My Science School

Turducken is a dish consisting of a deboned chicken stuffed into a deboned duck, further stuffed into a deboned turkey. Outside of the United States and Canada, it is known as a three bird roast. Gooducken is a traditional English variant, replacing turkey with goose.

When making a turducken, begin deboning the three birds, making sure to keep the raw poultry and their juices away from other foods. There is no need to wash the poultry before deboning. Washing will only contaminate multiple surfaces and other utensils in your kitchen.

If making a turducken with stuffing, make the stuffing first, but keep the wet and dry ingredients separate until you are ready to assemble. Begin deboning the three birds, making sure to keep the raw poultry and their juices away from other foods. After deboning, mix your wet and dry stuffing ingredients together and immediately start assembling the turducken by laying the turkey down first and coating with a layer of stuffing. The duck is next, followed by a layer of stuffing and then the chicken, which is also followed by more stuffing. Be sure to pack the stuffing loosely to promote efficient heat transfer during cooking.

Do not assemble the turducken in advance and put it in the refrigerator to cook later. The turducken must be cooked immediately to avoid the spread of bacteria throughout the stuffing. 

Credit : USDA

Picture Credit : Google

Throughout the years and decades, there have been different meanings, festivities, and representations of May Day. The meaning of seasonal change has been the most significant one amongst different countries.

May Day is one of the four ancient Celtic cross-quarter days, making it an astronomical holiday as it falls between the March equinox and June solstice. Originating from its Celtic name, “Belthane,” Beltane was a spring celebration that included dancing, singing, special bonfires, and house doors and animals would be decorated with yellow May flowers and ribbons. During this time, in various communities in Ireland, people would visit special wells and the Bethane dew was believed to bring beauty and youthfulness to those around it.

In the Middle Ages, English villages had homes with maypoles from rejoice and celebrations of May Day. Villagers would go into the woods to find maypoles set up from towns and cities. Because maypoles came in different sizes, villages would compete with each other to see who had the tallest one. People would dance around them because the pole symbolized male fertility as baskets and wreaths symbolized female fertility.

In the 19th century, a new meaning of May Day came about. May Day also became known as International Workers’ Day for labor rights and an eight hour work- day in the United States.

As time went on, different cultures created their own traditions in alignment with their beliefs. Europeans and Americans celebrate May Day with flower crowns, maypole dancing, and by making flower baskets to share with loved ones. In Hawaii, May Day is known as “Lei Day”, a celebration of the aloha spirit and the giving of the flower. What a better way to celebrate than with the people you love!

Credit : National Day

Picture Credit : Google

Kwanzaa is a celebration of African family, community, and culture. This African American holiday was created in 1966 by a professor named Maulana Karenga. The holiday is based on African harvest festivals. Its name comes from the African language Swahili and means “first fruits.” The holiday takes place each year from December 26 to January 1.

The symbols of the festival come from different African cultures. The symbols include a candleholder, seven candles, ears of corn, gifts, and a unity cup. The celebrants use the unity cup to salute their ancestors and to show unity in the family and community. Each day of Kwanzaa is dedicated to one of seven principles, or ideas. The principles are unity, self-determination, collective responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity, and faith. Each night, one or more of seven candles arranged in a candleholder is lit. Then, one of the seven principles is discussed. Kwanzaa is also celebrated with a community feast on December 31.

Aside from the seven principles or traditions, Kwanzaa also has seven holiday symbols, namely crops (fruits, nuts, and vegetables), gifts, ears of corn, and straw mat. Moreover, there are seven candles colored black, green and red on a kinara (candleholder) and community cup.

The celebration on the last day of the year is usually grand, with a community feast or karamu, where African-American families are joining the celebration. Some of them wear traditional clothes. There could be traditional African drums, dances, songs, poetry reading, and storytelling. Typically, the feast consists of traditional African dishes.

Credit : Britannica

Picture Credit : Google

It derives from the Pennsylvania Dutch superstition that if a groundhog emerging from its burrow on this day sees its shadow due to clear weather, it will retreat to its den and winter will persist for six more weeks; if it does not see its shadow because of cloudiness, spring will arrive early.

While the tradition remains popular in modern times, studies have found no consistent correlation between a groundhog seeing its shadow and the subsequent arrival time of spring-like weather.

The weather lore was brought from German-speaking areas where the badger (German: Dachs) is the forecasting animal. This appears to be an enhanced version of the lore that clear weather on the Christian festival of Candlemas forebodes a prolonged winter.

The Groundhog Day ceremony held at Punxsutawney in western Pennsylvania, centering on a semi-mythical groundhog named Punxsutawney Phil, has become the most frequently attended ceremony. Grundsow Lodges in Pennsylvania Dutch Country in the southeastern part of the state observe the occasion as well. Other cities in the United States and Canada also have adopted the event.

Picture Credit : Google

Dia de los Muertos—the Day of the Dead—is a holiday celebrated on November 1. Although marked throughout Latin America, Dia de los Muertos is most strongly associated with Mexico, where the tradition originated.

Dia de los Muertos honors the dead with festivals and lively celebrations, a typically Latin American custom that combines indigenous Aztec ritual with Catholicism, brought to the region by Spanish conquistadores. (Dia de los Muertos is celebrated on All Saints Day and All Souls Day, minor holidays in the Catholic calendar.)

Assured that the dead would be insulted by mourning or sadness, Dia de los Muertos celebrates the lives of the deceased with food, drink, parties, and activities the dead enjoyed in life. Dia de los Muertos recognizes death as a natural part of the human experience, a continuum with birth, childhood, and growing up to become a contributing member of the community. On Dia de los Muertos, the dead are also a part of the community, awakened from their eternal sleep to share celebrations with their loved ones.

The most familiar symbol of Dia de los Muertos may be the calacas and calaveras (skeletons and skulls), which appear everywhere during the holiday: in candied sweets, as parade masks, as dolls. Calacas and calaveras are almost always portrayed as enjoying life, often in fancy clothes and entertaining situations.

Credit : National Geographic Society

Picture Credit : Google

On the last Sunday of November, among the ruins of the Phra Prang Sam Yot temple in Lopburi, Thailand, a bountiful banquet awaits the guests of honor, none of whom are human. This feast is held in celebration of Lopburi’s thousands of macaques, thought to bring good luck to the area and its people.

The Monkey Buffet Festival kicks off with an opening ceremony that includes performances by dancers in monkey costumes. When the monkeys arrive, hosts remove sheets from the banquet tables, revealing decorative spreads of vibrantly hued fruits and vegetables. The macaques jump across tables and climb towering pyramids of watermelon, durian, lettuce, pineapple, and more, indulging in the nearly two tons of offerings.

Respect for monkeys traces back at least 2,000 years to the epic tale of Rama, a divine prince, and his struggle to rescue his wife, Sita, from the clutches of a demon lord. According to the tale, the monkey king Hanuman and his army helped rescue Sita. Since that time, monkeys have been appreciated as a sign of good luck and prosperity. Lopburi’s annual buffet is one way people mark their appreciation.

While tourists and townspeople may want to rub monkey elbows directly at the table, vendors and food stalls provide sustenance for human attendees.

Credit : Gastro Obscura 

Picture Credit : Google