A Day in the Life of a Turkey
Today in the United States is our annual holiday Thanksgiving. The traditional meal is that of a large North American gallinaceous bird (Meleagris gallopavo) that is domesticated in most parts of the world. And in case you were wondering, a gallinaceous bird is of or relating to an order (Galliformes) of heavy-bodied largely terrestrial birds including the pheasants, turkeys, grouse, and the common domestic fowl. (Thanks, Merriam-Webster.)
The non-traditional meal in the U.S. of course is the tofurky, or tofu turkey. But to be honest, folks, I don’t know any self-respecting vegetarians who would eat such a thing. The idea is to still give thanks, but to eat something else that doesn’t have anything to do with turkey. Traditional holiday meals in the U.S. center around the Thanksgiving turkey and the Christmas ham, but I think a lot of people go their own way with these meals nowadays. So eat, drink, and be yourself!
Have a happy Thanksgiving!
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I'm an american from abroad, I've been living most part of my life outside of the us. let me tell you that Thanksgiving is the Thing ! Tofu Turkey or cold turkey, we don't care, what we care about it's giving thanks on thanksgiving day. I like your blog too ;-)
Thanks, Mister K. I'm glad you like my blog.
Dude. There was a tofurkey at one of the Thanksgiving dinners I attended this year. And not only did it taste good, but it was by far much more tender (if not juicier) than the real turkey folks had on hand. Tofurkey is money.
Tender I can understand. But juicier? Yuck, yuck, yuck. At any rate, I'm glad you enjoyed it Mr. Brian J. Perhaps some people really do eat tofurky.
HAPPY MELEAGRIS GALLOPAVO DAY
H. B. Paksoy, D. Phil.
Published in Journal of American Studies of Turkey 6 (1997): 89
Most Americans tend to think that the Turkish Republic is named after a bird. As one result, quite a few Turks in the US, at one time or other, had to answer the question "What do you Turks eat during Thanksgiving?" This query is especially heard during November of each year, as Americans prepare to observe the quintessentially American holiday.
The homeland of the fowl known as Meleagris gallopavo or americana sybestris auis, is the North American continent. The 1494 Tordesillas treaty, forged by the Pope in Rome, granted the monopoly of commerce originating from the newly discovered continent to the Portuguese (as opposed to the Spanish). The Portuguese brought this fowl to their Goa colony in India. Circa 1615, Cihangir (a direct descendent of the founder of the Mughal empire in India, Babur [1483-1530] himself a grandson of Timur [d. 1405] wrote his Tuzuk-u Jahangiri (Institutes of Cihangir). In his book, Cihangir also described this fowl in detail replete with a color drawing. Since Meleagris gallopavo resembled the Meleagris Numida commonly found in Africa (especially in Guinea), and already known in India, the former became known in British India as the "Guinea Fowl" (see O. Caroe, "Why Turkey." Asian Affairs. October 1970). Meleagris gallopavo was then introduced to Egypt, a province of the Ottoman empire and entered the Turkish language as "hindi" (from India). When traders took a breeding stock from Ottoman ("Turkish") Egypt to Spain and the British Isles, the bird was designated "Turkey."
As a result, the pilgrims landing on Plymouth Rock in 1620 were familiar with "Turkey" when they encountered it in their new home. After the 1776 Declaration of Independence, Benjamin Franklin suggested that "turkey," native of the land be designated as the symbol of the young American republic. Instead, Haliaeetus Leucocephalus (Bald Eagle) was given this honor.
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