Turkey terror

"A large bird whose flesh when eaten on certain religious anniversaries has the peculiar property of attesting piety and gratitude."

That's how Ambrose Bierce defined the turkey. "Incidentally," he added, "it is pretty good eating."

Thursday some 45 million turkeys, collectively weighing 535 million pounds, will constitute the ceremonial and culinary focal point at Thanksgiving tables across America. The occasion will also constitute, Jeffrey Steingarten notes, "the most bloodcurdling example of ritual animal slaughter in the history of the world." Truly, this time of year, as cookbook author Pat Sheil puts it, "A turkey is not a bird, it is an event."

Though the transformation of turkey into event goes back to Jamestown and the 17th century, the bird itself goes back much further. Meleagris gallopavo, the American Thanksgiving turkey, called by the famed gastronome Brillat-Savarin "the best gift of the New World to the Old," has been around for over 10 million years. American Indians hunted it as early as 1000 AD, not only for its meat but also for its feathers, which were used to make arrows. Originally domesticated in Mexico, where it was to that country what beef is to this one, the turkey was a sacrificial bird for the Aztecs. Montezuma received some 365,000 of them annually as tribute from his subjects.

Historians generally agree that Columbus was the first European to see a turkey, during his fourth voyage in 1502 to what is now Honduras, but they disagree about who was the first person to bring one back to Europe. Cortez is usually given the credit, though some accounts cite Francisco de Cordoba. The "Cambridge World History of Food" identifies Pedro Alonso Nino as the responsible party. In any case, the turkey soon became established on Spanish poultry farms, spread to Rome by 1525, and alighted in France by 1538 (well before it's first "official" appearance there at the wedding of Charles IX in 1570.) By the 17th century the birds were being bred in luxurious accommodations at the palace of Versailles by Louis XIV who, by the way, is said to have resembled a turkey in later life. Eventually the gobbler even replaced the goose as the meat of choice for Christmas dinner in Britain.

Clearly, as anthropologist Stanley J. Olsen notes, the turkey is an exception to the general rule that the domestication of wild animals is a difficult and time-consuming process. Perhaps this is because, unlike tomatoes and potatoes, turkeys were received enthusiastically by Europeans right from the start. Jean-Louis Flandrin, writing in "Food: A Culinary History," observes that while American foods were generally adopted in Europe at a slow pace, "the turkey caught on with amazing speed," making its introduction the one innovation in meat-eating that historians usually mention.

Given its American origins and worldwide acceptance, maybe Benjamin Franklin was right to proclaim the turkey a better symbol of the United States than the eagle. "I wish the bald eagle had not been chosen as the representative of our country," he grumbled. "The turkey is a much more respectable bird. . . . He is besides . . . a bird of courage."

Ironically, these days many people feel it takes a measure of courage to prepare the holiday turkey. Horror stories have become legion and turkey hotlines have proliferated. For help managing a turkey crisis you can now call not only Butterball, but Honeysuckle, Jenni-O, Perdue, Reynolds, Pillsbury, General Mills, Cooks Illustrated, The National Turkey Federation, and the USDA, just to name a few. Turkey trepidation is further intensified by the plethora of cooking methods promoted with evangelical fervor by their adherents. Some swear by grilling, others by smoking, and still others by blackening or even boiling in oil. No wonder cooks who typically prepare turkey only once or twice a year are apprehensive. As William Porter of the Denver Post remarks, "As it turns out, turkeys are at their most diabolical when they're plucked and headless and lying in a pan." So what's a person to do? First, take heart. Remember, as the "Joy of Cooking" advises, that a turkey is just an oversized chicken, so if you can roast a chicken, you can roast a turkey. Furthermore, there is a foolproof way to fix a turkey and it's not hard. It's brining, or soaking the turkey in saltwater for a while before roasting. Obeying the laws of osmosis, the salt penetrates the meat giving it moisture while simultaneously seasoning it throughout. The result: a juicy and flavorful bird.

When brining a turkey follow these guidelines.

Select a small turkey. It will cook more evenly than a large one.

Don't brine a self-basting turkey. It's already been treated with salt.

Refrigerate the turkey for several hours after removing it from the brine. This ensures a crisp skin.

Initially roast the turkey breast down. This discourages the breast from cooking faster than the legs.

Check the turkey's internal temperature frequently. A brined bird cooks faster than an unbrined one.

If more convenient, halve the salt and soak the bird twice as long.

The handiest container for brining a turkey is a refrigerator bin.

If preparing the holiday turkey poses a problem, try a saline solution. And have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Roasted Brined Turkey

This recipe, which calls for adding brown sugar and spices to the brine, is adapted from the National Turkey Federation.

Ingredients:

1 whole 15 pound turkey

4 cups Kosher salt

2 gallons cold water

2 cups brown sugar

1/2 cup dried rosemary leaves

1/2 cup dried thyme leaves

1 small onion

1 carrot

1 small stalk celery

4-6 tablespoons melted butter

Directions: Remove giblets and neck from turkey and rinse in cool water. In a large non-corrosive container dissolve salt in water. Stir in brown sugar and spices and stir until sugar dissolves. Submerge turkey in brine and store covered in refrigerator 8-10 hours. Remove turkey from brine and thoroughly rinse in cool water, rubbing to release salt inside and out. Pat dry skin and interior. Return turkey to refrigerator for 8-24 hours. Peel and quarter onion. Peel carrot and cut along with celery into 1-inch chunks. Place onion, carrot, and celery in turkey cavity and brush turkey with melted butter. Place turkey breast side down in roasting pan and roast at 325 degrees for 2 hours, basting legs and back twice with melted butter. Turn turkey breast side up and continue to roast, basting twice with pan drippings, until internal temperature reaches 170 degrees in the breast and 180 degrees in the thigh. Remove from oven and allow to stand 20 minutes before carving.

Listen to A Harte Appetite at 8:49 a.m. Fridays and at 11:59 a.m. Saturdays on KRCU, 90.9 FM. Write A Harte Appetite, c/o the Southeast Missourian, P.O. Box 699, Cape Girardeau, Mo., 63702-0699 or by e-mail to tharte@semissourian.com.