Talking Turkey

I have come to the unhappy conclusion that a frozen turkey is a very poor second best to a fresh one. However, the worst aspect of freezing turkey is the effect the process has on its fat, and the less long a bird has been frozen, the less likely that its fat will taste or smell stale. So if you are obliged to have a frozen one, do try to make sure that it was only recently frozen and has not had ice crystals in it for six months or a year. Fortunately, most of the frozen birds sold in supermarkets are the current crop, and have only been frozen because of the inconvenient log jam that would occur if every single Christmas turkey had to be dispatched, plucked, drawn, delivered, displayed and sold in a two- or three-day period. Four to eight ounces (125-250 g) uncooked weight per person is a rough guide to the size to buy. Americans eat much more turkey than the British or French, who seem as interested in the trimmings as the meat. And leftovers are only to be expected, or desired.