Turducken

30 lb. roasted Turducken

Sausage-stuffed Turducken cut into quarters to show the internal layers

Origin

Turducken is believed to be Cajun in origin, although it may also have originated in eastern Texas or northern Louisiana. To date, no one from Texas nor North Louisiana has provided proof of this claim, though one business owner has publicly marketed and sold turducken since 1985. While such elaborate layering of whole animals, also known as a farce, from the French word for "stuffing", can be documented well back into the Middle Ages of Europe, and are even attested to in the Roman Empire (e.g. the tetrafarmacum). Some people credit Cajun-creole fusion chef Paul Prudhomme with creating the commercial dish. However, no one has ever verified this claim. In the middle of the last century surgeon and urologist Gerald LaNasa was known for his use of a scalpel in de-boning his three birds of choice also know as turducken. His efforts in preserving a Louisiana culinary tradition were noticed by emerging local chefs in New Orleans.

The November 2005 issue of National Geographic magazine in an article by Calvin Trillin traced the American origins of the dish to Maurice, Louisiana, and "Hebert's Specialty Meats", which has been commercially producing turduckens since 1985, when a local farmer whose name is unknown, brought in his own birds and asked Hebert's to prepare them in the now-familiar style. The company prepares around 5,000 turduckens per week around Thanksgiving time. They share a friendly rivalry with Paul Prudhomme.

Turducken is often associated with the "do-it-yourself" outdoor food culture also associated with barbecueing and shrimp boils, although some people now serve it in place of the traditional roasted turkey at the Thanksgiving meal. Turduckens can be prepared at home by anybody willing to learn how to remove the bones from poultry, instructions for which can be found on the Internet or in various cookbooks. As their popularity has spread from Louisiana to the rest of the Deep South and beyond, they are also available through some specialty stores in urban areas, or even by mail order.

Variations

In the UK the Turducken is commonly known as a three-bird roast. English chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall expanded this into a ten-bird roast (a turkey, goose, duck, mallard, guineafowl, chicken, pheasant, partridge, pigeon, woodcock) [1].

The largest recorded nested bird roast is 17 birds, attributed to a royal feast in France in the 19th century (originally called a Rôti Sans Pareil, or "Roast without equal") - a bustard stuffed with a turkey, a goose, a pheasant, a chicken, a duck, a guinea fowl, a teal, a woodcock, a partridge, a plover, a lapwing, a quail, a thrush, a lark, an Ortolan Bunting and a Garden Warbler. The final bird is small enough that it can be stuffed with a single olive; it also suggests that, unlike modern multi-bird roasts, there was no stuffing or other packing placed in between the birds. This dish probably could not be recreated in the modern era as many of the listed birds are now protected species. [2] [3].

A (possibly apocryphal) dish of camel stuffed with animal and plant foods in layers is whole stuffed camel.

Nutrition

Serving Size: 1/12 of a recipe (this recipe uses a 16 pound turkey, 4 pound duck, 3 pound chicken with sausage and oyster dressing. There is no bread or sausage stuffing. A twelfth is roughly two pounds of meat.)

Servings Per Recipe: 12

• Calories - 1733
• Calories from Fat - 1005
• Total Fat - 111.6g - 172%
• Saturated Fat - 33.4g - 167%
• Cholesterol - 577mg - 192%
• Sodium - 816mg - 33%
• Potassium - 2087mg - 58%
• Total Carbohydrates - 10.5g - 3%
• Dietary Fiber - 0.6g - 2%
• Protein - 158.5g - 317%
• Sugars - 1.7g
• Vitamin A - 11%
• Vitamin C - 8%
• Calcium - 16%
• Iron - 128%
• Thiamin - 66%
• Niacin - 508%
• Vitamin B6 - 192%
• Magnesium - 61%
• Folate - 43%

Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

In popular culture

In a 2007 episode of Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern, Andrew Zimmern tried the turducken at "Hebert's Specialty Meats" and expressed enjoyment. In another instance on the October 18, 2007 episode of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart correspondent Aasif Mandvi commenting on the proposed invasion of Iraq by Turkey said that the three should form a new republic: the Kurds within Iraq, and Iraq within Turkey, call the new republic turduqen, pronounced the same as turducken.[4] In Season 4 of The Dead Zone (TV series) in the episode titled "A Very Dead Zone Christmas", Johnny takes out a turducken for Christmas dinner and Bruce calls it "Colonel Sanders meets Frankenstein" thing. The turducken is also mentioned on The Wendy Williams Experience during the Thanksgiving season. Wendy usually mentions it along with her restaurant/catering service of choice; 2 Fish, 5 Loaves. John Madden, now of NBC Sunday Night Football, often references the turducken around Thanksgiving time as it is his favorite dish over the regular traditional turkey. While working for Fox in the mid to late 1990's, Madden would show his own turducken on TV during the Thanksgiving football games. Some of the players of the winning team would actually get to eat some of it.

In other media the turducken is mentioned such as Taylor Antrim's novel, The Headmaster Ritual (2007), one of the protagonists, James, and his mother order a turducken for Thanksgiving dinner. In the machinima fictional series, Red vs. Blue, Sarge explains to Private Dexter Grif and Church that they are getting a turducken for the Thanksgiving dinner. Sarge exaggerates the turducken and what is put into one. The turducken is also frequently mentioned on The Ron & Fez Show on XM Satellite Radio and was the subject of a song written by show contributor Perrynoid in 2002. In preparation for the 2007 R&F Thanksgiving, Hosp was unable to come through with the turducken he had promised to deliver.

External links

• Step-by-Step Turducken Recipe with Photos
• A Chicken in a Duck in a Turkey
• Cajun Grocer's Award Winning Turducken Recipe
• A Movie of the Making of a Turducken
• Yahoo's Turducken Directory
• National Geographic Magazine's article featuring Maurice, Louisiana