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SO ARE WILD TURKEYS INDIGENOUS TO ALBERTA?
Yes, in fact wild turkeys are found throughout western Canada, especially in southern Alberta and B.C., and there are wild turkeys in the U.S., from the eastern seaboard to the Grand Canyon, and along the Colorado River from California to Idaho.
At one time, there were millions of wild turkeys but they were nearly wiped out in southern Alberta and across North America by the turn of the 20th century.
In the 1970s the Alberta government let 22 birds loose in the High River area and you can still bump into a truly wild turkey in that area, around the Porcupine Hills. It’s estimated that there are now about 2,500 turkeys in the wild in Alberta, about 100 in Saskatchewan and about 3,000 in B.C.
They were also released in southern Ontario, where they are really thriving – there’s an estimated 30,000 wild turkeys (or more by some counts) throughout southern Ontario.
 
WHAT KIND OF WILD TURKEYS ARE WE TALKING ABOUT? WHAT DO THEY LOOK LIKE?
Well, they look nothing like the big white, red-headed domestic turkey – the standard Broad Breasted White  – that’s found on most of today’s intensive turkey farms (and subsequently in most Canadian roasting pans).
Actually, even here in the West, it’s most often the Eastern Wild Turkey that we find in the wild. The original western breeds of wild turkey include the Merriam, found through the Rocky Mountains, and the Rio Grande, found from California to Oregon and Colorado, but of the various breeds of wild turkey in North America, the Eastern Wild Turkey is most plentiful. In the wild, they live on the edges of wooded areas, and they roost at night in trees.
 
They’re really very dramatic-looking birds, with wrinkly blue heads and bronze feathers that glint in iridescent metallic blues, golds, reds and greens when the sun hits them. Their heads are bumpy and blue, and there’s a long flap of skin, called a snood, that hangs down over the beak, quite an odd looking bird.
The females are smaller than the males, which have the big fanned tails, with a white band near the tip, and bright red wattles covering their throat. The males can be up to 20 pounds and quite tall, up to 2 ½ feet with their big tails fanned out. Pretty impressive to look at.
They look like the classic old-fashioned Thanksgiving turkey, the kind we see on holiday decorations and turkey platters.
While the wild turkey is the largest game bird in North America, it’s a lot smaller than the big white domestic turkey that you’d find on most commercial turkey farms. It has a smaller breast and longer legs, and is actually able to stand up and fly, unlike the top heavy domestic turkey. In fact, a wild turkey is a strong flyer, is disease resistant so isn’t grown with any antibiotics  and is a good forager. They grow slower and are built differently, but the meat is also more flavorful.
So in the roasting pan, a wild turkey looks sort of long and skinny, compared to what we’re used to cooking.
 
IS IT DIFFICULT TO GET A WILD TURKEY TO COOK?
Actually, most of the wild turkeys that are released in Canada, on both private and public land, are released for hunting. There is a spring hunting season for wild turkey in May, but they’re pretty rare in Alberta, and hunting permits for wild turkey are given out by draw, so you might not want to count on bagging your own bird.
We’re lucky here in Alberta, though, as there’s a farm just east of Edmonton where these wild turkeys are raised for their meat and you can buy them.
Rick Wood-Samman has been raising wild turkeys and other game birds – like pheasant and guinea hens – for many years, commercially since 1996, and he sells meat birds to chefs, and chicks to farmers and to Fish and Game groups who release them in the wild. You can buy a frozen wild turkey directly from Rick at his farm.
 
SO YOU WENT UP TO SEE THESE TURKEYS, IN THE FLESH?
Yes, we drove up to Rick’s farm – Dirt Willy Game Bird Farm – just east of Edmonton, on the border of Elk Island National Park, and had a look at the many types of wild birds he is raising there.
It makes a great fall day trip. It’s almost like a game bird zoo – with everything from wild turkeys and pheasants to chukker partridge and Canada geese to see, each in their own large, covered pens.
Rick raises five types of wild turkey, including the Merriam, Eastern and Rio Grande turkeys, and one native to Mexico that looks almost like a peacock.
He raises the birds for meat and for release – he sells thousands of chicks from his hatchery across western Canada every year.
 
