Quinoa. Ok. This might be a post about the extraordinary benefits of quinoa...or it might just be an English lesson on the pronunciation of the word!
English is such a tricky language. The lucky ones, for whom it is a second language, will quickly tell you that it’s not a walk in the park. There are words that sound way different than they look -- I’m looking at you -- knead, Wednesday, zucchini, and receipt.
Don’t get me started on words with multiple meanings. There’s bark, nails, mine, season, bolt, novel. The list goes on.
And then there are the words, derived from foreign languages. From the French, we got: bouillon, bouquet, faux pas, casserole, protégé, ballet, and hors d’oeuvres (my favorite). Sidenote: guru is an Indian word, and means teacher. ‘Thug’ is Indian too!
There are so many words from the Germans, Italians, Arabians, Chinese, the Dutch…
And then, there’s quinoa, which is an English word, that’s really a Spanish word that was derived from a Quechua word kinua. Quechua is an Amerind language spoken by the Quechua people -- indigenous inhabitants of Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, Argentina, Chile, and Colombia. They cultivated and ate quinoa for thousands of years, and it’s still a staple in their diet today. As it should be!
Quinoa contains iron, lysine, it’s rich in magnesium, high in Riboflavin and manganese, rich in protein and has twice as much fiber as most other grains. It’s an excellent substitute for rice. But you have to know how to make it because a bland flavor will turn you off in a heartbeat!
So, how do you pronounce quinoa? There are so many ways! That’s the thing with an English/Spanish/Quechua word. The most popular pronunciations (I say this because I’m not a language snob) are kee-NO-ah and KEEN-wah. How do you pronounce this word? Better yet...do you have a mouth watering recipe?
Here is my go-to recipe. You're welcome!