New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1882-05-15
LETTERS FROM THE PEOPLE
TURKEYS. AND TURKEYS


| To The Edftor Of The Tribune.
| Srp. goo that somebody in The Tribune
| has been tackng the question Of drawn or undra"n
noulrv The writer of this letter claims 10 be an expert
| I'm that question. DO you know whyf Simply oe."u1
| was born and bred in Rhode Island i'll WHO" NJ.
State for all the world. is alone TO be iounu 0oin
| drvdressed early.drawn Rhode Island turkey whcn
| from { me immomoral has commanded an eAu" Pii'o
| In the Boston markets and everywhere else id INC
Western Hemisphere where people have n paia'e III
their months capable ofdscrminangbetween buzzard
| and a woodcock. Ard why is thisf near your
readers ask Listen and will tell them true hVuo
Island turkey after having Lad free range I'D INC "
| during the summer months among the graSsnofP
is fed daily much hard Rhode lslanu corn 'nono "
your western trash saturated with native OH eAcens
IN richness and flavor best olive until he pecouies
| so fat that he waddles like an Alderman III HE ~
| When some eight months old, say day OF '"' o'iV.
| Thanksgiving or Christmas AZ the case may w. w
! turkey is shut up in coop for some twenty io"i ~
and kept without food. that his crop ahu ei@|'" '
| 40 ,,roncblv emptied The bird Of JOye flor such lie
was STYLED until displaced by the Yankee spread cag
is then gently seized by both legs. by when a'r 'ne!
have been tied together he is tenderly suspended u!
strong cord attached TO aspike driven into an oNe'
floor oist OF the farmers barn. One artist tDeh eSp
= wing Of the sacred bird m each hand and holds them
firmly: and second his head revercntlay III us
left hand whilst With right he proceeds with all the
speed due respect will permit TO sever the Juguiar
vein in his throat. After which, both adopts In inc
semidivne art Of poultry dressing remain quit u"'i
the noble bird TO futter, when MS lea'heio nv
plucked with lightning speed that puts 10 shano "o
flight of time Whilst yet warm the carcass Is next re-
leved of its empty crop and ntestines the LIVER heart
and sizzard (fer the Latter has been cleansed ana
strippcd of its inside casng) being returned to the empty
body of the glorious bird Next. and last tie TWO OIL
bags that lie either side OF the extremity OF thepu
backbone called popes nose because OF lts super
exquisite flavor are carefully and cOnslueratel! IT,
moved when o small cord is passed around the pouS
and wings to keep them i'll proper shape and the ue
creature hung up by the legs in cool place. "here
IL soud remain not over five days before is prepared
for the table
But how prepared There comes the rub! The pre-
pairing and roasting Off Rhode Island turkey III ths
our day of iron coal ranges, and French ana S
cooks must be set down lost art the writer, am
one of the few now living who remember when it was
known and practiced in perfection, especially IN my
grandathers kitchen by Auny Phis the colored cook
who lowered thrice as high above all the cooks OF
modern days Hyperion does above satyr. 10 besh
my grandfather's kitchen fireplace was eight ieet
between the jambs and four rect deep when fhlS hu
"A turkey to roast she always made Scip and SainDo
roll in a white OAK log six feet by three. and put II wen
back in the fireplace. A walnut fore-siick was then
placed on the two great iron dogs seven feet by tWo
and well filed in with smaller wood. When the back
log and foreick about one third burned INTO Goals
Phis spted her wellprepared turkey ana placed on
two of the several projecting lips that were
on the front OF the andirons, a pan beng
placed beneath to catch the drppings and pewter
platter back of it big round as the hind wheel OF
Concord six horse COACH to reflect the neat ADr,
the colorcd turnspt hoy was next set 10 ms WORK,
seated on stool his sole business being to keep the spit
constantly turning Twas T eat on The hither end
Of the backlog with hoc-haudle in his hand whilst
Pomp was perched OF the further cid WIN n long
rake's tail in his: il being the special duty OF the one
IL he "A
when he turned the ept too slowly ana uiat OF me
Other TO pokc him in the mdr with his rake's tail rs
often as BE turned it too fast Phillis herself meanwhile
occasionally fetching abe swipe over the eyes WIN
her dish-cloh a sort Of general reminder Phhs TOOK
esroca care that the turkey made more than two
revolutions the spit without It's beng thoroughly
hasted first with the divney sayoed mixture OF goou
things she had prepared, and later WIN the rieh
drippngs that fell in the pan beneath Wha the inside
lsoning or suing consisted o. never n i
only remember that such was the exquisite haNor Oh I
of he dos and Gals thai were domcied the premises
e first named consisting Of two big ana three niue dOSs
t,"'rr "s pills would permit them TO come, whilst our
fifteen household cats varied with every color OF the
dos The atfer never for moment ceased to mex
their chops with delight whilst the grmalkns on their
nart ever kept up a constant musical purng ming cd
With hundreds OF suls more expressive oil Joyous an
mrPnT thus fted on hard sound oily Rhode Island
NATE dry dressed have described, and roasted by
Phi before hard wood roaring fire, resembed little
bird of like feather, faod on muSty western corn
meal barley, oats, potatoes ana sWl siuHeu 10 re
iii add to its weight just before being killed, then
souse into kettle of boiling water and pal-bOuei, TO
save a little time in picking, left undraWn for fort
njrh before being cooked, and lastly baked in an IRON
stove or before vile smelling coal ana DrnstOne IRE
with scarce "a the spit, that instead OF the
uices passing constantly and freely through the roas
ng bird they all become c0ngIegated In tne lower por-
ton leaving the remainder "a dry and tastclcss as
a seasoned chip OF WOOD except what flavor has been
impaired 10 II by the insuileIaDe OdOr OF the hadl
rcsted garbage which has been lett to sweter for
week OF month before II appears on the table-tO com
pare the things together, say, Is hey Ond my i'm
guation so divergent they i'll every respect The
one represents the finest game bird on earth the other
| the vest thing that was ever eaten by man.
don't remember the exact date of visit paid my
grandfather by ex-MayOr of New-Iork, but he
CHANGED 10 arrive Just the family sitting down
to n roasted turkey dinner. The luggage of the newly
arrived guest had been sent to his In the even
i'm Sanbo CHANGED to the guest leave the front
door of the house with good sized box under his arm,
which ne stealthy conveyed 10 thicket not far away
and amidst the thick growing brush
wood Early next morning Sambo had the curiosity
to omen the box which he found filled with Ortoans,
woutlcock and canVasbacks, which the eX-MayOr had
| fondly expected TO surprise bis host win bat was
ASHAMED to present after having dncd on cOrn-fed,
drvlresscd Rhode Island turkey cooked after the lash
ion that " as in vogue when the writer OF this was "a
| hoy And what holds good with the turkey holds
equally good with poultry OF all kinds
| Os" SHEPHERD Ten,
| in his eighty sixth ear