Maggie's Farm

Readers may not have heard much about Heritage Turkeys. There have been many breeds of farm turkeys over the years, but today the bland Broad-Breasted White breed is the mass market turkey.

Heritage Turkeys are genetically closer to their wild ancestors, have far more flavor, and run to smaller sizes. Their meat is redder than that of the Broad Breasted White. They are growing in popularity because they do not taste like cardboard. In fact, their flavor is similar to Wild Turkey.

It's like the difference between a supermarket tomato and a home-grown variety.

Here's the Heritage Turkey Foundation website.

You can buy Heritage Turkeys online at Dean & DeLuca or D'Artagnan. Some Whole Foods have them, but I won't go to Whole Foods, due to a Whole Foods allergy.

Wow. I just found out that D'Artagnan even sells Free-Range Wild Turkeys. Man, that saves a lot of otherwise-wasted time sitting in the woods.

These birds cost a little more, but they are hardly the same animal as the supermarket Broad-Breasted White. They taste like a game bird.