In 2021, the price of turkey in the United States soared to the highest price ever, and many media said that thanksgiving this year may be quite expensive, so do you know what caused the price of turkey to soar?
Many people may think it's because of COVID-19, but it's actually more closely linked to inflation.
Delicious roast turkey
Most of us have only seen the turkey after it has been "roasted", not the way it is. So, what does a turkey look like? What festivals must I eat turkey? How is turkey farming evolving? In addition to roasting whole chicken, how else would foreigners eat turkey?
This kind of ingredient, which is seen once a year on foreign tables, is very rare in mainland China. So why is it that turkey, which is highly sought after in the West, is rarely eaten in China? Even very few people raise it!
Male North American turkey showing off
Chinese reason for not eating turkey
Although most of us have never eaten turkey until now, and we don't know what this chicken looks like, we still remember the famous dish "roast turkey" on the plate. Thanksgiving is an important traditional festival in the West, so whenever this festival comes, people will prepare a hearty meal and reunite their loved ones. An essential dish in this feast is roast turkey, which has the same status as dumplings during the Spring Festival.
Christmas cuisine: roast turkey
Of course, in addition to Thanksgiving, some Western countries still eat turkey at Christmas, and this custom has existed for at least hundreds of years. But for us, turkey is still a "fresh" ingredient, and it is still difficult to successfully rush into the Chinese market and occupy a place on the table of the Chinese.
The scientific name of the turkey is tussui chicken, and sometimes people also call it the seven-sided chicken. Of course, the English name of the turkey is "Turkey", because europeans at that time felt that the appearance of the guy was very similar to the Turkish clothing, so they gave it this name.
Wild turkey
The turkey is very tall, with a short and straight neck, and looks very muscular. As for the appearance, it is more fancy, because the hair on the body has a variety of colors such as black, white, and dark yellow, and there are very obvious sarcomas under the throat, which can switch between red and blue and white.
In this way, turkey is not ugly, and foreigners love to eat it so much, which means that the taste should not be bad, so why is it that few people eat turkey in China?
Large turkey
This is mainly because of the difference in eating habits, Chinese generally prefer to eat chicken is more tender. It is indeed important to know the way of cooking, but it can only play the role of "icing on the cake" for the ingredients, so if you use turkey as an ingredient, no matter how you do it, you can't change the situation that its own meat quality is very "chai" and unpleasant.
This can actually be seen from the size of the turkey, compared to the chicken that Chinese often eats, the turkey is not only large, but also really full of "tendon meat". Such compact meat is certainly good if it is used as a diet meal to increase satiety, but it is impossible to become the mainstream of Chinese table.
Delicious roast turkey
In addition, turkeys are very large, so foreigners usually do not use turkey as a frequent ingredient, only on major festivals will roast turkey or baked turkey. After all, such a large chicken, if it is a family of three to eat, I am afraid that I can't eat it for a week, so the turkey is more suitable for family dinner sharing in some ways.
Roast turkey is suitable for family meals
But apparently Chinese there are too many "delicacies" on the menu of the family gathering, and it is difficult for a turkey with a bad taste to blend in with the advantage of "big size". Quite simply, if you ask a Chinese whether roast turkey is good or roast duck is good, then he will most likely choose roast duck, after all, compared to the dry meat of turkey, the fat and oily roast duck is really difficult to resist the stimulation of visual and taste buds.
Delicious succulent roast duck
Moreover, even if there are people in China who really love to eat turkey, it is actually quite difficult to buy this ingredient, because turkey is not only not eaten in China, but even few people raise it. Of course, this situation is first caused by the fact that turkey really has no market in China, so if it can't be sold, no one will want to raise it.
The second is that turkeys will encounter the situation of "water and soil inconsistency" in China, because this chicken native to the Americas, although it is very adaptable, but it still takes some thought to raise it.
