Craving a Narragansett: The bird, not the beer

NORTH KINGSTOWN, R.I.—More and more people are looking for alternatives to the traditional store-bought turkey.

One is a wild breed known around the country that originated in Rhode Island—the Narragansett.

At Casey Farm in North Kingstown, Megan Kershaw is busy fattening up the Narragansetts and the other breeds.

They’ve already been reserved by customers for the holiday.

“They definitely have a much better flavor than your store-bought turkey,“ Kershaw said.

And they require a lot of care.

“The hardest part is when they arrive at the farm as small chicks. We keep them in a brooding room for a while with a heat lamp over them because they’re real sensitive to any kind of cold,“ Kershaw said.

As they grow, they’re relatively easy to keep track of, except now, when they tend to fly the coop. And not because they know they’ll eventually wind up on the dinner table.

“Right now, it’s mating season for the birds. So, all of the toms have been particularly active showing off for the ladies and escaping the pen a lot,“ Kershaw said.

Rhode Island Monthly: History of the Narragansett turkey

 

More and more Rhode Islanders are showing up at Casey Farm to see the show and to grace their Thanksgiving tables with something special.

The Narragansett was bred in Colonial times in Rhode Island. The bird was brought by the Pilgrims and bred with the wild turkeys already here.  The wild turkeys flourished, died off, and then came back.

“In 1980, we restored the population to bring back the wild turkey, and it’s been very successful,“ said Brian Tefft, a biologist at the state Department of Environment Management.

Tefft said the wild turkey is also becoming more popular as an alternative to the store-bought variety on the holiday table.

“Wild turkey is different. The meat is still primarily white, and it’s good tasting meat.  Because it’s wild game, people would assume it to be gamey. But it’s really very similar in nature to the domesticated breed, except it probably has a lot less fat.“

If you were hoping to bag a wild turkey for this Thanksgiving, you’re out of luck.  The hunting season ended Tuesday.

At the farms, most of the domesticated turkeys are already spoken for.