It is the pièce de résistance in feast that includes, in my family’s case: smoked turkey with oyster stuffing, Smithfield ham, Brussels sprouts, green beans, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, and various other basics. For desert there will be pies: pecan, apple, pumpkin, shoo fly, and coconut cream. All manner of good things. But the fried turkey is the star of this show.
It is hard to beat deep fried turkey for pure excess and political incorrectness (food division). And there is the element of risk. How could you not love a main course that both the nutritionists and safety police find objectionable? It is a dish that inspires warnings labels for both coronary and fire hazards. If you indulge, the implied question is: will you perish of a stroke or be scalded to death in boiling lard?
