Turducken

A 14 kg (30 lb) roasted turducken
Sausage-stuffed turducken cut into quarters to show the internal layers

Turducken is a dish consisting of a deboned chicken stuffed into a deboned duck, further stuffed into a deboned turkey. Outside of the United States and Canada, it is known as a three-bird roast.[1] Gooducken is an English variant,[2] replacing turkey with goose.

The word turducken is a portmanteau combining turkey, duck, and chicken. The dish is a form of engastration, which is a recipe method in which one animal is stuffed inside the gastric passage of another—twofold in this instance.[3]

The thoracic cavity of the chicken/game hen and the rest of the gaps are stuffed, sometimes with a highly seasoned breadcrumb mixture or sausage meat, although some versions have a different stuffing for each bird. The result is a fairly solid layered poultry dish, suitable for cooking by braising, roasting, grilling, or barbecuing.[4]

The turducken was popularized in America by John Madden, who promoted the unusual dish during NFL Thanksgiving Day games and, later, Monday Night Football broadcasts.[5] On one occasion, the commentator sawed through a turducken with his bare hand, live in the booth, to demonstrate the turducken's contents.[6][7] Madden ate his first on-air turducken on December 1, 1996, during a game between the New Orleans Saints and St. Louis Rams at the Superdome.[8]

  1. ^ Stradley, Linda; Brenda (2015-05-01). "Turducken History and Recipe". What's Cooking America. Retrieved 2024-02-03.
  2. ^ Iredale, Will (21 November 2004). "Three in one bird is big this Christmas" – via www.thetimes.co.uk.
  3. ^ "Engastration". Retrieved 2012-12-26.
  4. ^ "Turkey Finds Its Inner Duck (and Chicken)", The New York Times, November 20, 2002. Accessed November 21, 2007
  5. ^ "The Story of John Madden's Legendary Turducken", USA Today, November 29, 2017. Accessed November 4, 2019
  6. ^ "PETA Gives Madden the Bird", New York Post, November 28, 2002. Accessed November 29, 2019
  7. ^ "John Madden - Turducken 2002 Monday Night Football Eagles vs. 49ers". YouTube.
  8. ^ "St. Louis Rams at New Orleans Saints - December 1st, 1996". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 20 November 2022.