No. 2042

Spring or Young Turkey, Puree of Artichokes—Larded and Roasted

Dindonneau Pique et Roti a la Puree d'Artichauts

A spring turkey by its delicate flesh is considered one of the most desirable meats, especially if stuffed with peeled Perigord truffles. The spit (Fig. 118) is the only manner worthy of cooking this bird; it is at its best when two or three months old. Dress two young turkeys, each one to weigh about six pounds; truss for roasting (No. 179) and singe them and lard the breasts with two rows of larding pork on each fillet and two rows on each leg (No. 3, Fig. 52). Three-quarters of an hour to one hour before serving roast them either on the spit or in the oven, basting frequently with butter; when done and of a fine color, salt them over and remove on a dish to untruss and carve, first detaching the two legs and fillet pieces; cut each of these in pieces, then glaze and dress. Serve with a separate sauce-boat of good gravy and a vegetable dish of puree of artichokes (No. 704).

← No. 2041 Turkey Gobbler Stuffed with Chestnuts Turkey & Guinea Fowl No. 2043 Spring Turkey with Turnips—Wings →

For the Modern Kitchen

Ranhofer assumes a spit, a larding needle and a kitchen that already knows recipes Nos. 179, 704 and 3. The instructions are sound; the timing is the part that needs rethinking.

The hinge: internal temperature, not the clockThree-quarters of an hour to an hour is likely to fall short of 165F in the thigh in a domestic oven, particularly with two birds in at once. Cook to temperature — 165F at the thickest part of the thigh, away from bone — and expect nearer an hour and a quarter to an hour and a half for a bird that size.
"Spring turkey"A turkey of two or three months, roughly six pounds dressed. Supermarkets do not sell them; the nearest substitutes are a small heritage turkey, a large capon-style roasting chicken, or two 3-4 lb chickens, which will cook faster still.
Larding porkHard back fat cut into lardons and threaded through the breast and legs with a larding needle. Without the needle, bard instead: lay thin sheets of fatback or unsmoked streaky bacon over breast and thighs and tie them on, removing them for the last fifteen minutes to let the skin colour.
Oven in place of the spitSet the oven at 425F, breast up on a rack, and baste with melted butter every ten to fifteen minutes. A rotisserie attachment gives the self-basting effect Ranhofer is after; an oven does not, so the basting matters more.
SaltingHe salts after roasting rather than before. Salting the bird an hour ahead, or the day before, seasons the flesh far better and does no harm to it.
"Glaze and dress"Glaze here means brushing the carved pieces with reduced meat stock — glace de viande — so they shine on the platter. A few spoonfuls of the pan gravy reduced to a syrup does the same job.
TrufflesThe peeled Perigord truffle stuffing is a suggestion in the opening line, not part of the method, and it belongs to an era when black truffles were expensive rather than extraordinary. Preserved truffle or truffle butter slipped under the skin is the practical descendant.
The garnishPuree of artichokes (No. 704) is sent in a separate vegetable dish; the referenced recipe is not given on this page. A puree of artichoke hearts, cooked down and sieved, stands in without argument.
YieldTwo six-pound birds, carved as described, serve ten to twelve as a main course.

A Little History

The Epicurean (1894) is Charles Ranhofer's record of thirty-odd years as chef at Delmonico's in New York, and this entry shows the house style plainly: two birds rather than one so that the platter can be dressed with legs and fillets in matched pieces, a sauce sent separately, and a vegetable puree in its own dish. The insistence that "the spit is the only manner worthy of cooking this bird" was already a slightly conservative position in the 1890s, when closed ranges had largely displaced open-hearth roasting in professional kitchens, and it had long been complained that oven roasting was really baking. Young turkeys came to market in late spring and summer, before the birds were grown out for the autumn and winter trade, and it may be for that reason that the book treats the gobbler stuffed with chestnuts and the spring turkey as separate seasonal propositions. Larding the breast with pork fat was standard for any lean roast in this era, the working answer to a bird with no fat of its own and no thermometer to protect it.