The history of Thompson’s Turkey – Thompson’s turkey – came to me through reading a 2002 novel: “The Time Traveler’s Wife” by Audrey Niffenegger, where it is mentioned among several other peculiar recipes, so, after taking a note, I went searching for information on the web…
Morton Thompson (1907-1953) was a journalist and columnist from New York who is better remembered today (except by turkey lovers) as the author of “Not as a Stranger”, a best-seller novel from half a century ago, which also became a film in 1955 directed by Stanley Kramer.
Thompson wrote: “Golden and dark brown, succulent, giddy-making with wild aromas, crisp and crunchable and crackling. The meat beneath this crazing panorama of lip-wetting skin will be wet, juice will spurt from it in tiny fountains as high as the handle of the fork plunged into it: the meat will be white, crammed with mocking flavor, delirious with things that rush over your palate and are drowned and gone as fast as you can swallow. You do not have to be a carver to eat this turkey,” Concluding “Speak harshly to it and it will fall apart.”
Thompson’s recipe is unique for two reasons: its stuffing and a thick pastry layer made of egg yolks, mustard, onion, lemon juice, garlic, pepper, and flour which, although it turns the outside black, preserves the flavors inside.
The stuffing has about 30 ingredients: a mix of meat (veal and pork), fruit (apples, oranges, and pineapple), garlic, lemon and ginger, spices and herbs, water chestnuts for crunch, and requires a long time to assemble, longer if you take a periodic pause, as Thompson advised, for a drink.
– And here comes my second connection with this recipe, because I realized it was one of the sketches that my group and I performed during comedy nights at my literary cafe “Le cafe des artistes” that I ran from 2011 to 2016 (see below) –
Below is the more or less faithful recipe, but feel free to tweak the herbs and spices or part of the stuffing, but don’t forget to brush the pastry and use apple cider.
On the blog, you can find another stuffed turkey recipe, which Americans prepare not only for Thanksgiving Day, but also at Christmas (in general, in all of the Americas, turkey is the main dish of the meal!):
- Difficulty: Difficult
- Cost: Medium
- Rest time: 20 Minutes
- Preparation time: 50 Minutes
- Portions: 20 people
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: American
- Seasonality: Thanksgiving
Ingredients for Thompson’s Turkey:
- 16.5 lbs whole turkey (with giblets)
- to taste salt and pepper
- to taste vegetable oil
- 1 Granny Smith apple (diced)
- 1 orange (diced)
- 12 oz canned pineapple (chopped)
- 1 lemon (zest)
- 3 tbsps fresh ginger (chopped)
- 4 onions (chopped)
- 1 bell pepper (chopped)
- to taste chopped parsley
- 8 cloves garlic
- 3 stalks celery
- to taste ground mustard
- 1.3 lbs breadcrumbs
- 12 oz ground veal
- 3.5 oz butter
- 4 oz ground pork
- 7.7 lbs water chestnuts (or chestnuts)
- to taste hot pepper sauce
- 8 egg yolks
- 3 cloves garlic (crushed)
- 1 tbsp ground mustard
- 1 tbsp dried onion
- to taste pepper
- to taste flour
- 1 quart apple cider
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
Tools
- 1 Thermometer meat
- 1 Kitchen twine
Steps
Remove the fat from inside the turkey, chop it, and put it in a saucepan with 1/2 cup of water; heat it and bring it to a boil.
Cook until the water has evaporated, about 5 minutes.
Rub the turkey inside and out with salt and pepper.
Coat the turkey skin thoroughly with vegetable oil.
Chop the gizzard, liver, neck, and heart and put the innards in a saucepan with 5 cups of water, bay leaf, garlic, paprika, salt, and coriander. Simmer uncovered for about 1 hour.
For the stuffing of Thompson’s Turkey: combine the apple, orange, pineapple, lemon zest, ginger, and water chestnuts (or chestnuts), and set aside.
In another bowl, mix celery, garlic, onions, cloves, bell pepper, bay leaf, parsley, oregano, dry mustard, cumin seeds, poppy seeds, sesame seeds, black pepper, mace, turmeric, marjoram, savory, hot red pepper sauce.
In a large third bowl, mix breadcrumbs, veal, pork, butter, and reserved turkey fat: mix well.
