1 00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:06,480 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey 2 00:00:06,519 --> 00:00:09,880 Speaker 1: brain Stuff, Lauren bog Obam. Here. At first glance, it 3 00:00:09,920 --> 00:00:12,480 Speaker 1: seems almost like an sn L sketch or an onion article. 4 00:00:12,800 --> 00:00:16,840 Speaker 1: A deboned chicken stuffed inside a deboned duck stuffed inside 5 00:00:16,880 --> 00:00:19,880 Speaker 1: a de boned turkey? How can that possibly be real? 6 00:00:21,160 --> 00:00:24,400 Speaker 1: Despite the sheer outrageousness of this dish, the turducan has 7 00:00:24,440 --> 00:00:26,799 Speaker 1: been popular in the US for more than thirty years, 8 00:00:27,080 --> 00:00:30,920 Speaker 1: mis transcendent novelty by cementing itself as the ultimate holiday 9 00:00:30,920 --> 00:00:34,920 Speaker 1: meal for those who wanted all. But several questions remain. 10 00:00:35,360 --> 00:00:38,400 Speaker 1: Who invented the turducan? How do you make this mega 11 00:00:38,400 --> 00:00:41,080 Speaker 1: creature come to life? What does it taste like? And 12 00:00:41,200 --> 00:00:43,360 Speaker 1: where do you even start when it comes to consuming 13 00:00:43,400 --> 00:00:47,400 Speaker 1: this patroitch godll of meat. The origin of the turducan 14 00:00:47,520 --> 00:00:50,600 Speaker 1: is shrouded in mystery. One supposed inventor of the turducan 15 00:00:50,760 --> 00:00:54,360 Speaker 1: was the late Louisiana Cajun chef Paul Prutom. He trademarked 16 00:00:54,400 --> 00:00:56,880 Speaker 1: the term turducan in n six and helped make this 17 00:00:56,960 --> 00:01:00,960 Speaker 1: poultry trifecta go mainstream. Predomly Eater claimed not a phone 18 00:01:00,960 --> 00:01:03,600 Speaker 1: call to New York Times writer Amanda Hesser in two 19 00:01:03,640 --> 00:01:06,039 Speaker 1: thousand two that he was the one who first thought 20 00:01:06,120 --> 00:01:10,120 Speaker 1: up this meat mountain. From has her story quote he 21 00:01:10,200 --> 00:01:13,559 Speaker 1: insisted that to truly understand Turduccan, you need to bone 22 00:01:13,600 --> 00:01:16,360 Speaker 1: all the birds and prepare three stuffings, one for each 23 00:01:16,400 --> 00:01:19,200 Speaker 1: layer of meat, and cook the whole for twelve hours. 24 00:01:19,680 --> 00:01:22,679 Speaker 1: And yes, purest though he is Mr Prudeholm would not 25 00:01:22,760 --> 00:01:24,880 Speaker 1: reveal the name of the lodge in Wyoming where he 26 00:01:24,880 --> 00:01:27,040 Speaker 1: says he came up with a dish, when exactly he 27 00:01:27,080 --> 00:01:31,720 Speaker 1: created it, or even his age. However, another legend has 28 00:01:31,760 --> 00:01:33,399 Speaker 1: it that the dish was first thought up by two 29 00:01:33,400 --> 00:01:35,920 Speaker 1: brothers within the confines of a butcher's shop, a Bear's 30 00:01:35,959 --> 00:01:40,279 Speaker 1: specialty meets in Maurice, Louisiana. Shop owners Junior and Sammy 31 00:01:40,319 --> 00:01:42,680 Speaker 1: a Bear were approached by a local man who brought 32 00:01:42,720 --> 00:01:45,080 Speaker 1: his quote birds to their shop and asked the brothers 33 00:01:45,080 --> 00:01:48,720 Speaker 1: to create the medley today or Bears, which calls itself 34 00:01:48,760 --> 00:01:51,440 Speaker 1: the home of the world famous Turducan can stuff as 35 00:01:51,480 --> 