Talking Turkey

Just as in the United States, here in Mexico, a traditional dish for Christmas is turkey. (After all, the turkey was domesticated in pre-Hispanic Mexico.)  This is not my first Christmas with Alejandro's family, but this is the first time we had turkey.

I must admit that I have never cooked a turkey in my life, so I am no expert by any means.  But it seems to me that the preparation would appear unusual to any cook in the U.S.

In the afternoon of Christmas Eve day, Alejandro and I went to the market to buy the ingredients for the stuffing.  It was not until late in the afternoon that we started work on the turkey.  Even though it was a fully cooked, smoked bird that had been defrosting in the fridge for several days, I thought to myself, this is never going to be ready for Christmas Eve supper.  However, I had forgotten that in Mexico, the Christmas Eve supper is often served late at night.

One of the items that we had bought at the market was a syringe.  Again, I know nothing about preparing a turkey.  I know that it is basted while cooking, but I had never heard of injecting the bird with liquid before cooking.  Alejandro filled the syringe with a mixture of white wine and the liquid from a can of pineapple.  He injected the liquid all over the turkey.  Is that something that is done in the United States???

The stuffing was completely different from what is usually served in the U.S.  Cubes of bread were the main ingredient of the stuffing I always had back home.  However, this was made with a mixture of ground beef and pork, chopped cooked ham, chopped bacon, some chopped chipotle peppers, chopped onion and chopped pineapple rings.  The mixture was fried up in a pan and then stuffed into the bird.

The turkey was set into a large pan, seated upon a bed of pineapple rings, covered with aluminum foil and put into the oven for several hours.  Around 11 PM, it was removed from the oven, and we sat down for our supper.

The turkey was very good.  However, it's always been the stuffing which I like the best.  This stuffing, although very different from what we are used to in the U.S., was delicious.  Alejandro's sister Sandra prepared what I think is a family recipe... an apple salad similar to Waldorf salad.  The dressing for the salad is made from "crema" (similar to sour cream) and sweetened condensed milk.  French baguettes also seem to be a traditional necessity.  Sandra and Alejandro brought several bags of baguettes from the bakery.  We tore off pieces of bread and put turkey and stuffing on them.

It was well after midnight before we were done with supper.  As the start of Christmas Day approached, neighbors set off firecrackers.  For a change, the pyrotechnics did not wake us from our sleep; it was after 1 AM before we headed to bed.  We were tired and decided to save the gift-giving until the next morning.