Add the contents of the other two bowls.
Thompson advises: “Mix it with your hands. Mix it until your forearms and wrists ache. Then mix it some more. Now toss it enough so that it isn’t any longer a doughy mess.”
(“Mix it with your hands. Mix it until your forearms and wrists ache. Then mix it some more. Now toss it enough so that it isn’t any longer a doughy mess.”)
Preheat the oven to 482°F.Fill the body and neck cavities of the turkey with the stuffing. Close by crossing the legs with the aid of kitchen twine.
Place the turkey breast-side down on the rack in a large roasting pan. Cook for about 15 minutes.
Turn breast-side down again. Cook another 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, prepare the pastry: combine egg yolks, garlic, mustard, onion, 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, salt, and red pepper. Add enough flour to form a paste.
Reduce the oven to 320°F. Brush the turkey with the pastry using a kitchen brush.Return the turkey to the oven for 5 minutes and brush again; return to the oven.
Repeat, adding lemon juice to the pastry as necessary to prevent drying, until the pastry is used up.
Meanwhile, add the reserved giblets and 1 cup of cider. Cook for about 30 minutes; remove the giblets. Keep the broth warm on low heat.
Once the pastry is finished, roast the turkey, adding the broth with cider every 15 minutes until a meat thermometer registers 180°F in the thigh, 170°F in the breast (about 4 hours).Let the turkey rest at room temperature for 30 minutes before carving.
Remove the blackened pastry coating from the turkey using tongs.
Serve.
From the novel “The Time Traveler’s Wife” by Audrey Niffenegger, a 2009 film was made: “The Time Traveler’s Wife” with Eric Bana and Rachel McAdams, and a 2022 HBO series titled in Italian “The Time Traveler’s Wife” with Theo James and Rose Leslie.
FAQ (Questions and Answers)
What are water chestnuts?
Their origin is Asian, mainly cultivated in China, which is the main producer.
They have been used since ancient times in Chinese, Japanese, Indian, and Vietnamese cuisine, but can also be found in North America.
They grow naturally in the shallow waters of ponds, lakes, streams, or are cultivated in spring in rice paddies and harvested in autumn.
The culinary use of water chestnuts is similar to that of the mountain chestnut.
The fruit is consumed fresh, boiled, or roasted, like chestnuts.
Traditionally, the white and floury seeds, sweet and with a hazelnut-like taste, were collected, dried, and preserved to obtain flour.What is the text of the Thompson’s Turkey sketch?
Under the Italianized title “Whiskey Turkey”, imagine an actor on stage reciting while drinking whiskey and becoming increasingly drunk…
“WHISKEY TURKEY”
Buy a turkey about 11 pounds for 6 people and a bottle of whiskey; salt, pepper, olive oil, and lard.
Stuff the turkey, sew it, add salt and pepper, and a drizzle of oil.
Heat the oven to 482°F for 10 minutes.
While waiting, drink a glass of whiskey.
Put the turkey in the oven on a roasting plate.
Pour yourself another two glasses of whiskey.
Set the dermosdado to 572°F for 20 minutes.
Pour yourself three glasses of whiskey.
After half an hour, open the oven door and check the boiling of the turkey.
Take the bottle of whiskey and drink a good gulp of it.
After another half an hour, drag yourself towards the oven, open that damn door, and throw – no, admire – no – actually, put the chicken in the other side.
Burn your hand on the damn door and close it… damn it!
Try to sit on a damn chair and pour yourself a whiskey glass – or the opposite, I don’t know anymore. Cook – no, stew – no, roast the animal for hours.
Eh hop!, a shot! Always welcome. Remove the oven from the turkey. Pour yourself a bit of whiskey.
Try again to extract the apple, because the first time we didn’t succeed.
Take the turkey that fell on the floor.
Clean it with a disgusting rag and place it on a cat, a mat, a plate. Who cares.
Smash your face due to the grease left on the ceiling, on the kitchen floor, and try to get up. Decide that you are better off lying on the ground, laugh your belly off, and finish the bottle of whiskey.
Climb on the bed and sleep all night.
Eat the cold turkey with mayonnaise the next morning, and for the rest of the day clean up the mess made in the kitchen.
