A classification scheme for the origins of geographical food names. (Earth Sciences 09:00 AM, Saturday, April 5, 2003 Brewer/Frost Science 102 Dr. Daniel J. May-Presiding).

Gordon, Jeffrey J.

10:00

Geographical food names have received scant attention in the professional geographical literature. The goal of this research, building upon my earlier initial work in compiling geographical food names (i.e., the spatial or societal nature of names given to certain foods), was to provide a taxonomy for the origins of geographical food names used in the United States. The hypothesis was that geographical food names are given such appellations because they are inherently helpful in certain ways. Thus far, 879 examples of geographically-named foods have been found. From an etiologic examination and qualitative analysis of this total population, 14 major explanatory classes have been identified. Although unexpected and initially surprising, the resulting large number of classes is reasonable. The classes include: 1. Area of innovation (e.g. Buffalo Wing; Hungarian goulash), 2. Specific environment (e.g. Alaskan snow crab, Brazil nut), 3. Area of significant production (e.g. Vermont maple syrup, Florida orange), 4. Generic environment (e.g. Saltwater taffy, Sun tea), 5. Specific product (e.g. Brussels sprout, Lima bean), 6. Unique preparation (e.g. Chinese fortune cookie, Key Lime pie), 7. Significant differentiation (e.g. New England clam chowder, Manhattan clam chowder), 8. Regional cuisine (e.g., Cantonese, Szechwan), 9. Prime quality (e.g. Colombian coffee, Russian caviar), 10. Authenticity (e.g. Canadian bacon, English muffin), 11. Fanciful spatial association (e.g. Hawaiian pizza, Texas toast), 12. Historic event (e.g. Chicken Marengo), 13. Shorthand designation (e.g., Baked Alaska, French toast), 14. Product identification (e.g., Hershey's chocolate, Quaker oats).

JEFFREY J. GORDON JEFFGOR@BGNET.BGSU.EDU, DEPT OF GEOGRAPHY, BOWLING GREEN STATE UNIVERSITY, BOWLING GREEN OH 43403