On Thu, 06 Nov 2003 21:21:19 GMT, David Wright
> wrote:

>On Thu, 06 Nov 2003 15:02:08 -0600, modom > wrote:
>
>>D and I are going to a friend's place for Thanksgiving, and she tells
>>us she's getting an heirloom turkey for the feast. Has anybody had an
>>experience with such a thing?
>>
>>modom
>
>My grandpa once shot a wild turkey at the end of an unsuccessful deer
>hunting trip in central Texas, and brought it home to an unhappy
>grandma. She cooked the old bird (the turkey, not my grandpa), and we
>all tried our best to like it. Is that what you mean?
>
Stephan Pyles has a recipe for wild turkey and cornbread dressing.
I'd guess you don't cook wild birds like you cook store-bought ones,
but I have neither Pyles' recipe here nor any experience with wild
foul beyond some dove breasts I baked thirty years ago.

>I suppose there could be some genetic segue still available between
>"I'm a wild turkey and I'm smarter than most of you," and "my breast
>is so white that I can't flap my wings," so maybe she has found such a
>beast that could be called an "heirloom," but I don't know of it.
>
This appears to be what's on the menu. Like with older cultivars of
tomatoes people call heirlooms, there are breeds of domesticated
turkeys that are not much in favor with the factories that produce
most of our Thanksgiving birds.

>Will you let us know what you find out?
>
I'll take notes and produce a tasting report after the feast.

modom