Turducken for Thanksgiven

Not unlike the delicious deep fried turkey, the turducken has swooped in as one of the birds that all the cool kids will be eating this Thanksgiving.

Is the turducken the medical marvel of 21st century DNA splicing? The Frankenstein’s monster of Cajun Thanksgivings? Aviation’s worst nightmare?

A turducken is a dish consisting of a de-boned chicken stuffed into a de-boned duck, which itself is stuffed into a de-boned turkey. Although nested bird meals have been around for centuries, it is mostly through the magic of these tubes of information that the turducken has finally reached mass appeal.

I’m sure that to be a true Jedi Master of bird-nesting, you have to be able to stuff your own turducken, and if so, then call me a Padewan learner of this portmanteau (look that one up for your word of the day). I’ve been ordering a turducken from Cajun Grocer of Lafayette, LA, for about three years now and cooking it alongside the deep fried turkey that has become a staple of my family Thanksgiving meals.

Of the several I have tried, I prefer the creole sausage stuffed bird… it was deliciously moist and flavorful, particularly the duck meat (plus, by adding pork sausage, that’s a BONUS animal in your meal). I found that the traditional celery and cornbread stuffed turducken created a bit of a mushy mess and the dressing was somewhat bland.

A 15 pound de-boned turducken runs about $70 online… and although you may think that is pricey you get more meat than you would from a 15 pound turkey alone and can serve twice as many people. Does someone in your family insist on an appendage to gnaw on? The turducken still has two turkey legs and two wings. [Updated: It seems I usually get in on an earlybird (pardon the pun) repeat customer deal, because the cheapest you can get one for Thanksgiving or Christmas right now is $93.50 with shipping.].

If you can’t fire up a fryer in your apartment or condo, but want to do more that roast a turkey for Thanksgiving, try a turducken this food frenzied holiday… who can resist a chicken stuffed in a duck stuffed in a turkey stuffed in you.