Roast Chicken or Turkey Stuffed with Rice

The tenderizing effects of brine were recognized by cooks in the past. In the tenth-century Baghdadi cookbook, there is a meat recipe that requires the cut meat to be kept in brine from the time of morning prayer to around brunch time, some five hours. The meat was then washed very well and cooked (al-Warraq). That was what our Christian neighbor used to do to her Christmas turkey before roasting it in the oven. However, this might not be necessary for roasting the birds available in today’