[Sca-cooks] Turkeys ARE Period!

[Johnna Holloway]

During the medieval period a number of great birds were eaten.
I don't personally think that one ought to list Bustard or Crane or Swan
on a menu and then serve turkey or chicken. One ought to list what
the actual meat, fish or fowl will be. Don't list pike or porpoise,
when it was always going to be farmed salmon. Wild boar is not the same
as modern pork. If need be, say you are roasting
a Great Bird and under ingredients list that you are serving a turkey.
We demand that cooks list their ingredients so that those with allergies
or dietary concerns may determine
what is in a meal. Likewise, we ought to be willing to admit the bird is 
chicken or turkey
and not the exotic unobtainable swan or bustard. Likewise, don't
promise duck or quail and again serve chicken.

Sources for those wanting to read more on the topic:

Witteveen, Joop. “On Swans, Cranes, and Herons,” 1986-87. Parts 1-3 in 
*/PPC/*, 24, 25, 26.
Witteveen, Joop.“The Great Birds, Part 4: Peacocks in History,” 1989, 
*/PPC/* 32.
Witteveen, Joop. “The Great Birds, Part 5: The Preparation of the 
Peacock for the Table,” 1990, */PPC/* 36.
Eiche, Sabine. /Presenting the Turkey. The Fabulous Story of a 
Flamboyant and Flavourful Bird./ Florence, Italy: Centro Di, 2004. 
Distributed in the USA by the Antique Collectors' Club Ltd. ISBN No: 
8870384144.
Smith, Andrew F. /The Turkey/. Chicago and Urbana: The University of 
Illinois Press, 2006. ISBN: 0252031636.

Johnnae