You would think after so many generations cooking with the seed, we in the English speaking world could decide on one way to pronounce it.
Q-min? Q-men? Koo-min? Koo-men? Come-in?
Cumin. Or wait, it's also spelled cummin.
The logical step would be to turn to the dictionary. But as definitive as a dictionary is supposed to be, it was surprisingly vague when we tried to determine "What is a spice?" So when we looked up 'cumin' in various British and American dictionaries - Oxford, American Heritage, Longman, Webster - and found multiple suggestions for pronunciation (come-in, koo-min, q-min), it was just as disappointing.
Maybe the origin of the word would shed light on this spicy dilemma? From Oxford Dictionary: Old English cymen, from Latin cuminum, from Greek kuminon, probably of Semitic origin and related to Hebrew kammōn and Arabic kammūn; superseded in Middle English by forms from Old French cumon, comin, also from Latin.
So where does that leave us? Back to where we started.
Is how you pronounce 'cumin' based on which part of the world you are from, or even which part of a country? Not necessarily. Like the pronunciation of 'coupon', cumin knows no geographical boundaries.
Or maybe it does. How do you pronounce cumin?
After voting, please leave a comment below telling us how you pronounce cumin, and which part of the world you are from. And if you are not a native English speaker, what is cumin in your own language?
(We may have to discuss the pronunciation of 'anise' in an upcoming post...)
26 comments:
We in Croatia pronounce it koo-min and it is called exactly the same in Croatian language
Oddly enough Sheila and I were discussing this very thing at lunch on Saturday! I say q-min, and she says Koo-min; I guess we are both right (or wrong). Aunt Teresa
I am Indian, but born and brought up in Chicago. I grew up calling cumin "jeeru" as that is what it is known as in Gujarati. After I learned the English word, I call it q-min.
Here in the States, it is pronounced - Cue Min or Kyu Min
I've always pronounced it Q-min. From South Africa :)
I pronounce it koo-min, I'm from Michigan.
I would like to say "come in", but we in Croatia pronounce it "Koo-min" :)
In Arabic it's "come-moon" Say it quick.
This is great to hear from people all over the world! The different Arabic pronunciation is really interesting, since it probably dates back much longer in history.
Obviously it has a different name in bahasa Indonesia and Malaysia as well :)
Koo-min and SW Michigan.
Hi Kristin, I think the Midwest is split 50/50 between Koo-min and Q-min. I'm in the Q-min camp, but that may be the result of Malaysian influences (aka Reese).
I'm from Malaysia.
Never cooked as a child & never knew all local names of spices, etc.
I still have a problem telling my fish & vegetables apart! :D
When I started cooking in India, I knew it as "Jeera" and picked up the pronunciation "Q-min" from some locals there... :)
Hi Alexandria - I too took it for granted when I was a child and never learned the names of our local spices although they are such an integral part of Malaysian cuisine. I am glad that I am making it up for the learning losses as an adult. Thanks for sharing your experience with us.
It is confusing to learn the names of spices in different languages though. For example, cumin is jintan putih while aniseed is jintan manis in Bahasa Malay. I am still trying remember the names in Chinese so I can have the spice talk with my mom! Well, it's all part of the fun:)
I am from New Zealand and I say koo-min mostly and sometimes Q-min???
Thanks Erin, I guess there's no wrong answer
I pronounce it come'-in, which is how my mother taught me. She was born in Buffalo, raised in Chicago, but she raised us in Southern California.
Interesting, the pronunciation definitely changes from family to family...
If people know what you are talking about than you said it right:) I'm in Michigan too. Koo-min is my favorite spice!
I pronounce it Q-min. Once I moved from Texas to Miami, FL, I found many Latinos pronounced it koo-min.
I've been saying Q-min for many years, which I think I picked up somewhere along the way during/after college (in the northeastern part of the states). I recently discovered, however, that my father pronounces it koo-min, which I think must come from our Syrian side of the family. It made me reconsider my own pronunciation. :)
Good point, Kipoley
I think once spices become more understood, cooked with, and talked about in American culture, we will finally come to an agreement on how to say 'cumin' :)
I'm down in Alabama and I've always said Q-min, but I've always said it quietly because I never knew if I was wrong! haha
If you say it with confidence, no one will question you:) Thanks Allie.
I say cumino
Post a Comment