Would you be willing to translate for Juan Mari Arzak at a charity dinner in New York City, which will be cooked by seven of Spain's top chefs?" I wasn't sure I was hearing correctly or even if this conversation was really taking place until the voice on the other end of the line continued, "Unfortunately we have no budget to pay you, but I guarantee that the experience will be priceless."

Not pay me? Was she kidding? This is the kind of experience over-privileged people with too much time and money on their hands pay an exuberant price for at the very same charity dinner I would be attending, and they want to let me do it in exchange for a few words in Spanish? I jumped at the chance.

Needless to say, the experience proved to be more than great. If I had to use a word to describe it, it would be eye opening. As a native Spanish speaker (I'm a first generation Cuban-American), I was prepared for casual dinner table conversation. Which there was. And as a food writer and consultant, I was prepared for "foodie speak". Or so I thought.

Before I knew it, I was searching every brain cell I had for the English word for cigalas and percebes while at the same time coming up with the Spanish word for boysenberry and stone crab. How did I so gravely underestimate the differences in the gastronomic vocabulary of Spanish speaking countries?

A few months passed and I was presented with another priceless experience. Would I like to go to Madrid and serve as a "babysitter" for famed Australian chef Tetsuya Wakuda during the week he would be attending the Madrid Fusion culinary conference? Babysitting duties would include receiving him at the airport, escorting him to the conference on a daily basis, and helping him with any issues he might encounter while in Madrid. Oh…I would also be translating for him during this time.

Talk about reversal of fortune. This time I was to pair my American English with Tetsuya's Australian, and then translate the information to Spaniards using my Cuban Spanish. If globalization is supposed to make our world smaller, shouldn't it have the same effect on our use of language? Clearly, there are going to be indigenous ingredients and regional dishes that have their own lexicon, but how can one ingredient have so many designations. Take banana as an example. Depending on where you are from you may refer to it as platano, cambur, or banano when speaking Spanish.

Living in the United States I have encountered many regional Spanish language variations. Pick the Latin American country and you will not only find accent differentiation but words and phrases that make you wonder if they are really speaking Spanish. This is never truer than when speaking of food. Ingredients, beverages, even tools and equipment take on different meanings for different cultures.

Take the word tortilla. For some, like the Spanish and Cuban, the word would immediately bring to mind eggs. For others, particularly Mexicans and Central Americans, the image of a flattened corn pancake would come into view.

For the most part native Spanish speakers do not pay too much attention to these culinary discrepancies. However, for those just learning the language or those starting to discover the rich and varied gastronomic landscape of Spain and Latin America, this could be confusing.

The French and Italian prominence on the global gastronomic stage has allowed words such as entrecôte and fritto to become mainstream. In a similar fashion Spanish culinary terms, while not as universal, are starting to close in. This is largely due to the increased popularity of Spanish and Latin American cuisine and the notoriety that is being garnered by chefs from these regions. The more we hear of Ferrán Adrià, the more words such as jamón and garbanzo will become part of the global culinary lexicon despite the existence of their English names.

Couple that with the fact that more and more people are speaking the Spanish language – 500 million according to the Instituto Cervantes. It's the fourth most spoken language by total number of speakers and the third most used language on the Internet (behind English and Chinese). Twenty-one countries regard Spanish as their official language, with the United States counting it as its second most widely spoken language.

Cuisines and chefs from Spain have already made an impact on the global stage and those from Latin America are now starting to emerge. The more people learn and feel comfortable speaking the Spanish language and using its gastronomic vocabulary, the clearer the message that the global culinary stage has two more contenders to deal with – Spain and Latin America. And that's muy bueno!

Lourdes Castro is a freelance food writer and consultant living in Miami. She is currently working on a Spanish-English dictionary of culinary terms as well as a Mexican cookbook to be published by Ten Speed Press next year.