All aboard the turkey train

Turkeys are native to Central America. In the wild they are renowned for being both aggressive and crafty, and were domesticated relatively late, between 1,500 and 2,000 years ago. Once brought into the farming system, though, they rapidly spread far beyond their original pecking grounds, and by the time Columbus and his fellow explorers arrived, they were also being enjoyed in North America and the Caribbean. Unlike many new world foods, their value was immediately recognised, and old world enthusiasm quickly kindled. By 1511 every ship leaving the Americas for Spain was ordered to bring back five breeding pairs, to kick start the turkey industry there. As usual for new world ingredients, they then spread throughout Europe. In France, Margaret of Navarre was raising them by 1534, and in England in 1541 they were named, along with cranes and swans, in sumptuary laws restricting their service to only one per feast.