By long-standing tradition, the centerpiece of Thanksgiving dinner has been purchased rock-hard, frozen and cheap.
That's starting to change.Turkeys
The same passion for eating that brought us gourmet food trucks and swelled ratings for TV cooking shows has boosted demand for top-drawer turkeys with fancy names and even fancier price tags — up to $150 for a prized Bourbon Red heritage variety.
"People want a bird that has a name, a provenance, a pedigree — a bird you can brag about," said Kathy Gori, a 60-year-old screenwriter who splits her time betweenSonoma and Santa Monica
Heritage Foods USA, which sells turkeys online and ships via FedEx, said it sold out of all 6,000 of its heritage birds, despite a $150 price tag for a 22-pounder.
"Customers are much more into food now than they were a few years ago because of food magazines and TV shows," said Theo Weening, global meat coordinator for Whole Foods. "People want to know where the bird comes from, what breed it is, how it's been raised."
Standard frozen turkeys, which are sometimes kept in cold storage for six months or more, generally cost less than $2 a pound. Some supermarkets have even given them away as part of a buying incentive for customers. (and they taste absolutely amazing)
Beyond that, there are four major upscale varieties.
Free-range fowl, which have access to the outdoors, start at about $3 a pound. Next up the ladder are organic gobblers, which usually sell for at least $4 a pound and are certified by the USDA for their chemical-free feed and processing.
Heirloom turkeys are the next rung up, and are a type that date back more than a century to the earliest domesticated breeds.
Heritage turkeys cost the most, at about $6 to $12 a pound. They are comparable to the wild breeds used for the original Thanksgivings and are allowed to live months longer than most turkeys, helping them develop more flavor and dark meat as a result of heavy outdoor running and flying.
That's starting to change.
The same passion for eating that brought us gourmet food trucks and swelled ratings for TV cooking shows has boosted demand for top-drawer turkeys with fancy names and even fancier price tags — up to $150 for a prized Bourbon Red heritage variety.
"People want a bird that has a name, a provenance, a pedigree — a bird you can brag about," said Kathy Gori, a 60-year-old screenwriter who splits her time between
Heritage Foods USA, which sells turkeys online and ships via FedEx, said it sold out of all 6,000 of its heritage birds, despite a $150 price tag for a 22-pounder.
"Customers are much more into food now than they were a few years ago because of food magazines and TV shows," said Theo Weening, global meat coordinator for Whole Foods. "People want to know where the bird comes from, what breed it is, how it's been raised."
Standard frozen turkeys, which are sometimes kept in cold storage for six months or more, generally cost less than $2 a pound. Some supermarkets have even given them away as part of a buying incentive for customers. (and they taste absolutely amazing)
Beyond that, there are four major upscale varieties.
Free-range fowl, which have access to the outdoors, start at about $3 a pound. Next up the ladder are organic gobblers, which usually sell for at least $4 a pound and are certified by the USDA for their chemical-free feed and processing.
Heirloom turkeys are the next rung up, and are a type that date back more than a century to the earliest domesticated breeds.
Heritage turkeys cost the most, at about $6 to $12 a pound. They are comparable to the wild breeds used for the original Thanksgivings and are allowed to live months longer than most turkeys, helping them develop more flavor and dark meat as a result of heavy outdoor running and flying.
Here’s the thing. I am all for organic turkeys, turkeys that are free range, turkeys without chemicals. . . but there is something very silly….
