ProverbHuman NatureSpanish origin

A buen hambre no hay pan duro

Meaning: When you are really hungry, any food tastes good.

Literally: To a good hunger there is no hard bread

Example: “Llevábamos todo el día sin comer y aquel bocadillo nos supo a gloria: a buen hambre no hay pan duro.” — We hadn't eaten all day and that sandwich tasted heavenly: hunger is the best sauce.

Equivalents in English, French, Japanese, German, Portuguese, and 3 more languages

  • English: Hunger is the best sauce
  • French: Il n'est sauce que d'appétit (literally: There is no sauce but appetite)
  • Japanese: 空腹は最高の調味料 (Kūfuku wa saikō no chōmiryō) (literally: Hunger is the best seasoning)
  • German: Hunger ist der beste Koch (literally: Hunger is the best cook)
  • Portuguese: A fome é o melhor tempero (literally: Hunger is the best seasoning)
  • Dutch: Honger is de beste saus (literally: Hunger is the best sauce)
  • Russian: Голод — лучший повар (Golod — luchshiy povar) (literally: Hunger is the best cook)
  • Polish: Głód najlepszy kucharz (literally: Hunger is the best cook)

Origin: Stale bread is no hardship to someone truly hungry. In Don Quixote (Part II, 1615) Teresa Panza puts the same idea another way: la mejor salsa del mundo es la hambre, the best sauce in the world is hunger.

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