GobbleGobble

Inquiring minds want to know. Was the bird named after the country or the country after the bird?

Amy

The bird was named for "Turkey red", a much prized color in carpets from Turkey during American colonial times.Turkeys are native to the Americas and thus named by the European settlers. (At least that's how one story goes!)

Capo

The country. See "Talking Turkey" at: <BR><BR>http://www.quinion.com/words/articles/turkey.htm

Ariel

Here is the story from my Turkish language teacher, but first things first, Turkey is only both the country and the bird in English, in Turkish, German and a number of other languages it is Turkiye and not in any way related to the bird. In Turkey itself the bird is known as a Hindi.<BR><BR>The story is that Europeans who travelled to the New World found a bird that looked very similar to a type of fowl that they had been purchasing from Turks in Europe, so they called it the turkey. In a similar fashion, the Turks were buying this bird from people from India and called it a Hindi after those people.<BR><BR>Also interesting is the different way that North Americans and Turks tend to cook their turkey. While we roast it in the oven, they boil it first and then some will also put it into the oven, but not everyone has an oven (most cook on top of the stove). The first time I roasted a turkey for my Turkish father-in-law was quite an experience for him (apparently quite delicious) and he has told everyone he knows how we cook Turkey's in Canada.

Joanne

Strangely enough, the bird that the Europeans were buying from the East is the very bird that originated in North America!<BR><BR>http://www.quinion.com/words/articles/turkey.htm

Joanne

Oops, Capo, sorry about the double-posting of the link.

GobbleGobble

That's what I love about Fodors, you always get the answer. Thanks all for your informative responses.<BR><BR>GobbleGobble