Halloween means October is a month for horror and mysteries. However, it is another October holiday that has got me thinking of one mystery in particular. Every Thanksgiving, the star dish of our meal is roast turkey. Its one of my favourites. Turkeys are native to eastern North America and Mexico and were first domesticated by the Mayans in the jungles of the Yucatan. Thus, they have a long pedigree in North American food traditions. Yet, the birds get their name from Turkey, a country thousands of miles away that straddles Europe and Asia. This presents the question: why does the name suggest the wrong origin?
The Spanish Connection
The answer to this mystery probably stems from changing trade routes due to the European discovery of the Americas. People often assume that this process occurred quickly, as European powers jostled to plant flags and establish colonies in these new lands beyond the horizon. However, this exploration race started slowly and came with its own limitations. Consequently, turkeys likely did not arrive in England directly from the Americas.
The Age of Exploration traditionally starts in in 1492 when Christopher Columbus, acting for the Spanish crown, discovered islands in the Caribbean. At first, this period was mostly dominated by Spanish expeditions, who colonized Mexico in 1521. England did not really begin exploration of the new continent until 1578. Furthermore, their successful establishment of colonies did not begin until after 1604, when a peace treaty was signed with the Spanish. This was almost 85 years after the founding of New Spain in Mexico! During this time, the English watched enviously while gold and exotic treasure made their rival rich. The hostile relations ruled out trade. So, before the English started their own expeditions, the treasures of the New World – such as turkey birds – would only have gotten to England by some other means.
Turks with Turkey
The Spanish took goods from the Americas and traded throughout the Mediterranean. Turkish merchants of the Ottoman Empire then imported the turkeys into the rest of Europe. The English assumed the birds were native to Turkey and called them Turkey coqs, later shortened to “turkeys”. A similar situation occurred for other luxury items that Turkish merchants provided to English markets. Persian carpets and Hungarian carpet bags were once called “Turkish rugs” and “Turkish bags”, respectively. Basically, if a product originated beyond the Danube River – and hence in the lands of the Ottoman Empire – it was referred to as Turkish. Even if the Turks were simply middlemen for its exchange.
Another theory states that the Europeans misidentified the turkey as guineafowl. These birds resemble North American turkeys and are native to Sub-Saharan Africa. Turkish merchants were already importing them into Europe.
Its Not Just the English
The English word “turkey” is therefore a misnomer and reflects a misunderstanding of how the birds arrived in England. However, our mystery is not just found in the English language. It persists in other languages too.
Turks refer to the bird as “Hindi”, referring to the country of India. Many other languages make a similar connection. French, Russian, Catalan, Maltese, Polish, and Yiddish all refer to turkeys with words that translate to “Indian chicken”. However, the languages’ use of the word India may mean that they were referring to North America after all. Remember, many people initially assumed that European explorers travelled to India and not a previously undiscovered landmass. Yet, Dutch, Indonesian, Danish, Swedish, and Finnish all use words for turkeys that refer to the Indian city of Calicut (Kozhikode). This suggests these people thought turkeys came from the real India (maybe through Turkey?) and not North America masquerading as India.
Other languages cannot agree on where the birds originate from either. The Greeks call turkeys “Gallopoula”, which is derived from “Gaul”, the ancient Roman name for what is now France. Therefore, it means “French chicken”. Different parts of the Arab world use words that suggest several different origins for turkeys. The standard word is “Dik roumi” or “Roman roosters” but there are regional variations such as “Ethiopian roosters” in Palestine. Similarly, Egyptians have two terms for turkey. The first can be translated as “Greek bird” and the other term is “Dik-rumi”. This is similar to “Roumi” which means “Roman”. Alternatively, it may refer to Turkey as medieval Turkish sultans referred to their land as “Rum”. They claimed they were the true successors to the Roman Empire.
Mystery Solved?
Based on all these translations, it is possible to have a loose theory to account for all these different names. Spanish conquistadors took turkeys back to Europe from Mexico. However, rivalries with England, the Netherlands, and others prevented them from trading at northern European ports. Instead, they sailed to Italy, Sicily, Greece, and other parts of the Mediterranean controlled by or at least friendly towards the Spanish crown. Eventually, turkeys got into the hands of the Turkish Ottomans whose galleys also raided and traded in the area. They then traded the birds throughout the Baltics, German states, and eventually England. As the birds made their way through Europe’s complex trade routes, they acquired names that reflected people’s assumed origins of them.
As they are originally native to Mexico and North America, turkeys should probably be called “Mexican chicken” in all these languages. The people who are the most correct are probably the Portuguese. Their word for turkey, “peru”, refers to Peru, which was an early conquest of the Spanish Empire. Having a closer relationship with the Spanish, and their own colonies in South America, the Portuguese knew turkeys came from lands in the New World claimed by Spain . However, even the Portuguese got the specific region of origin wrong!
When you sit down to enjoy that roasted turkey dinner this weekend, remember you are actually eating “Mexican chicken”. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
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