00:01:53,760 Speaker 1: many as two hundred tur ducans in a day during 36 00:01:53,760 --> 00:01:57,400 Speaker 1: the holidays. There are other stories too about its origin, 37 00:01:57,760 --> 00:02:00,440 Speaker 1: but the idea of in gastration, that is stuffing the 38 00:02:00,440 --> 00:02:04,160 Speaker 1: remains of one animal into another is nothing new. In 39 00:02:04,200 --> 00:02:07,200 Speaker 1: the eighteenth and nineteen centuries in gastration was a sign 40 00:02:07,240 --> 00:02:09,920 Speaker 1: of wealth in Europe, and it was Grimaud de la Regnier, 41 00:02:10,160 --> 00:02:12,800 Speaker 1: one of the world's first food reviewers, who also published 42 00:02:12,840 --> 00:02:16,160 Speaker 1: the world's first food journal, Almanac de Gourmand, who's credited 43 00:02:16,200 --> 00:02:20,120 Speaker 1: with stuffing a bird within a bird In eighteen o seven, 44 00:02:20,160 --> 00:02:23,360 Speaker 1: he included a recipe for the roast without Equal in 45 00:02:23,440 --> 00:02:27,440 Speaker 1: his journal. It consisted of seventeen different birds, starting with 46 00:02:27,480 --> 00:02:30,919 Speaker 1: a garden warbler and ending with a buzzard. There's no 47 00:02:31,000 --> 00:02:34,160 Speaker 1: evidence he or anybody else ever prepared the dish, but 48 00:02:34,240 --> 00:02:37,960 Speaker 1: it sure makes the turducan looked like chump change. Regardless 49 00:02:38,040 --> 00:02:40,760 Speaker 1: of the turduccan's original creator, though it was a man 50 00:02:41,000 --> 00:02:44,040 Speaker 1: not involved in the food scene, one football legend, John Madden, 51 00:02:44,280 --> 00:02:48,120 Speaker 1: who popularized the turducan and brought it into the modern lexicon. 52 00:02:48,840 --> 00:02:51,000 Speaker 1: Madden was introduced to the dish by way of Glenn 53 00:02:51,040 --> 00:02:53,720 Speaker 1: and lab mystic Lea came from the family that owned 54 00:02:53,720 --> 00:02:56,400 Speaker 1: a Bears and gave Madden a trducan during a nineteen 55 00:02:56,480 --> 00:02:59,600 Speaker 1: nine seven game at the Superdome, a move that apparently 56 00:02:59,720 --> 00:03:03,880 Speaker 1: changed Madden's life. Forever Madden began requesting a turduck in 57 00:03:03,919 --> 00:03:08,160 Speaker 1: every Thanksgiving, the word tour ducan was added to the dictionary, 58 00:03:08,400 --> 00:03:11,919 Speaker 1: giving this ambitious, albeit bizarre main dish a formal place 59 00:03:11,960 --> 00:03:16,160 Speaker 1: in the world. So how do you make a turducan? 60 00:03:16,919 --> 00:03:18,720 Speaker 1: To make a turn duck in from scratch, the first 61 00:03:18,720 --> 00:03:21,760 Speaker 1: step is the hardest. You have to debone your birds. 62 00:03:22,240 --> 00:03:24,959 Speaker 1: Your technical skill with deboning the duck and chicken don't 63 00:03:25,000 --> 00:03:26,880 Speaker 1: matter as much, but the turkey will be a bit 64 00:03:26,919 --> 00:03:29,000 Speaker 1: more intensive, as you'll want to keep the meat and 65 00:03:29,040 --> 00:03:32,600 Speaker 1: skin mostly intact to create an attractive outer layer for serving. 