I have posted this lively painting by the Mexican artist Arrieta because it is not only a great example of a traditional Mexican kitchen, but because today is Thanksgiving in the United States. For that reason, I wish to focus on the turkey on the right side of the picture. Though this bird is being petted by a young lady, the fact that another woman is grinding chocolate leads me to the conclusion that the turkey is not long for this world, and turkey mole is on the menu [https://www.foodnetwork.com/.../turkey-mole-recipe-2119509].*
Though turkey is the central dish in most American Thanksgiving dinners, many of us don't realize that our modern turkey dinner owes something to Mexico. Turkeys are called "guajolote" or "pavo" in Mexico, which is where the Spanish first encountered these New Word birds. The reason we call them by the same name as a Middle Eastern nation is that after the Spanish took some turkeys home with them, they spread first through the Mediterranean, including the Ottoman Empire, and then to Europe. English merchants applied the name "Turkey" first to guinea fowl and later turkeys that they imported from Islamic lands in the Mediterranean to the British Isles. Naturally, when English colonists in North America encountered this same bird, they applied the same name, "turkey," by which they knew them at home.
So, this Thanksgiving, let's remember Mexico's role in introducing turkeys to the world. Happy Thanksgiving!
*This is a nice turkey mole recipe that seems to me to be rather traditional, but if anyone has a better one, please share.
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