Junior Hebert claims to have invented turducken with his brother Sammy at their butcher shop in Maurice, Louisiana, five miles south of Lafayette, in 1984. A farmer came in with a freshly killed turkey, duck, and chicken (“in a tub,” Hebert, who’s 52 now, recalls). He wanted them stuffed, and the Heberts obliged, smearing pork stuffing all over the duck before shoehorning it into the turkey, then working the floppy boneless chicken into that. They filled it with cornbread dressing and sewed it up.
"I don’t even remember the old guy’s name," Hebert says. But he does recall inventing the name “turducken.” You can still buy the original Hebert turducken, and many do for Thanksgiving and Christmas. CHOW ordered one. (Staffers were split on whether it was a delicious Popeyes-like spicy-greasy comfort food, or a repulsive Popeyes-like spicy-greasy comfort food.)
Nevertheless, the original creation was too big for the Bayou. Sportscaster John Madden discovered turducken, and began giving one away to the winning team at the Thanksgiving Bowl in the late 1980s. And around the same time, haute-Cajun chef Paul Prudhomme began making it for his New Orleans restaurant, K-Paul, and included a six-page recipe for it in his Prudhomme Family Cookbook. His flamboyant version has three different stuffings (including oyster) and a gravy that contains eggplant, sweet potato, and Grand Marnier.
Despite its brush with national cult status, the turducken was viewed with indifference by most New Orleans residents.
“I think it’s a medieval pile of poo,” says Poppy Tooker, who lives in New Orleans and hosts the NPR-affiliated radio show Louisiana Eats!
"I don’t even remember the old guy’s name," Hebert says. But he does recall inventing the name “turducken.” You can still buy the original Hebert turducken, and many do for Thanksgiving and Christmas. CHOW ordered one. (Staffers were split on whether it was a delicious Popeyes-like spicy-greasy comfort food, or a repulsive Popeyes-like spicy-greasy comfort food.)
Nevertheless, the original creation was too big for the Bayou. Sportscaster John Madden discovered turducken, and began giving one away to the winning team at the Thanksgiving Bowl in the late 1980s. And around the same time, haute-Cajun chef Paul Prudhomme began making it for his New Orleans restaurant, K-Paul, and included a six-page recipe for it in his Prudhomme Family Cookbook. His flamboyant version has three different stuffings (including oyster) and a gravy that contains eggplant, sweet potato, and Grand Marnier.
Despite its brush with national cult status, the turducken was viewed with indifference by most New Orleans residents.
“I think it’s a medieval pile of poo,” says Poppy Tooker, who lives in New Orleans and hosts the NPR-affiliated radio show Louisiana Eats!
Its just like any other thing in the world. If its not cooked right it will suck. Sounds like the person who cooked yours did not know what they were doing.
They sure are good! It's duck season here until tomorrow. Nothing like a fresh one. I'm surprised to read the comments of not liking duck. It's got to be prepared right, and if so, is one of the best things ever. Yum!
