Talking turkey

There won’t be any wild turkeys eaten in Britain this Christmas.

There won’t be any wild turkeys eaten in Britain this Christmas. However, a few of these birds, which are indigenous to north and central America, are being reared in south-west England. It is possible that one or two dark-plumaged turkeys may be seen in flight over Salisbury Plain or the hills of Devon, though no one is yet treating them as game birds, which they are in the USA. In the eastern states, in Texas and New Mexico, the male birds are shot — when strutting about they have beautifully fanned tails — and no doubt their gamey taste was enjoyed at a few tables in celebration of Thanksgiving last week.

The English turkey nearest in flavour to the wild American bird is the Norfolk Black which tastes, so I am told, rather like pheasant. All domestic strains should be treated as game in the sense that they should be hung for about ten days after being plucked and before they are drawn.