SO THEY’RE RAISED OUTDOORS IN PENS?
Yes, each type of game bird has it’s own enclosure, covered with a large netting so they can’t fly out.
But they are essentially free range birds.
They’re fed some alfalfa and grains, but they have lots of space to scratch around and eat what wild turkeys eat – grass, buds, leaves, roots, seeds, bugs and the like, the kind of varied diet that gives them lots of flavour.
While this is essentially a hobby farm for Rick and his wife (who both have day jobs in Edmonton) he has about 1,500 birds on the property, so it’s a pretty big operation.
The wild turkeys are big but they’re very calm and friendly – I went right into the pens to take pictures of them. They’re actually quite beautiful, and the sound of all of those turkeys gobbling in unison is really amazing. I read that their gobble can be heard more than a kilometer away.
 
AND HOW DO THEY TASTE?
I cooked my first wild turkey last year for Christmas and it was truly the tastiest turkey I’ve ever had. I almost went out and got a bigger conventional turkey on Christmas eve, because the wild one seemed so small – only about 8 pounds and quite scrawny looking – but since there were just the two of us for dinner, we decided to cook the smaller wild turkey.
And now I’d never go back. We brined the bird in a solution of salt and maple syrup, and it was just delicious, tender, moist and with wonderful turkey flavour. The gravy was especially flavourful and rich, and the carcass made wonderful turkey broth.
This is the kind of turkey you might find on the menu at a top restaurant like the River Café in Calgary or the Banffshire Club at the Banff Springs Hotel. It really is the king of the turkey world – lean and extremely flavourful.
 
HOW CAN I GET ONE?
Well, you have to buy it directly from the farm gate or have Rick ship out a frozen bird via Greyhound. At $5 per pound, the wild birds are pricey, but they’re small (usually less than 10 pounds) so you’re not going to be spending more, in total, than you would for a good free range, pastured turkey.
It’s probably a little late to get a wild bird for Thanksgiving unless you can go directly to the farm and pick one up, but you can order one now for Christmas (at www.dirtwilly.com <http://www.dirtwilly.com> )
 
AND WHAT’S THE BEST WAY TO COOK A WILD TURKEY?
Well, the meat is very lean, so you don’t want to over cook it.
We used a brine recipe from the chefs at River Café, which seasons the meat, adds moisture and denatures some of the proteins, making the meat more tender.
It’s really simple to do. Just combine 1 tablespoon of kosher salt and a tablespoon of sugar or maple syrup, with each cup of cold water you use. You can also add some spices and herbs – bay leaves or rosemary or coriander seed – and just heat the brine to a boil. Remove from heat and cool completely before brining the bird.
You need enough brine to completely submerge the turkey, so you might need 6-8 cups of brine.
Put the bird into a large container, cover with the cold brine and brine in the refrigerator for about 4 hours or overnight. Then rinse the bird, pat dry and roast as usual, about 10-15 minutes per pound. The salt in the brine seasons the meat and the sugar gives it a wonderful crispy browned skin.
If you start with a frozen bird, make sure you have plenty of time to thaw it in the refrigerator before brining it. You’ll need five hours per pound in the fridge to thaw a frozen bird – that’s 40 hours, even for a small 8-pound wild turkey.
And make sure you don’t overcook the wild turkey as it’s lean and will dry out quickly. You’re looking at about 10 minutes per pound or about 1 ½ hours for an 8-pound wild turkey, a little longer for a domestic bird.
A 12-16 pound bird only takes 3-4 hours in the oven – don’t be tempted to bake it all day, it’s not necessary.
If you buy a fresh turkey, remember you need to cook it right away, within two or three days.


RECIPES?
I brought recipes for side dish ideas, because no matter what kind of turkey you cook, you need something other than potatoes and gravy on the side. I’m going to post my favourite bread and sage stuffing recipe, a good way to cook brussel sprouts and, of course, an easy cranberry sauce, all from my new book, The Guy Can’t Cook.
It’s really easy to make a turkey dinner. Just  plan ahead and have a happy Thanksgiving.
 
click here for recipes...

©Cinda Chavich 2007

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