Food naming culture and cooking methods of the Tai Lue ethnic group Yuan Sub-district, Chiang Kham District, Phayao Province

Abstract

The objective of this research article is to analyze the semantic structure of food names and the semantic components of culinary terms used by the Tai Lue ethnic group, Yuan Sub-district, Chiang Kham District, Phayao Province. The data of this study were collected from related documents, having questionnaires with 15 informants and interviews with 5 informants from the Tai Lue community. The study identified 138 Tai Lue food names. The findings revealed that there are four major types of food names based on their structures, namely 1) Food names that begin with cooking methods, 2) Food names that begin with ingredients, 3) Food names that begin with specific words about food and 4) Food names that begin with food characteristics. Based on the structure of food names, it was found that the Tai Lue have a distinctive food naming culture. The ingredients can be named as food but cooking methods alone cannot. A study of 35 cooking terms found that the Tai Lue culinary culture barely involves the use oil. Once the Tai Lue people have gathered the ingredients, they normally make them cooked in curry. As a result, most of their curry dishes have a slightly watery consistency, which aligns with their cultural practice of consuming sticky rice as a staple food.