Tuesday, 4 August 2009

South African, outdoor, underground turkey

This is a recipe for those who are going to spend an entire day outdoors, and are prepared to wait so long for the food to cook. It is an extremely fun, yet slightly laborious meal, perfect to finish off something like a fishing or hunting trip, or on the last day of camping.

Ingredients:
A whole, large, cleaned turkey.
Flour.
Water.
Oil.
Variety of fruits (apple, pear, pineapple, bananas, peach, apricot all work well.)
Garlic.
Spices.
Fresh herbs.
Onions.
Optionally buckwheat.

Additionally: Thin metal (steel) sheet which will withstand high temperatures, a shovel or two, firewood, large and deep baking pan (must fit turkey,) large surface and rolling pin.

Procedure:
1. Rub the turkey down, inside and out, with crushed garlic mixed with salt, oil and your favourite herbs and spices.
2. Stuff the turkey with the whole onions, garlic, selection of fruit. Make sure the entire turkey is stuffed with an assortment of good things (like the buckwheat).
3. Make some dough with the water and flour, also adding a tiny bit of oil or butter. Roll out a large, circular sheet of the dough which will accomodate the turkey.
4. Place the dough so that it is lying on the large, previously greased baking tray. The surface of the dough should be a lot larger than the tray.
5. Place the stuffed turkey on the tray, on which is the dough, and wrap the dough up and over, forming a sort of bag around the turkey. Fasten the top by moulding it together, so that now the stuffed turkey is completely encased within the dough.

Now dig a hole in the ground about 1m deep, prefferably asking some friends to help you. Light a fire within the hole and let it die down to what looks like red coal.
Place the turkey in its dough bag and tray on the coals. Place the steel sheet on top of the turkey, but in fact not touching the bird. Instead, the tray needs to be deep enough to support the sheet above the creature.
On the sheet, which is roughly the same size as the hole, light another, big bonfire.
Keep a nice campfire going for around 6 or 8 hours to cook the turkey. Dig it up when done, and observe that the turkey is within a shell. Crack this open with a machete and tremble at the aromas.
Serve with the stuffing and anything else you please. Dry white wine is also a good companion.

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