I know that the fancy way to pronounce "pecan" is something like [pih-KAHN], but where I come from — and we grow them — it's a [PEE-kan]. I can hear you snickering. But I will not be deterred — I'll continue to say it the right way.
The pecan tree is a large hickory (same word in French) — Carya illinoinensis or illinoensis — that has roughish bark and brittle wood. It is widely grown in the warmer parts of North America for its edible nut, which has a thin shell and a rich, buttery taste. It's the American walnut that's better-tasting than the nut called la noix de Grenoble in Quebec or the English walnut in the U.S.
Wikipedia says that the pecan tree can live and produce edible nuts for as long as 300 years. Thomas Jeffereson and George Washington planted pecan trees on their estates in Virginia. The nut has been grown commercially only since the 1880s. I think the trees and nuts have been "improved" by breeding and selection.
Pecan comes from an Algonquian word meaning "a nut requiring a stone to
crack" — but the ones that grow on the tree pictured above, which grows in the
back yard of the house in Morehead City that I grew up in, are called "paper-shells" and are
very easy to crack open.
I'll be packing a bag full of pecans to take back to Saint-Aignan on Tuesday. We'll enjoy them in pumpkin bread, applesauce cake, or pecan pie. You can freeze the nutmeats with good results after you take them out of the shells, by the way. I'd love to grow pecans in Saint-Aignan, but I'm told the summers are not hot enough to allow the pecans to ripen.
These look much better than the pecans we can buy in stores in the north........
ReplyDeleteIn Australia I always used pecans in preference to walnuts as the walnuts were always imported and never reliable in quality. Here, because I have 7 young walnut trees, I've gone back to walnuts exclusively.
ReplyDeletePi-KAHN??? Oh, nuts. P.
ReplyDeleteOh how I love pecans. I had a very pretentious New York City way of pronouncing the word. Then I met my very posh English brother-in-law from the Isle of Wight. He wondered why I pronounced it the way I did. When he says it, he sounds like he's from Morehead City (or thereabouts). But it still makes me snicker.
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to taste Walt's pecan pie!
ReplyDeleteBon voyage and have a nice and safe trip.
As I was getting my breakfast together this morning, a few minutes ago, I was thinking about JUST this topic: the pronuciation of the word pecan. I realized that people pronounce it differently here and there, but I was remembering an NPR report about the topic. They were interviewing a pecan-growing/selling company somewhere in the South (U.S.), and he commented about what areas of the U.S. pronounce it what way. I think there are about 4 ways (mixes of how to pronounce each of the vowels, and which syllable to stress).
ReplyDeleteOf course, yours is the correct way :) (I believe that was how he said it, too.)
And, I was thinking, "I wonder if Ken will be bringing some home. I wonder if they'll make pecan pie."
:)
We might just make a pecan pie. We have some English golden syrup and some Martiniquais dark cane syrup we can use to make it. With Walt's pâte brisée crust.
DeleteI have brought back pecan nuts to France. They were a hit! Safe trip back home!
ReplyDeleteHi Nadege, thanks. We can often find pecans in the supermarkets around Saint-Aignan these days, but they are really expensive. Since W. and I have two big boxes full of walnuts drying in the garage, thanks to friends who have a big noyer, we don't buy pecans. I will take some back, however.
Deleteyou are wrong about pecans (since you are a southerner, you should know better...haha)....I guess u pronounce pralines wrong too (which is what I like to make with pecans)......i like to make pecan pie with Steens cane syrup from LA...yum...safe travels home
ReplyDeleteI guess we'll have to agree to disagree on the pronunciation. Being from Louisiana, you have that corrupt French influence to deal with! LOL. Are there pih-KAHN trees in the N.C. mountains or is it not hot enough for them there?
DeleteI make sugar coated pecans (allrecipes.com) during the holiday season......they are so good!
ReplyDeleteThanks for that, Lynn. We can do the same thing with walnuts, I imagine.
ReplyDeleteCandied walnuts was a holiday tradition my Mother and Grandmother had! They do, indeed, make for a very tasty treat!
DeleteMary
Bon voyage, Ken. I hope your flight is on time and fast!
ReplyDeleteThey are such a delicious nut. I agree, much better than the walnut. I'm glad you had a nice visit and have something delicious to bring back to Walt. Travel safely.
ReplyDeleteP.S.--I learned to pronounce it PEE-kan, too, and I remember once in Cincinnati, somone who heard me said: "A pee can is what you put under your bed for emergencies. The nut is called pi-KAHN." Silly.
ReplyDeleteI really don't have a preference between walnuts and pecans. They're just different from one another and both delicious. I bought a bag of shelled pecans at Costco last month and discovered that they were from Mexico. That was a surprise.
ReplyDelete