So this year, like every year, my family and I'm sure yours as well will be cooking the traditional Thanksgiving turkey. The holiday of course celebrates the first thanksgiving, when the Pilgrims decided to have a feast and celebrate the fact that they had come to this bountiful new land where they could prosper and practice their beliefs free of anyone's influence. Inevitably, someone at your thanksgiving feast is going to ask, why is it customary to eat a turkey at Thanksgiving? And now, you'll have the answer and something else to talk about at the feast besides Aunt Sophie's hemorrhoids. It turns out that the very first thanksgiving did not actually have the turkey that we usually eat. Traditionally, we eat a domesticated turkey for the holiday and in fact, we slaughter more birds for this one day than we usually do for the entire year. However, at least one bird will get a reprieve. President Obama will be granting the traditional presidential pardon to one lucky bird. That said, the whole thing is based on a different type of bird, known as a wild turkey. The wild turkey differs from the domestic turkey in several important ways. The wild turkey is, as the name implies, wild. It is not very common and the meat is supposed to be much tougher than a standard domesticated turkey.
According to tradition, the reason why it is customary to eat a turkey at Thanksgiving is in memory of the 4 wild turkeys that were eaten by the Pilgrims. Actually, there is a legend that Queen Elizabeth had something to do with the turkey's prominence at Thanksgiving. It seems she was eating a goose and heard the news that the Spanish Armada, which was on its' way to attack the British fleet had sunk. She was so excited that she ordered a second goose be slaughtered in thanksgiving. When the Pilgrims came to America, they wanted to do something similar, but goose was a rare bird on this continent. So, instead, they decided to use a bird which was common, namely the turkey. In fact, the turkey was so common and so popular that it was nearly named the national bird of the new United States. Ben Franklin is said to have supported the bird's bid for the job but it was of course ultimately defeated and we now have the American Bald Eagle instead. So, when you're asked, why is it customary to eat a turkey on Thanksgiving, now you'll have more to say than “uh, well cuz it tastes good?�
Written by Chuck White Courtesy of Articlesbase.com,