26 November 2020

Turkey Day

We're not eating turkey today, because we always have lamb for Thanksgiving now. Years ago, we decided that turkey for Thanksgiving and then turkey again for Christmas was just too much gobbledy-gobbledy for us. Besides, when we lived in San Francisco we didn't eat lamb often, so the Thanksgiving leg of lamb was a treat that reminded us of France. Once in France, we realized that whole turkeys are not available in November. Turkeys are Christmas birds here. We do get turkey parts — boned-out breasts as filets or scallops, turkey legs and thighs, and turkey wings too — all year round.


There certainly are turkeys in France (you're welcome to chuckle). Turkey (dinde) became a standard at French Christmas dinners decades ago, replacing goose. The nice thing about turkeys here is that you can get small ones that weigh as few as 3.5 kilos (about 8 lbs.). I'm sure you can get birdzilla-sized birds too, but for just two of us that's way too much. The way I like to cook small turkeys is to poach them in simmering water first, and then brown the bird in the oven after it is cooked in water. The broth is excellent, and the turkey doesn't dry out. You can poach a small turkey that way but it would be hard to poach a 20 or 25 lb. bird.


The best turkeys I've ever eaten, I think, are farm-raised French birds. We bought one from a Saint-Aignan butcher for one of our first holiday meals here. I think it was for Thanksgiving 2003, and we had to order it a week in advance because, as I say, whole turkeys are only available in late December. And it cost something like 35 euros for an 8 lb. bird. It was really tasty and not dry — there was a layer of fat under the breast skin that basted the white meat as it cooked. It was fantastic. That was before I started routinely poaching turkeys, ducks, chickens, and guinea hens before browning them in the oven.


In March 2018, we went to the Allier département in central France (northern Auvergne, near Vichy and Moulins) to spend a week in a gîte and drive around the countryside over there. One reason for choosing to spend a week in the Allier was that I had seen a cooking show on French TV about the town of Jaligny-sur-Besbre (pop. 575; founded in the year 67 A.D.) which described it as the place where the best French turkeys were raised. Its farm-raised turkeys are Jaligny's claim to fame. Unfortunately, we didn't go there on market day, and there were no butcher shops in the town. So we left empty-handed — no Jaligny turkey for us. Someday I might go back for the village's foire aux dindes, the turkey fair, in December, and we'll come back and cook a Jaligny turkey for Christmas.


The photos of live turkeys in this post are some I've taken at Valençay over the years. It's about half an hour's drive from Saint-Aignan and is famous for its big château (Napoleon, Talleyrand, etc.) and its pyramid-shaped goat cheeses. On the grounds of the château there's a little animal park where you can get up close with turkeys, chickens, guinea fowl, ducks, geese, goats, and even deer — it's fun to visit. Happy Thanksgiving. Stay safe.

16 comments:

  1. Happy Thanksgiving. I enjoy reading your posts, especially during lockdown. Your photos make me want to return to France as soon as we are able to travel again. Here in Ireland, we are still only allowed to travel 5km from our house. About five years ago we rented a gite in st aignan for a week. The gite was lovely (on the bridge as you enter the town looking up at the chateau) and owned by a charming french couple who lived next door.
    Take care and thanks again for the posts.Tom

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    1. Thanks Tom. Are you the Tom who comments on Jean's Maison en France blog? I think I know which gîte you stayed in. Some people from Wisconsin stayed there a decade ago and invited us over one weekend. It's a very big house, no?

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  2. Happy Mercidonnant to all Americans reading this blog.
    Here at the "rehab" facility we get Cardboard turkey several times a week, so today will be no different.

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    1. Sorry to hear about your cardboard turkey, CHM. We are thankful for you around here and enjoy your posts.

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    2. Happy Thanksgiving to you, chm! C'est dommage pour les dindes de carton. C'est terrible.

      Mary in Oregon

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    3. Thank you both for your kind words.

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  3. We had turkey for both holidays, but lol my father was a poultry dealer. He was totally swamped at this time of year. It was a blessing when Thanksgiving finally arrived with the rest if brought.

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  4. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

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  5. Happy Thanksgiving. There are several small farms in Maine that raise turkeys, and we bought our turkey from one that specializes in just turkey and chickens. One thing that has not always been easy to find in the US are turkey parts, especially turkey breasts, although I think that may have changed. I do remember buying turkey breasts in France 20 years ago, when we took our niece and her husband there for their honeymoon. One afternoon I remember going off myself to do some shopping (probably for wine), while everyone else went to the butcher shop to buy something for dinner. When we met up, I was told I missed a great performance. They had ordered a turkey breast, and the butcher got out his "surgical tools" and cleaned up the veins and bits of fat and gristle. It was described as like watching a surgeon at work.

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  6. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

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  7. Happy Thanksgiving to all!! Sorry about the cardboard chm!
    Hollywood turkey with perfect golden skin: preheat over to 400, press 1 cup of butter cubes around skin in various places. Cook for 20 minutes. Lower over to 300 and cook until done and baste frquently. Skin will be perfect golden brown and meat moist.

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  8. Interesting to see that sign about Jaligne-sur-Besbre, Ken! I hope you and Walt get there again to test their turkeys!
    Happy Lamb Day!

    Mary in Oregon

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