When It’s Worth Paying $10/Pound for Turkey

Next week, as American families carve into an estimated 45 million turkeys, a very, very small fraction with very, very expensive tastes will share a rare and much-praised heritage turkey. Unlike the commercial breed—the Broad Breasted White selectively bred for an extremely ample bosom—heritage birds are smaller, grow slower, and boast more robust flavor. Their lineage traces back to the 1800s, and unlike their industrially farmed cousins, they can (and do) reproduce naturally.64

Even as choices in the turkey aisle seem to expand every year, from the lowly Butterball to antibiotic-free, to free-range, to organic—all of which are those ubiquitous Broad Breasted Whites—gourmands are seeking out and spending $10 per pound (or more) for pedigreed turkeys. To justify the hefty expenditures, they cite the better animal welfare enjoyed by breeds not hobbled by giant breasts, the need for biodiversity, and (not least) flavor.