassee | Meat browned in butter, stewed, then served in its own sauce |
| Gherkin | Small, pickled cucumber |
| Gorp | Trail mix |
| Guanábana | Fruit belonging to the custard apple family |
| Hodgepodge | Early word for stew |
| Holishkes | Traditional Jewish cabbage roll dish |
| Ingurgitate | Swallow greedily |
| Jambalaya | An American Creole-Cajun rice dish with meat and vegetables |
| Jicama | Mexican turnip |
| Kalamata | Type of olive |
| Kasha | Buckheat preparations |
| Kishke | Beef intestine with savoury filling |
| Kokopu | Type of fish; New Zealand |
| Kreef | Spiny lobster |
| Kugel | Baked casserole |
| Leberwurst | Liver sausage |
| Lekach | Honey-sweetened cake in Jewish cuisine |
| Lo Mein | Chinese egg noodle dish |
| Locavore | A person whose diet consists only or principally of locally grown or produced food |
| Luau | Hawaiian feast |
| Macerate | Softening/breaking down a food by soaking it in liquid |
| Mahimahi | Common dolphinfish |
| Manicotti | Large pasta tubes used in recipes that call for them to be baked/stuffed |
| Mesclun | Greens |
| Mignonette | Sauce made with minced shallots, cracked pepper and vinegar, served with oysters |
| Moorhen | Type of water fowl |
| Muenster | A type of semi-soft cheese |
| Nockerl | Austrian sweet soufflé dessert |
| Nopales | A type of cactii commonly used in Mexican dishes |
| Oenomel | Ancient Greek beverage consisting of honey and unfermented grape juice |
| Ohelo | A Hawaiian berry |
| Oleaginous | Oil-like/oily/oil-producing |
| Oleiculture | Production, processing and marketing of olives |
| Palatschinken | Crêpe-like pancake |
| Pappardelle | Broad, flat pasta |
| Pekoe | High-quality black tea made from young leaves |
| Pirarucu | Giant edible Amazonian fish |
| Pumpernickel | Dark German rye bread |
| Purslane | A type of nutritious weed |
| Pâtissier | Maker of desserts and confectionaries |
| Pâté | Paste, pie or loaf filled with forcemeat |
| Quaff | To drink |
| Raclette | Swiss cheese dish |
| Ratafia | A type of liquer |
| Rhubarb | Fleshy, edible stalks of the Rheum plant |
| Rijsttafel | Dutch word referring to the elaborate Indonesian 'rice table' |
| Rutabaga | Root vegetable |
| Salmagundi | Dish of chopped meat, anchovies, eggs, onions and seasoning |
| Sarsaparilla | Soft drink made from the root of a plant |
| Sauerkraut | Fermented cabbage |
| Scrod | Young cod or haddock |
| Seitan | High-protein meat substitute made of wheat gluten |
| Sevruga | Migratory sturgeon; caviar derived from this fish is also called sevruga |
| Shabu-Shabu | Japanese dish of thinly sliced meat and vegetables boiled in water, served with dipping sauces |
| Sloe | Blackthorn fruit |
| Sopapilla | Fried pastry |
| Sukiyaki | Hotpot dish; see also 'Yosenabe' |
| Tamari | Japanese fermented soybean sauce |
| Tetrazzini | Italian-American casserole dish |
| Tortoni | Frozen mousse |
| Victuals | Food provisions |
| Wensleydale | Crumbly English cheese |
| Wirrah | Australian spotted fish |
| Xiphias | Swordfish |
| Yosenabe | Japanese hotpot |
| Zabaglione | Italian custard |
| Zuppa Inglese | Trifle-like Italian dessert |