66 00:03:33,639 --> 00:03:37,280 Speaker 1: Once this is accomplished, you stack the deboned birds laying 67 00:03:37,320 --> 00:03:40,000 Speaker 1: down first to the turkey, then the duck, then the chicken, 68 00:03:40,240 --> 00:03:42,760 Speaker 1: all skin side down and all with a layer of 69 00:03:42,760 --> 00:03:46,520 Speaker 1: stuffing spread between each. Then you roll the stack up 70 00:03:46,520 --> 00:03:49,320 Speaker 1: with butcher's twine, and if you're feeling fancy, you can 71 00:03:49,360 --> 00:03:51,760 Speaker 1: sew the seam up with a trussing needle and more twine, 72 00:03:52,040 --> 00:03:54,280 Speaker 1: starting at the tail and finishing with the neck, so 73 00:03:54,480 --> 00:03:58,080 Speaker 1: the turducan looks like a regular turkey. No, please note 74 00:03:58,360 --> 00:04:02,840 Speaker 1: nothing regular is happening here. After seasoning the outside of 75 00:04:02,880 --> 00:04:06,040 Speaker 1: the turducan as desired, Cajun or creoles. These things are common. 76 00:04:06,400 --> 00:04:08,760 Speaker 1: You cook using your method of choice until the internal 77 00:04:08,760 --> 00:04:11,600 Speaker 1: temperature reaches a hundred and sixty degrees fahrenheit that's seventy 78 00:04:11,600 --> 00:04:15,400 Speaker 1: one degrees celsius. Unless you are well versed in bird 79 00:04:15,440 --> 00:04:18,280 Speaker 1: butchering techniques, you might be better off buying a pre 80 00:04:18,400 --> 00:04:21,839 Speaker 1: stuffed turduck in from your local supermarket or online. They're 81 00:04:21,880 --> 00:04:25,000 Speaker 1: already debone, stuffed and ready to cook, which is great 82 00:04:25,000 --> 00:04:28,240 Speaker 1: for anybody who doesn't have the capacity to debone three birds. 83 00:04:29,440 --> 00:04:32,800 Speaker 1: But finally, the million dollar question, how does it taste? 84 00:04:33,440 --> 00:04:36,359 Speaker 1: Because each meat holds a different and distinct flavor, the 85 00:04:36,400 --> 00:04:39,719 Speaker 1: overall amalgamation of each foul put together makes for a 86 00:04:39,760 --> 00:04:43,640 Speaker 1: wonderful and unusual taste. It's a savory gamy toward of 87 00:04:43,720 --> 00:04:46,960 Speaker 1: force that tickles the palette, all while killing three birds 88 00:04:47,000 --> 00:04:51,200 Speaker 1: with one stone. The tur ducan has become so ingrained 89 00:04:51,240 --> 00:04:54,440 Speaker 1: in the American mindset that pringles. Yes. The Potato Chip 90 00:04:54,480 --> 00:04:58,200 Speaker 1: Company recently offered up a tur Ducan friends giving feast 91 00:04:58,320 --> 00:05:01,679 Speaker 1: that featured six flavors of chi, turkey, duck, and chicken 92 00:05:01,800 --> 00:05:04,920 Speaker 1: flavored chips for you to stack, plus three side dish 93 00:05:04,920 --> 00:05:09,279 Speaker 1: flavored chips cranberry sauce, stuffing, and pumpkin pie. They sold 94 00:05:09,279 --> 00:05:11,039 Speaker 1: out in record time, but you can still find a 95 00:05:11,080 --> 00:05:19,000 Speaker 1: few on eBay. Today's episode was written by Jeremy Glass 96 00:05:19,040 --> 00:05:21,560 Speaker 1: and produced by Tyler clayg. Brain Stuff is a production 97 00:05:21,600 --> 00:05:23,880 Speaker 1: of iHeart Radio's How Stuff Works. From one, there's and 98 00:05:23,880 --> 00:05:26,480 Speaker 1: lots of other topics. Within topics, visit our home planet, 99 00:05:26,520 --> 00:05:29,160 Speaker 1: how stuff Works dot com, and for more podcast from 100 00:05:29,160 --> 00:05:32,040 Speaker 1: my heart Radio, visit i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 101 00:05:32,120 --> 00:05:33,800 Speaker 1: or wherever you listening to your favorite shows.