There’s something empowering about eating three animals in one bite. I am talking, of course, about the ménage à trois of poultry that is the Turducken. A chicken inside of a duck inside of a turkey, stuffed snugly into one hedonistic hybrid like oversized edible Russian dolls.
As per our New Years Day family tradition, my dad delighted in preparing his third annual Turducken today (we put it off until the nearest Monday this year, when he finally had a day off). A chef all his life, my dad loves what he does for a living. However, on a busy Saturday night at Jakes with a broken steam table, 12 orders on deck and a party to cater the next day, I can imagine he isn’t always jumping for joy. During that time, probably the last thing on his mind is “I love my job.” This is because at that point, it is exactly that: a job. The only thing to do is make the best of it, and bear the stove’s heat emanating through the controlled chaos until ten o’clock comes, and with it, a much-deserved beer.
Other times, though, creativity seems to make it all worth it. When my dad gets to go beyond the norms for holiday dinner and cook something for us that very few other people get a chance to experience, I can tell it makes him happy. He has that proud smile that a man gets when he’s provided for his family. It’s as if he dragged home a freshly killed sabertoothed tiger in the midst of a glacial famine, slammed it down on the floor of our cave, and grinned upward with his beard in the air. Due to his profession, my dad gets a lot of food- and beverage-related perks, allowing us to live like kings, at least for a meal. This further proves the infallible truth about the culinary industry: even in a struggling economy, you’re never a starving artist.
[...] about the same thing and celebrating another year of being alive. Plus, the following day marks the annual Turducken that my dad prepares as a recent New Year’s Day tradition. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the Turducken…it’s a chicken inside of [...]