Turducken & Churkendoose; WD-40

Thu Nov 15 02:17:17 UTC 2007

WD-40 (continued)
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I did an entry earlier today:
http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/texas/entry/wd_40_white_democrat_over_40/
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TURDUCKEN
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"Turducken" is popularly served around Thanksgiving, around Louisiana
and Texas. We first discussed this here over five years ago, and I
finally added it to my website. I credited Mark Mandel's ADS-L
contribution in hunting the "churkendoose."
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The Wikipedia is in serious need of repair here. There is no mention
of the earlier "churkendoose." Wikipedia doesn't seem to realize that
Paul Prudhomme trademarked "turducken" for 1980, and that Prudhomme
gave numerous interviews of how he experimented with the idea in the
1960s and 1970s. Herbert's (say "A Bears") Specialty Meats of Maurice,
Louisiana could not have originated "turducken" in 1985. Again, maybe
someone else can correct the Wikipedia before Thanksgiving brings the
usual confused "turduckenians" and poorly researched news stories.
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http://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/texas/entry/turducken_churkendoose_chuckey_churkey_qua_duc_ant_osturducken/
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Entry from November 14, 2007
Turducken (Churkendoose; Chuckey; Churkey; Qua-duc-ant; Osturducken)
"Turducken" is a combination of turkey, duck, and chicken, all somehow
stuffed together like Russian matryoshka nesting dolls. Trademark
office records show that Paul Prudhomme claims a first use of
"turducken" from November 27, 1990; Prudhomme mentions "turducken" in
a Newsweek story on November 29, 1982. Prudhomme has mentioned in
interviews, however, that he experimented "turducken" variations as
far back as the late 1960s. It is sometimes claimed that Herbert's
(pronounced "A Bears")—of Maurice, Louisiana and also Texas locations—
first created "turducken," but Hebert's started its business in 1984.

The "turducken" concept of foods is not new. Chefs in England and
France had both offered—centuries earlier—dishes with turkey, goose,
chicken, suckling pig, and various other combinations.

In 1946, the book This Is the Story of the Churkendoose; part-chicken,
turkey, duck, and goose was published. The story was recorded a year
later.

A 1996 Wall Street Journal story also used the name "chuckey" along
with "turducken." This is not to be confused with "churkey," a
biologically engineered chicken-turkey bird. South Africa has offered
the "osturducken" variation—ostrich, turkey, duck, and chicken. The
Cajun Grocer briefly offered a "qua- duc- ant"—quail, duck, and
pheasant.

Turkey is a popular Thanksgiving dish, and "turducken" sales also rise
for Thanksgiving. In the 1990s, football broadcaster John Madden
announced an NFL "turkey day" football game; Madden popularized
"turducken" to a large, nationwide audience during these Thanksgiving
day football games.

Wikipedia: Turducken
A Turducken is a de-boned turkey stuffed with a de-boned duck, which
itself is stuffed with a small de-boned chicken. The name is a
portmanteau of those ingredients, turkey, duck, and chicken. The
cavity of the chicken and the rest of the gaps are filled with, at the
very least, a highly seasoned breadcrumb mixture or sausage meat,
although some versions have a different stuffing for each bird. Some
recipes call for the turkey to be stuffed with a chicken which is then
stuffed with a duckling. It is also called a chuckey.

The result is a relatively solid, albeit layered, piece of poultry,
suitable for cooking by braising, roasting, grilling, or barbecuing.
The turducken is not suitable for deep frying Cajun style (to deep fry
poultry, the body cavity must be hollow to cook evenly).

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 the 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 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.

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 now sells around 3,300
turduckens a year. 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.

Word Spy
turducken (tur.DUK.un) n. A boneless turkey that is stuffed with a
boneless duck that is stuffed with a boneless chicken.

Earliest Citation:
K-Paul's is closed on Thanksgiving but the occasion does not pass
uncelebrated. The main attraction at dinner this week is called
"turducken." To make it, Prudhomme stuffs a boneless chicken with a
reddish sausage stuffing; the stuffed chicken is then stuffed into a
boneless duck with cornbread stuffing; finally, the chicken and duck
are stuffed into a boneless turkey with greenish oyster stuffing. When
sliced, you have three birds and a rainbow of stuffings.
—Charles Michener and Linda R. Prout, "Glorious Food: The New American
Cooking," Newsweek, November 29, 1982

Notes:
(...)
(At least Chef Paul isn't responsible for the pigturducken (1997)
which is — you guessed it — a turducken stuffed inside a pig, the
resonant symbolism of which I won't get into here.)

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