Turkey action in Argentina

Nate and I recently introduced our host family to the many joys of American Thanks-giving, in what I think was a reasonably authentic style. When we proposed to cook a Thanksgiving dinner, our host Carlos was enthusiastic, primarily because the holiday promised to involve large amounts of meat. He immediately became enamored of the idea of a turkey on the parrilla, the family’s outdoor grill, which left us with only the challenge of acquiring said turkey. We managed to order one 5 kilogram bird at a nearby butcher, only barely restraining ourselves from purchasing two.

The turkey appeared to be something of a novelty for the butcher – when we went to pick it up, they not only remembered us and our order, but gathered around to examine the beast. It was quite lovely. Sadly, when confronted with the turkey in all its 5 kg glory, Carlos decided that perhaps it was beyond the capabilities of the parrilla, and we ended up cooking it in the oven, American-style. Despite this disappointment, and a flaky oven that delivered heat inconsistently at best, we managed to deliver a beautifully cooked turkey. At least we thought it was beautiful. I think the Argentines found it monstrous. Lara, one of the girls, asked me if we threw out the drumsticks, wings, etc, and looked somewhat horrified to hear that people actually ate them. Apparently Argentines are white meat only when it comes to poultry.

We expected to be confronting leftovers for some time, because together with two other Americans, we prepared a mountain of food. Turkey, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans, salad, bread, stuffing, pumpkin pie, apple crisp, and vanilla ice cream. However, among the twelve of us we managed to devour a substantial amount. Perhaps the second turkey would not have been amiss. -EMW