Pecans

The word “pecan” originated from the Algonquian paccan, but its pronunciation is somewhat controversial since in the northern United States it is pronounced pee-kan, with the accent on the first syllable, while to southerners this pronunciation evokes a mildly scatological image (“pee can”), and they therefore pronounce it with the accent on the second syllable: puh-kahn or puh-kan.

Pecan trees (Carya illinoinensis) are indigenous to a roughly south-north rectangle extending from the Gulf of Mexico to southern Illinois and Iowa, covering the valley of the Mississippi River, its tributaries, and the major rivers of Texas and Oklahoma. There are also several areas in northern Mexico where pecan trees are indigenous.