Gastronome
Gastronome > Bird Perfect
You don’t have to eat turkey to enjoy your Thanksgiving meal; why not stray from tradition and try an alternative?
words by > Nancy Davidson
Judging by the covers of food magazines every November, you’d think that turkey was our national bird, or at least compulsory eating for all red-blooded Americans at every Thanksgiving meal. But it wasn’t until the late 19th century that the holiday became synonymous with “Turkey Day.” In fact, the image of Pilgrims gathering with Native Americans for a turkey-centered first feast is largely myth and folklore, cobbled together from various celebrations throughout early Colonial history and perpetuated by Sarah Josepha Hale, a magazine editor who campaigned vigorously for a national Thanksgiving holiday, finally succeeding in 1863.
While it may seem unpatriotic to eschew turkey, historical evidence indicates that early settlers were likely to eat goose, pheasant and even eagle as well as wild turkey, all of which have darker, leaner and more flavorful meat than the commercial turkey many of us have grown accustomed to as the symbol of Thanksgiving.
Alternative Birds
“Pheasant or wild duck are perfect alternatives to turkey,” says Jason Hicks, executive chef of Orsay restaurant in New
York City (www.orsayrestaurant.com). “There’s more substance to the flavor. They fly around, so they develop more muscle, and because their natural diet consists of berries among other foods, the meat tastes better.”
If he can get it, Hicks prefers truly wild game birds that have lived in nature and been hunted, but even farmed pheasant or duck has a much deeper and more complex flavor than commercially raised turkey. For reliable, consistently high-quality game birds, Hicks recommends purchasing from a butcher you trust or an online catalog source such as D’Artagnan (www.dartagnan.com).
Sometimes people opt for muscovy drake—males of a duck breed—or guinea fowl, which “looks like a skinny chicken” and tastes similar to “pheasant or a ducky chicken” because of the size of the group they are entertaining, says D’Artagnan owner and co-founder Ariane Daguin, author of the Glorious Game Cookbook. “These smaller birds are perfect for a party of four.”
Which bird does Ariane Daguin recommend for Thanksgiving? Aside from organic and heritage turkeys, “I like capons a lot,” she says, “because they are very moist. It is a way of being a little bit rebellious while still keeping the main idea,” she said. Capon is easier to prepare than duck or goose and it has a nice round, plump breast with very pale white meat.
Putting it to the Test
Daguin has a foolproof recipe for any kind of big bird. She begins by separating the skin of the bird from the flesh to form a little pocket. Then she dots small pieces of truffle butter under the skin. The butter “acts as a trap; the flavored butter permeates the meat, but the pieces of truffle stay on top, so the whole bird retains their scent.”
The night before, fill a pot large enough to hold the bird with water, roughly chopped carrots, celery, onion, garlic, a bit of leek and lots of salt and pepper. Boil until the liquid begins to take on the flavor of the vegetables. Add the bird to the pot, making sure that it is completely submerged under water. Simmer very slowly in the vegetable broth on the stove over low heat for half an hour to 45 minutes. Let it cool overnight in the same liquid.
Now the bird is partly cooked and has been infused with the flavor of the marinade. The next day, remove the bird from the liquid, place it in a preheated oven and roast. Prepping the bird this way cuts your roasting time in half. Even if you overcook it, the result will still be extremely moist. And you have the extra bonus of a broth that can be served as a delicious soup.
If you’ve coated the meat with truffle butter, you’ll probably want to skim the excess fat from the liquid. For super-concentrated flavor, boil the broth until two-thirds of the liquid evaporates for a wonderful reduction that can be used for soups, gravies and to add a depth of flavor to many other dishes.