No. 2028

Turkey, American Style—Roasted

Dinde Rotie a l'Americaine

Draw, singe and truss a turkey weighing from eight to twelve pounds, selecting a very fresh one. Clean the insides thoroughly, having it well washed and dried, then fill with a bread stuffing (No. 61); wrap it well in strong buttered paper and lay it on the spit, running the iron rod of the spit between the loins and the string that is used for trussing the turkey; fasten the legs firmly to this rod and roast before a good fire for about an hour to an hour and a half. Fifteen minutes before serving, unwrap the turkey, that is to remove the paper and let it assume a fine color while continuing to baste; it should be a golden brown and cooked to perfection. Dress and pour around a little gravy (No. 404) and then garnish with very green water cress; serve with a sauce-boat of cranberry sauce (No. 598).

← No. 2027 Turkey a la Sartiges—Studded Turkey & Guinea Fowl No. 2029 Turkey, French Style →

For the Modern Kitchen

Ranhofer is describing a bird turned on a spit before an open fire, which is why his times look impossibly short for a twelve-pound turkey. Translating the method to an oven is the main work here.

The timing is for a spit, not an ovenAn hour to an hour and a half in front of a blazing fire assumes intense radiant heat on all sides and constant rotation. In a 325F oven a stuffed 8-12 lb turkey needs roughly 3 to 3 1/2 hours; go by temperature rather than the clock.
Temperature is the hingeRanhofer works by colour and judgement, not by a thermometer reading. Take the thigh to 165F at the deepest point without touching bone, and check the centre of the stuffing separately -- it must reach 165F too, or it should be baked in a dish alongside.
Buttered paperStrong buttered paper was the period's basting shield. Butter-soaked cheesecloth draped over the breast does the same job; foil, loosely tented, is the blunter modern equivalent. Either comes off for the last fifteen minutes so the skin browns, exactly as written.
Draw, singe and trussA supermarket bird arrives drawn and singed. What remains is removing the neck and giblets, drying the skin thoroughly, and tying the legs and wings close so the bird turns and cooks evenly.
The cross-referencesNo. 61 is Ranhofer's bread stuffing, No. 404 a roast gravy, No. 598 cranberry sauce. Any competent version of the three will serve.
Rest before carvingNo resting period is mentioned. Give it 20 to 30 minutes loosely covered before carving.
YieldAn 8-12 lb bird with stuffing serves about 8 to 12 at a full dinner, rather fewer if it is the only substantial dish.

A Little History

Charles Ranhofer ran the kitchens at Delmonico's in New York, and The Epicurean (1894) is essentially that restaurant's working encyclopaedia, written in French culinary categories with French headings. That is why a plain roast turkey with bread stuffing and cranberry sauce needed a label at all: it sits in a chapter beside the Sartiges turkey and the French-style turkey, and "a l'Americaine" is Ranhofer telling a French-trained brigade that this is how the local dish is served. The markers of that identity are the cranberry sauce and the watercress rather than anything in the cooking. Spit roasting before a fire was already becoming the older method in well-appointed 1890s kitchens.