Heritage Turkeys

<a href="http://www.slowfoodusa.org/ark/turkeys.html">Slow Food USA</a>: &ldquo;We think of turkeys as uniquely American, yet the birds that our forefathers knew and cherished, the bird that has become the symbol of sharing and thanks for the bounty of this land, has become virtually extinct. The population of the Narragansett, the oldest turkey variety in the United States, and once the foundation of the New England turkey industry has been reduced to fewer than 100 live birds, nationwide. Jersey Buff, an historic variety of the mid-Atlantic region, is a turkey whose diet includes foraging. Fewer than 500 exist today. The Bourbon Red Turkey was developed in Bourbon County Kentucky, and became an important commercial bird in that region, but by the 1930s and 1940s, it couldn&rsquo;t compete with the hugely popular broad-breasted varieties. Neither could the magnificent American Bronze turkey and it lost its preeminence in the market to the broad-breasted Large White in the 1960s.



&ldquo;The heritage turkeys all have richly flavored meat, succulent and juicy, and they are naturally well proportioned, which means that have a larger quantity of the flavorful dark meat than the more recent chest-heavy breeds. The heritage turkeys are hardier than the Large White birds, and farmers can raise them outside in fresh air and where they can have an opportunity to forage, both of which affects the quality of the meat. Unlike the commercially dominant Large White, the heritage turkeys can fly and breed naturally.&rdquo;