Why Turkey for the Holidays?
Friday 12 December
Turkeys are birds - so worthy of mention here
I have long wondered why roast Turkey is such a universal centerpiece of the Thanksgiving and Christmas celebration dinners and a conversation this morning sent me down the rabbit hole. Why Turkey and not something else?
All is revealed in this fascinating article …
https://www.bbc.co.uk/future/article/20211214-how-the-humble-turkey-became-a-christmas-staple
As an extra, you also will find the recipe for the famous (as in the carol) Boar’s head
… when the Black Death ripped through Europe, Asia and North Africa in the mid-14th Century, it wiped out 30-40% of the population on the entire planet. Those who were left behind found that there was a lot more food to go around. “It’s a pandemic that kills people, not animals. So the balance changes quite markedly from that point onwards,” says Woolgar. Suddenly, meat was back on the menu for the masses – and everyone wanted to eat like a lord or lady at Christmas. (But there no Turkeys as yet. Read on)
And I will pass on the Pickled Boar's head recipe! Though I guess many people would pass on eating cute bunnies. I don't know why they aren't a staple in our diets though. They breed like crazy and have a much lower carbon footprint than beef.
Interesting! I had never heard of turkeys being highly sociable. In fact, at Mud Lake (the premier birding spot in Ottawa) people have been attacked by them and are warned not to feed them.
We're having rabbit for our Christmas dinner, since we're just going to be 3 people at Christmas this year. We'll have a turkey later, when we get together with our kids.