MEAT

Talking Turkey

Being a bird, turkey has the delicious taste of soft meat. Turkey is fed with a diet of mainly corn and soybean meal along with a supplement of vitamins and minerals. It is a healthy food choice, and rich source of minerals and energy. People believe that turkey has more carbs, whereas turkey has more protein as compare to chicken and duck.

Cooking and eating turkey is associated with festivities like Thanksgiving and Christmas especially in America and many parts of Europe. In India, the fowl finds its way mostly into restaurant menus.

Turkey has nothing to do with India, it has more to do with America, but still few other call it with varied names thus confusing its origin to India. In France it is called ‘poulet d’Inde’ translated as, chicken from India. The Dutch call it ‘kalkoen’ i.e. hen from Calicut or Kolkata.

Turkey is popularised by the ancient Aztec and Mayan civilisations. Aztecs honoured wild turkey, and believed it to be a manifestation of Tezcatlipoca, the trickster God. The Mayans also revered and honoured turkeys in similar ways.

Turkey is a gaming bird and traditionally it was hunted to be served on the table for Christmas and Thanksgiving festivities in the West. Even in Europe turkey is not the first choice of meat to be served on these occasions. In America Thanksgiving and Christmas are mostly celebrated between family and the entire bird is cooked whole and served with vegetables and sauces. Turkey is a big bird and now it is also reared on farms rather than only being hunted.

In India, a Southern tradition that has gained national attention in the last few years is deep frying turkey. The trend has increased popularity because the deep-frying process seals the outside while the interior remains very juicy and the skin develops a crisp texture.

Commercial catering operations offer deep-fried turkey and restaurants feature the golden crisp bird during the holidays. At tailgate parties, outdoor suppers and neighbourhood parties, folks are setting up 40-60 quart pots on concrete, filling the kettles with fresh peanut oil, patting the turkeys dry, putting on long heavy-duty gloves and cooking juicy turkeys

Regarding the nutritional aspect, white meat is more nutritional as compared to red meat but turkey, being a bigger bird as compared to other birds like chicken, guinea fowl, etc., has more fat under its skin. Certain cold cuts like turkey ham, is nutritional.

Quality

One can judge the quality of turkey by

determining the weight of the bird. If the turkey has to be roasted, then the ideal weight can vary from 4-14 kg, but the age should not be more than 15 months. It would be a mature turkey but the skin would be smooth, and the flesh, tender. Recognizing a good turkey is usually felt through its flesh; it should be tender. If the skin is coarse and the flesh is tough then it is an old turkey i.e. over 15 months.

Though Turkey is gaining popularity in some segments of Indian cooking, it is still more popular with foodservice institutions, largely catering to foreign guests or select Indians, exposed to international foods. We Indians prefer our meat to be juicy and enjoy with curries. Even our tandoori meats are soft, moist and juicy, whereas turkey as a meat is not very juicy. It is dry and also a hot meat. Indians also don’t prefer to cook & serve whole bird, even chicken. A tandoori chicken is also cut into pieces before it is served.

Most foodservice joints prefer imported turkey since it is far more juicy then Indian option available, which is bonier. Despite the fact that local turkey is reared in some regions

of North-east and Assam, it is not the preferred meat since it is chewy.

Storage & Handling

When storing fresh whole turkey, remove giblets and refrigerate the whole turkey in a covered container for cooking within 2 days. Frozen whole turkeys can be stored for 1 year; parts for 6 months.

Turkey has to be stored in a deep freezer till a few hours before cooking. Thawing is to be done before using it. Once thawed, treat as fresh and don’t refreeze until cooked. Cooked turkey should be placed in a covered container, plastic bag or aluminium foil for up to 4 days in the refrigerator or 3 months in the freezer.

Because product dates are not a guide for safe use of a product, follow these tips for use at top quality:

Purchase the product before the date expires; follow handling recommendations on product. Turkey is kept cold during distribution to retail stores to prevent or slow the growth of bacteria and to increase its shelf life. The grocery should be the last stop. In the kitchen, immediately put turkey products in a refrigerator that maintains 40°F, or freeze at 0°F. Freezer storage times are for best quality. If frozen continuously, turkey products will be safe indefinitely.

Cooking Turkey

The most common method of cooking is roasting the whole bird with skin. Firstly, salt and pepper is rubbed on the bird in and out. There are certain types of stuffing used to roast the turkey for stronger flavour e.g. bread stuffing, sausage dressing, chestnut dressing, which is used mostly for Christmas preparation.

The Bird is carved out once fully cooked. The breasts and legs are thinly sliced and in a portion; a combination of breast and leg meat is served i.e light meat (breast) and dark meat (leg meat).

Parts of turkey can be used for other preparations, like turkey breasts can be sliced into scallopines weighing about 60 gms each and then pan fried and served with Shitake mushrooms and oven roasted shallots. The legs can be stewed or braised, while breasts can be used for cutlets or scallopine. Another method of cooking it is by poaching it commonly known as simmering.

Since turkey is much larger than chicken, it takes longer time to cook. Also, one has to cook turkey slowly so that it gets cooked from inside out. Turkey should be cooked until its internal temperature reaches 165º F. even when you reheat it. The cooking time for turkey in electric roasters depends on turkey size and cooker size. Remember, no matter what the estimated cooking time, determine doneness based on the turkey's internal temperature.

Stuffing

Turkey is stuffed to enhance its flavour. To save time, chopping and refrigeration part of ingredients could be done a night before roasting. As turkey cooks, the stuffing expands. Stuffing should get well cooked.

Never stuff a bird until you are ready to roast it. Pre-stuffing runs the risk of food poisoning, and of all the parts of the turkey, stuffing is the most easily contaminated. There is no significant difference in quality between a fresh turkey and a frozen one.

In modern culinary styles the stuffing is placed between the meat and the skin. The skin over the breast, legs and thighs are loosened, and the stuffing is gently inserted. This results in a very moist bird and ensures the stuffing to cook through. If there is any leftover stuffing, bake it separately in a baking dish. To save time, make your stuffing in advance and freeze it, then thaw overnight in the refrigerator. n