Skip to content

tabliya

tablíya with stress marks

a chocolate tablet made from cacao

noun tab-LI-ya Spanish origin Less Common

Usage Note

Tabliya is a traditional Filipino chocolate product — a compressed disc or tablet of pure roasted and ground cacao, typically from Cebu or Batangas. It is dissolved in hot water or milk to make native hot chocolate (tsokolate). Unlike commercial chocolate bars, tabliya is minimally processed and deeply bitter, requiring sugar to taste. It is a point of Filipino culinary pride and is sold at local markets and specialty stores.

Examples

Beginner

" Bumili kami ng tabliya sa palengke. "

Natural Translation

We bought a chocolate tablet at the market.

Literal Translation

Bought we of chocolate-tablet at market.

Intermediate

" Masarap ang mainit na tabliya. "

Natural Translation

The hot chocolate tablet is delicious.

Literal Translation

Delicious the hot hot chocolate tablet.

Advanced

" Tuwing Pasko, nagtitimpla ang lola ko ng mainit na tsokolate mula sa tabliyang galing pa sa Cebu. "

Natural Translation

Every Christmas, my grandmother prepares hot chocolate from cacao tablets that come all the way from Cebu.

Literal Translation

Every Christmas, prepares the grandmother my of hot chocolate from the chocolate-tablet coming still from Cebu.

Free · iOS & Android

Take Tagalog with you

The full course, a 12,500-word dictionary, and flashcards that make every word stick — free to start on iOS and Android.

Tagalog builds thousands of words from a few hundred roots.

How Tagalog words work

Explore Tagalog by topic

Free guides on grammar, vocabulary, and culture to take you past single-word lookups.