Cooking turkey at Thanksgiving has not always been the normal way to celebrate thanksgiving – in terms of history, eating turkey at Thanksgiving is quite a new fad. At the first thanksgiving meal between the British colonialists and the Native Americans the feast probably consisted of lobster, fish, eel, duck, goose and for main course probably deer and wild fowl. The main reason for the humble turkey to become the main course at thanksgiving is mainly due to the fact that wild turkeys were more abundant than the goose which was highly prized and rare to come by.

The turkey is a native wild bird which was found in Mexico and Eastern America it was then domesticated in Mexico and as early as the 16th century they were being exported to Europe. One of the main reasons why turkeys became very popular was they were large birds which produces quality meat and they also produced good quality eggs. There is no proof that turkey was served at the first thanksgiving meal but an account of the meal some years later stated that four men went fowling and returned with turkeys, ducks and geese and because of this the turkey became part of thanksgiving folklore.

The account of having turkey at thanksgiving was lost during the War of Independence as the British forces took it. It was rediscovered and returned to America in 1854 and since that time turkey has again become a firm favorite at thanksgiving. Thanksgiving days were not set on a specific day until 1863 when Abraham Lincoln to try and get the two sides which fought the civil war to form a lasting peace, picked a Thursday in November. During the mid 20th century the final Thursday in November was the regular date for thanksgiving, in 1941 President Franklin Roosevelt finally managed to pursued the country to adopt the fourth Thursday in November as the official Thanksgiving Day which it has retained ever since.

The typical thanksgiving meal has Turkey as part of the main course with maybe a ham joint as a secondary meat to accompany the turkey. The turkey is served with mashed potatoes and accompanied vegetables and gravy with a cranberry sauce. The insides of the turkey can be stuffed with a sausage meat and herb stuffing and the skin can be topped with bacon. There are various ways to cook the turkey such as roasting, broiling and deep frying depending on your favorite or family recipe. Thanks giving turkey recipes are normally handed down through your family and will each have a little variation depending on your family’s preferences such as the gravy families love to use grandmas favorite recipe for gravy and potatoes. The main course is followed by pecan, pumpkin and apple pies, due to the amount of food normally produced at one of these meals there are always lots of leftovers, which in themselves have lots of family recipes on what to do with the leftovers. Thanksgiving Day is a time when families come together to celebrate and have become one of Americas most popular holidays.

Related posts:

  1. Five Easy Ways with Leftover Turkey
  2. A Turkey Fryer – Not Just for Christmas
  3. Ideas for Alternative Turkey Recipes
  4. Time to Brush Upon How to Cook a Turkey

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