Origin of the "Cajun" Fried turkey

As I was preparing for this year’s Thanksgiving festival, where I will be serving a delicious fried turkey, I became interested in the origin of the succulent treat.

What is fried turkey?

“Frying whole turkeys is kind of a southern version of making fondue. You have a lot of your friends at home, poke around in a pot of hot oil with a few sticks and then take out your dinner. Justin Wilson of Cajun fame remembers seeing first fried turkey in Louisiana in the 1930s. ” — Something different: fried turkey, Beverly Bundy, St. Louis Dispatch, November 24, 1997 (Food p. 4)

What is a fried turkey? Injected with marinade and cooked in 350 degrees F peanuts or other vegetable oil, fried turkey is anything but greasy. The frying process seals in the juices creating flavorful meat and tasty golden brown skin. Incredibly juicy on the inside and wonderfully crisp on the outside, the explosion of flavor and contrasting textures has made it a favorite for barbecues, street parties, baubles, holiday parties, and casual wedding receptions.

It seems like I first heard about frying turkey about 15 years ago, then all of a sudden everyone and your brother were doing it. So what caused this sudden phenomenon?

Roots in the southern United States

Turkey fry has its origins in the southern United States, namely Louisiana. I heard there are some restaurants in southern Louisiana that became popular by injecting whole birds with a Creole-style marinade and then dropping them in hot peanut oil. However, there had to be something bigger to get the word out, regional restaurants just don’t have the scope to change a long-standing tradition like baked turkey.

I thought maybe it was the new accessibility of large fryers like the original Kamp Kooker marketed by Home Depot, or was it a favorite of celebrity chefs like Emeril?

Why is it called Cajun if it isn’t?

I started doing some research on the internet, and although I only spent a few hours, it seems that no exact year, restaurant, or person is connected to this particular style of cooking turkey. There is evidence that fried turkeys were cooked outdoors for large popular events (family gatherings, charity dinners, church dinners, etc.) in the early years of the 20th century.

Commonly thought of as a Cajun tradition, I was unable to find direct links to the Acadien-Cajun culture. In fact, I found that food historians generally agree that fried turkeys have their roots in the Creole cuisine of Bayou (Louisiana / Texas). The recipes then migrated from Louisiana / Texas to Missouri, Tennessee, Georgia (peanut oil), and Washington DC before branching north to Seattle and Vancouver.

The Power of Martha Stewart

So here seems to be the magic formula. I found where Martha Stewart is credited for bringing the recipe to mainstream America in the early ’90s:

“Fried turkey has been all the rage for at least the last decade in New Orleans, and long before it was a tradition in the swamp and across the South. Like many other vainglorious culinary crazes before it, the national renown of fried turkeys may be traced directly to Martha Stewart, who pulled them out of regional obscurity and put them in her magazine in 1996. “— It’s treacherous, but oh so tasty; Fried-Turkey fans take the risk, Annie Gowen, Washington Post, November 22, 2001 (p. B1)

If this is the case, it seems that Martha may have created a whole industry. A typical setup that includes all of the turkey fryer accessories can easily cost $ 200- $ 300. I’d say those folks and the peanut oil folks owe Martha a big thank you.