Domesticated turkey
Speaking of which, everyone should understand why turkey, which is popular in the West, is rarely eaten in China, or even raised by anyone. It's all because of differences in eating habits, which then cause turkeys to have no market on the mainland. However, in the last century, we still introduced some small and medium-sized turkeys for breeding, and there are still some small turkey farms in China.
Black Turkey Farm
So, since turkey has appeared in the recipes of many traditional festivals abroad, it shows that foreigners have a great demand for this ingredient, so how is the development of turkey breeding industry?
Turkey farming
In a way, demand determines production, and the popular turkey in the West naturally makes the turkey breeding industry develop very well, especially in 2008, the United States became the world's largest turkey producer, contracting the "turkey" on the table in most countries, of course, the main consumption force is still Americans.
Turkey on the table
In 2008, the American turkey industry raised 273 million turkeys, of which the American Turkey Association estimated that 232 million were eaten in the United States, and it is estimated that 88% of Americans eat turkeys on Thanksgiving, so on Thanksgiving alone, Americans eat 0.45 billion turkeys, contracting 310,000 tons of turkeys.
Turkeys are one of the most popular poultry in the United States
It is worth mentioning that the turkey farming industry in the United States is very concentrated, and they have a close relationship with the major meat production companies in the United States. Under intensive production, the international aquaculture industry in the United States is an assembly line work from feeding to slaughtering. Such a practice makes the turkey from breeding to selling, very efficient, and the vested benefits will be more.
Farmed turkeys
Although the turkey breeding industry in the United States has a decreasing trend in recent years, if the market has always had demand, the turkey breeding industry will continue to develop steadily. In addition, in fact, in recent years, many nutritionists have also begun to sell turkey meat to the domestic people, pointing out that although this chicken is not as "smooth" and good as the broiler chicken we usually eat, it is a "high-protein, low-fat" food, which is very important for people's health.
Tender chicken
Turkey has a higher protein content, with an average content of 30.4%, and the protein content of leg muscles is even as high as 34.2%, which is higher than beef, lamb, pork and chicken; it is low in fat and cholesterol; and it is rich in iron, zinc, phosphorus, potassium and B vitamins.
As for whether the turkey breeding industry has any prospects for development in the mainland, in fact, it can be seen from the attitude of Chinese to turkey, although it has the advantages of low fat and low cholesterol, but it is indeed not in line with our taste. If you look at it from the perspective of low fat and high protein, isn't beef similar?
High protein beef
And if you directly copy the American turkey farming industry, it is also difficult to develop. Because as we said above, in order to neutralize the taste of the turkey, they often send the turkey to the meat processing plant and let it mix with other things to become a more suitable "mixed meat".
Roast turkey
Mixed meat is also not very popular in Chinese eating habits, and is only used when it is too lazy to cook, and most of the time it is not eaten. Therefore, whether the turkey breeding industry is suitable for Development in China or not, in what direction it will go, or whether China's eating habits will change greatly in the future. But I believe that no matter how it changes, it is still the "Chinese stomach".
Steaming roast turkey
At this time, some people may say that we don't like to eat turkey because we only see "roasted whole chicken" every time. So, how else would foreigners eat turkey?
Common turkey products
In foreign countries, turkey products can basically be divided into two categories, one is fresh, and the other is turkey cooked products. Fresh is very simple, will be the turkey "unloaded eight pieces", each part of the cooking separately, the most common should be the turkey breast, it will be used to make sandwiches or salads.
Delicious sandwiches
As for the cooked turkey products should be more suitable for everyone's taste, the processing chamber will make it into turkey intestines, turkey meat rolls, turkey burgers, fried turkey nuggets or canned turkey and so on. However, there may be a large number of additives in this food, so that turkey meat is not as "healthy" as nutritionists say. Therefore, the best way to eat is to eat fresh products, the most popular of which is "roasted whole chicken".
Delicious roast turkey
Of course, when they roast turkey, they release various other ingredients on the hollowed out chicken belly, eventually turning it into a "smorgasbord". And if you can't eat the roast turkey at once because it's too big, it will be made into a "turkey sandwich" or something like that.
sandwich