Modern Vocabulary: TOFURKEY
Neither tofu nor turkey but certainly tasty
Saturdays are perfect days for delicious surprises. Surprise—we’re talking about plant-based proteins for special occasions today!
The imminent approach of another American Thanksgiving triggers lots of challenging questions to resolve, not all of which revolve around finding ways to avoid conversations about politics! Menu selection often defaults to traditional standards but more and more hosts grapple with the challenge of a sufficiently festive plant—based protein to replace the classic stuffed bird. As an omnivore living in and cooking for a vegetarian household, I’ve been exploring meat replacements for decades. Tofurkey was one of the first options on the scene and has only become more vital for vegetarians over time. That said, we’re here to talk about etymology, not recipes.
The word Tofurkey is a catchy portmanteau of two well-known foods: TOFU + TURKEY. Easy enough, although not entirely accurate for a variety of reasons.
Tofu is a relatively but not entirely bland high-protein and low-fat food prepared by coagulating soy milk and then pressing the resulting curds into solid white blocks of varying softness. The word tofu is Japanese, derived from the from Chinese word dòufu:
BREAKDOWN: DOU- (beans) + FU- (rot or turn sour)
A turkey, of course, is a large gamebird in the order Galliformes and the same family as grouse. While turkeys are native to North America, we’ve adopted none of the indigenous names for the bird. Instead, the world has adopted a historical misconception that turkeys come from the country Turkey because they were shipped internationally through Turkish ports. The origin of the name of the country Türkiye seems to be derived from a medieval Latin descriptor of the land of the Turks.
Tofurkey, officially introduced to the world in 1995, has absolutely no turkey or any other animal product in it. It also doesn’t contain as much tofu as it does vital wheat gluten. Nonetheless, the noble Tofurkey roast that graces Thanksgiving tables has been joined over the years by a suite of innovative protein products, including deli slices I enjoy multiple times a week. The word itself has become a generic term for any kind of plant-based meat substitute.
While we’re on the topic of plant-based centerpieces for your holiday table, I should mention—though maybe not recommend—the vegducken. Meat lovers are likely already familiar with the Thanksgiving turducken, which is a chicken stuffed inside of a duck stuffed inside of a turkey and all cooked together. The vegducken is a meatless homage that painstakingly presents a a zucchini inside of an eggplant inside of a butternut squash. If you’ve ever eaten or prepared a vegducken, I’d love to hear how you liked it in the comments. By the same token, be sure to share your favorite plant-based holiday centerpiece!
Happy Thanksgiving to all who celebrate and bon appétit to all!
“Thanksgiving dinner's sad and thankless.
Christmas dinner's dark and blue.
When you stop and try to see it
From the turkey's point of view.” —Shel Silverstein