Edward VII certainly left his mark on British life. Among the legacies of Queen Victoria’s playboy heir was the trend for leaving the bottom button of one’s waistcoat undone – although whether this was motivated by style or the need to accommodate a 48-inch paunch, history does not reveal.
Why do we eat turkeys at Christmas?
That majestic stomach was a product of Edward’s equally influential culinary tastes: among these, the novel practices of eating roast beef with Yorkshire pudding on Sunday, and of consuming turkey at Christmas.
Until Edward’s intervention, goose had been the more popular choice for the Christmas feast. Yet even as turkey’s popularity increased, the bird remained an expensive luxury for decades after Edward’s death in 1910. As late as 1930, a turkey cost the equivalent of a week’s wages.
Today a standard turkey may cost less than two hours’ average pay. Mass production, with its staggering economies of scale, has made turkeys affordable. With judicious breeding, the turkey has become the world’s second fastest growing animal, which helps. In just 20 weeks a tiny male poult (or baby turkey) may become a 25kg monster.
Modern turkey farms are allowed to house up to 25,000 birds in one building; and today some 18 million are reared for meat each year in the UK, of which around 10 million are eaten at Christmas.
When did turkeys first come to Britain?
Mariner William Strickland could not have predicted this orgy of turkey-gobbling when he brought the first turkeys to England in 1526. Having acquired six from Native Americans on his travels in the New World, the Yorkshireman sold them in a Bristol market for tuppence each, and the rest is history. Strickland was so proud of his contribution to British cuisine that he included a turkey in his coat of arms.
Turkey was soon being served on the best British tables. Henry VIII is known to have eaten them (along with equally exotic fare such as porpoises and peacocks). Gradually the numbers edged up. In 1720, some 250,000 turkeys are said to have been reared in Norfolk for the London market. In those days you could be guaranteed a lean and fit bird: the turkeys were actually walked all the way to the capital in flocks of up to 1,000. (In case you are feeling misty-eyed for a golden era before intensive farming, note that before setting out, the turkeys’ feet were dipped in tar to protect them.)
Now, the turkey is the Undisputed Heavyweight Champion of Christmas. Odd, really, when you consider how many of us moan about it. Flavourless and boring, some say. Well, that’s like complaining that a painter’s canvas is plain white. The turkey is the template to which you add the glorious flavours and colours of a Christmas feast.
Finally, have some respect for the old bird. This noble species has a long history: its ancestors have been around for 10 million years...
