Why Do We Eat Turkey at Christmas?
The Christmas meal is traditionally made up of turkey, stuffed most of the time. This custom has its history and that is what we are going to look at in this article. We will understand the reasons why turkey is the first choice when it comes to the nativity celebration. Fascinating circumstances closely linked to the context of the era.
The Christmas meal is traditionally made up of turkey, stuffed most of the time. This custom has its history and that is what we are going to look at in this article. We will understand the reasons why turkey is the first choice when it comes to the nativity celebration. Fascinating circumstances closely linked to the context of the era.
The First Turkeys in Europe
It should be noted that turkey has only been present in Europe relatively recently. They were brought back by the famous explorer Christopher Columbus during his voyage. Columbus discovered turkey with America, that is to say in 1492.
It was then that he decided to bring several back to Europe. Success was forthcoming despite some initial reluctance. It was mainly the novelty of the thing that encouraged people to eat it. Europeans immediately adopted this poultry since it was a completely new taste for them. Turkey was one of the curiosities that navigators brought back from their journeys. So we must thank these heroes of the sea without whom turkey would never have arrived on the old continent.
The First Turkeys Served at Table
As with all the novelties brought back by navigators at that time, it was the nobility who were most fond of them. They could pay an enormous sum to obtain some, and this was to the benefit of these travellers who made it their main business. The first turkeys were therefore served in Europe on the tables of the Spanish royalty and nobility.
The popularisation of turkey consumption only took place a few years after its discovery, around 1570. As for France, it is said that the first meal including a turkey-based recipe took place during a wedding banquet given by Charles IX in 1570.
It was then that many people from the French nobility discovered what turkey was.
Why Eat It at Christmas?
Consuming poultry at Christmas is a very old tradition that has existed for centuries in Europe. At the time, when Europeans were still unaware of what turkey was, they mainly ate cockerel and goose. But after the arrival of this famous poultry in Europe, the habit began to change gradually.
This is due to the fact that turkey had much more to offer than cockerel and its price remained accessible compared to that of goose. The anecdotes of history say that the first turkey served during a Christmas meal was at the table of Emperor Charles VII in the early years of the 18th century. But the real popularisation was done by Charles Dickens who mentioned this animal in his famous A Christmas Carol.
For a bit of trivia, turkey comes from the expression “la poule d’Inde” (the chicken of India). An expression stemming from a mistake made by the navigators. They thought they were arriving in India when they were landing in America, but this was never corrected and the name has persisted right up to today!
