huarache

English

Some huaraches (food) being prepared.

Etymology

From Mexican Spanish huarache, guarache, from Purepecha kwarachi (“sandal”).

Noun

huarache (plural huaraches)

1. (footwear) A Mexican sandal.
   • 1957, Jack Kerouac, chapter 2, in On the Road, Viking Press, →OCLC, part 1:

     My shoes, damn fool that I am, were Mexican huaraches, plantlike sieves not fit for the rainy night of America and the raw road night.

2. (cooking) A food similar in shape to such a sandal, consisting of a fried masa dough base with a topping, typically salsa, potato, meat, or cheese.
   • 2023 July 7, Rick A. Martínez, “For the Best Tortillas (and Gorditas and Tetelas), You Need Fresh Masa”, in The New York Times‎^[1], →ISSN:

     They’re then ground into a homogeneous dough that holds whatever shape you choose to give it: thin circles for tortillas, thicker ones for gorditas and sopes, plump ovals for huaraches and triangles for black-bean stuffed tetelas.

Spanish

Alternative forms

• guarache

Etymology

From Purepecha kwarachi.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /w̝aˈɾat͡ʃe/ [w̝aˈɾa.t͡ʃe]
• Rhymes: -atʃe
• Syllabification: hua‧ra‧che

Noun

huarache m (plural huaraches)

1. (Mexico) sandal
2. (Mexico) a Mexican dish made of masa topped with various foods, usually including beans, nopales and salsa

Derived terms

• huarachería

See also

• cáliga f
• ojota f
• sandalia f

Further reading

• “huarache”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10