An Avian Trio

Some people turn to food to ease the pain of disappointment or sadness. On this particular afternoon we have no need for comfort, or none that we know of. Yet. Nonetheless, we are tackling a fine example of comfort food - hearty, filling and dripping in fat.

To celebrate what is sure to be the upset of the World Cup (Australia to beat Germany) our host has pulled apart three fowl to make the multi-bird roast, Turducken.

Turducken: a portmanteau word of TURkey, DUCK and chickEN. The poultry phenomenon has spread throughout the Deep South after Louisiana chef Paul Prudhomme claimed it as his own invention. At Thanksgiving, butchers in the region are busy preparing thousands of the stuffed birds for dining tables across the US. However, the concept has its roots in eighteenth-century gastronomy with the Yorkshire Christmas Pie, a dish using five different species of bird.

Two days prior to this afternoon’s feast our hosts de-boned a one kilogram chook, a duck weighing twice that and most of a seven kilo turkey. The turkey’s wings and legs were left intact.

Reminiscent of the children’s poem, ‘The Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly’, the turkey was then stuffed with the duck, which in turn was stuffed with the chicken and it didn’t stop there.

Not satisfied with the array of meat already on offer, the chicken itself was filled with a stuffing of bacon, sausage and mixed herbs. Instead of kitchen twine, the whole thing was tied together with rope. The carnivores’ treat was ready for roasting.

A mere three hours before our arrival the bird was squeezed into the oven to roast. Now the skin is perfectly golden and its inner birds are attempting to escape the grips of the rope.

It is time to Turducken.

The birds are carved revealing layers of meat - the darker duck meat sits between its white-fleshed, land-based friends. We eat it Aussie-style - thrown inside a bread roll. From canned spaghetti to lettuce and peanut butter, Australians believe that almost anything stuffed inside a bread roll will constitute a meal.

The turkey makes up most of the mountain of meat. Duck crops up once in a while and the chicken is hard to distinguish from its turkey mate.

The turkey meat is a little overdone - it must be difficult to get all three birds perfectly roasted. I struggle cooking a single animal, let alone a trio. A combination of smoky barbecue sauce and three-bird gravy disguises any overcooked dryness. The salty, herbed moist stuffing is delicious.

With appetites sated, we sit down for the game. Australia loses four goals to nil. The loss of our star player doesn’t make it any easier. I need comfort food. Ice-cream? Chocolate? Or some of the five kilograms of leftover Turducken?

Pass me a bread roll!