The humble North American bird got a full global treatment -- maple syrup, cherrywood smoke, sage gravy, Chinese 5-spice and whiskey. And one beer-can bird. Buca di Beppo chef Jeff Mitchell gave his turkey a non-red sauce Italian twist.
"Oranges, lemons, a lot of the citrus that you find in the Mediterranean we've tried to infuse into the bird and hopefully it worked out."
Judge Bobby Coyote, owner of Dos Coyotes restaurants, assessed
entries on juiciness, tenderness, and flavor -- not an easy
task.
"If it's too dry, the whole turkey's blown. If it's
very tender it melts in your mouth it's really hard to achieve.
Nothing's easy."
In the end, the juicy meat from Jamie's Bar & Grill turkey
took first place. Extra turkeys from the competing restaurants will
go to Loaves & Fishes today. They'll add to the more than 200
variously cooked turkeys donated each year to people who are
homeless or hungry.
