Turkey meat

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Turkey meat, commonly referred to as just turkey, is the

Turkeys are sold sliced and ground, as well as "whole" in a manner similar to

Turkeys are traditionally eaten as the main course of

Turkey meat has been eaten by indigenous peoples from Mexico, Central America, and the southern tier of the United States since antiquity. In the 15th century, Spanish conquistadores took Aztec turkeys back to Europe.^[9]

Turkey was eaten in as early as the 16th century in England.^[10] Before the 20th century, pork ribs were the most common food for the North American holidays, as the animals were usually slaughtered in November. Turkeys were once so abundant in the wild that they were eaten throughout the year, the food considered commonplace, whereas pork ribs were rarely available outside of the Thanksgiving–New Year season.^[11] While the tradition of turkey at Christmas spread throughout Britain in the 17th century,^[10] among the working classes, it became common to serve goose, which remained the predominant roast until the Victorian era.^[12]

Turkey with mole is regarded as Mexico's "national dish".^[13][14]

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• turkey

Turkeys are usually baked or roasted in an oven for several hours, often while the cook prepares the remainder of the meal. Sometimes, a turkey is brined before roasting to enhance flavor and moisture content. This is done because the dark meat requires a higher temperature to denature all of the myoglobin pigment than the white meat (very low in myoglobin), so that fully cooking the dark meat tends to dry out the breast. Brining makes it possible to fully cook the dark meat without drying the breast meat. Turkeys are sometimes decorated with turkey frills, paper frills or "booties" that are placed on the end of drumsticks or bones of other cutlets.^[20][21]

In some areas, particularly the American South, they may also be deep fried in hot oil (often peanut oil) for 30 to 45 minutes by using a turkey fryer. Deep frying turkey has become something of a fad, with hazardous consequences for those unprepared to safely handle the large quantities of hot oil required.^[22]

Nutrition

When raw, turkey breast meat is 74% water, 25%

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• American-style Thanksgiving turkey

For

For Christmas in the United Kingdom, turkey is traditionally served with winter vegetables, including roast potatoes, Brussels sprouts, and parsnips. Cranberry sauce is the traditional condiment in the northern rural areas of the United Kingdom where wild cranberries grow. In the south and in urban areas, where cranberries until recently were difficult to obtain, bread sauce was used in its place, but the availability of commercial cranberry sauce has seen a rise in its popularity in these areas, too.^{[citation needed]} Pigs in blankets, a dish consisting of small sausages (usually chipolatas) wrapped in bacon are a popular and traditional accompaniment.^{[26][27][28][29][30]}

Especially during holiday seasons around Thanksgiving and Christmas,

• List of turkey meat producing companies in the United States
• List of stuffed dishes

References