Game Meat Should Have a Place on the Thanksgiving Table

Turkey may be synonymous with Thanksgiving celebrations, but this year, we might have to go off-script. According to The New York Times, producers have been cutting back on raising turkeys since 2019 after prices for the birds bottomed out. Additionally, the triple threat of the pandemic, inflation and persistent avian flu killing upwards of 3% of the American turkey population means it’s going to be harder (and likely far more expensive) to find the classic centerpiece than usual. But some American chefs aren’t sorry to see the birds go. Not only do historians remain unconvinced that Thanksgiving turkey is historically accurate, but many admit they don’t even like the poultry they spend most of their time (and anxiety) perfecting each year.

“My wife hates turkey,” says Chef Dan Jacobs of EsterEv in Milwaukee. “She doesn’t understand why Thanksgiving is always the big hoopla it is.” 

Chef John Manion of El Che Steakhouse & Bar in Chicago agrees. “I’m of the mind that turkey is essential to Thanksgiving dinner because it provides what I need to enjoy what’s really central to my meal,” he says. “I use the bones and wings to make stock, I use the drippings to make gravy and the offal to make stuffing, forming the starchy Holy Trinity of the third Thursday in November: mashed potatoes, stuffing and gravy. In terms of the center of the plate, I’m indifferent to turkey. It’s fine, but I’d rather eat something else.”

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