Turkey. Sweet potatoes. Cranberry sauce. Turducken? Tulane students staying in town for Thanksgiving may find some new items on the menu.
Maureen Detweiler, a native of New Orleans, shares her family's traditions as she prepares for Thanksgiving in this video
produced by Brandon Meginley.
Turducken, like a Russian nesting doll, consists of a turkey stuffed with a duck stuffed with a chicken. It is just one of many culinary inventions to be found on the table in New Orleans, according to Maureen Detweiler, a New Orleans native who lent her culinary expertise and coordinated tastings for the cookbook New Orleans Cuisine: Fourteen Signature Dishes and Their Histories.
Deep-fried turkey also has become a Crescent City tradition. Leeks can be more than just a healthy dish they can be smothered in bacon.
Stuffed mirlitons, a pale green member of the squash family, may provide a healthier side dish. Oysters, still legal this season, can provide the base for a dressing that is a local favorite to go along with the turkey, or, yes, the turducken.
Brandon Meginley is a senior majoring in journalism at Tulane University.