[Sca-cooks] RE: Turkey (Was Food Myths)

[johnna holloway]

While unable to do e-mail over the weekend, I checked Peter Brears and
in All the King's Cooks, he states:

"Turkeys were also available at this period; they were brought into
Europe from Mexico and Central America about 1523-4, and into England at
about the same time by the Strickland family of Boynton near Bridlington
in East Riding. see page 38.

This would make turkeys appropriate for Tudor Cookery beginning in the
1530's or perhaps as much as 70 years earlier than the usual very late
1590's dates that are usually cited. If one wants to roast a turkey for
a Tudor feast, then Brears is the source to check out. Certainly we are
not going to serving swan, crane, heron, bustarde, etc.

It also occurred to me that I ought to mention that PPC ran an excellent
series on the great birds that were served in the Middle Ages.  The
author was Joop Witteveen and in 4 issues of PPC the author covered
swans, cranes, herons and peacocks.

Johnna Holloway  Johnnae llyn Lewis
(Now that Sitka is repaired and I can again do e-mail)

Terry Decker wrote:>
> The period French for the bustard is "bistarde" or  "outarde."  For the
> turkey, it is "coq d'Inde," sometimes abbreviated to "dinde."  So, without
> the original text or an accurate transcription, it is difficult to determine
> what is being referred to as a turkey except that it can't be the New World
> turkey and probably isn't the European Great Bustard.
>From my reading,
> >the main reason for the rapid acceptance of turkey was its resemblance to
> the
> >bustard in size and (apparently) taste.  Do we have any data as to when the
> >bustards were eaten out of existance?  Did the dates overlap the
> introduction
> >of the turkey?> >
> >Akim