Turkey Giblets a la Bourgeoisie

"... if it be true that real happiness consists in making others happy, the author can at least feel a sense of gratification in the thought that his attempts to satisfy the cravings of the inner man have not been wholly un-appreciated by the any he has had the pleasure of serving...."

-- Rufus Estes

Rufus Estes has a story, and quite the story it is. He was born a slave in 1857 in Murray County, Tennessee. He was the youngest of a family that included seven boys and two girls, all of whom -- with their mother -- were owned by D.J. Estes. When the Civil War broke out, the male slaves ran away to join the Union forces, leaving the younger kids to work the plantations. Rufus carried water from the spring to the house, drove cattle to and from the pasture, and did other work. 

After the war ended, Rufus's mother moved her family to Nashville, Tennessee. Rufus sought work, whether it was milking cows (for which he was paid $2.00 per month) or carrying hot dinners to workers in the field (for which he was paid $0.25 per month), Rufus gave all of his earnings to his mother. By the age of sixteen, Rufus got work at Hemphills, a fine dining establishment in Nashville. By the age of twenty-four, he had emigrated north and found a job at a restaurant in Chicago. 

Rufus Estes

Two years later, Rufus Estes started on a track that would define the rest of his life. He got a job with the Pullman Service, which he held for fourteen years. Estes recalled that "some of the most prominent people in the world traveled in the car assigned to me, as I was selected to handle all special parties." The "special parties" included Henry Morton Stanley, the explorer; two Presidents, Grover Cleveland and Benjamin Harrison; and many others.  After leaving the Pullman Service, Estes was hired to run a private car for the president of the Kansas City, Pittsburg & Gould Railroad, which he worked from 1897 to 1907, and, thereafter, he worked as a chef for United States Steel Corporation in Chicago. 

After a career of serving as a chef to the rich and powerful, Rufes Estes became an author, writing Good Things to Eat as Suggested by Rufus: A Collection Practical Recipes for Preparing Meats, Game, Fowl, Fish, Puddings, Pastries, Etc. Published in 1911, his book represents one of the first cookbooks written and published by an African American chef. The recipes contained in that cookbook represent, in Estes' own words, "the labor of years." Estes' labor opens windows into the past, offering glimpses of what people prepared and ate during the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, as well as views of what the elite ate in the palace cars that ran the rails from coast to coast. Dishes such as Bird's Nest Salad to Turkey Truffles (a "fat turkey" stuffed with a mixture that includes three to four pounds of truffles), that is not all, it also gives us a view into what the working class and poor ate as well, like Codfish Hash or Broiled Pig's Feet. 

I read Good Things to Eat and decided to prepare a recipe suggested by Rufus Estes. I wanted a recipe that could bridge the gap between the poor and the rich.  I wanted to prepare something that could have been just as likely to have been prepared for a working class person as it would some rich perosn. I found that dish in Turkey Giblets a la Bourgoisie. Estes's recipe uses the parts of a turkey -- the heart, gizzard, liver and turkey neck -- that most people would discard (especially today), and elevate those ingredients in a delicious way. The recipe produces a wonderful small plate or appetizer that can precede a roast turkey meal. I would suggest serving this dish with some toasted slices of bread, which guests could use to eat the flavorable mixture of turkey and herbs. 

Given I still have Rufus Estes's book, I plan on making more dishes suggested by the accomplished chef. All of these recipes, like this one, are part of my historical cooking journeys that are catalogued in my Federal Project Number One. So, please check it out every once in a while. Until then ....

TURKEY GIBLETS A LA BOURGOISIE

Recipe from Rufus Estes, Good Things to Eat

Serves 2-3

Ingredients:

• Turkey giblets (pinions, feet, neck and gizzard)
• Piece of butter
• Flat leaf parsley
• Sprig of thyme
• Green onions
• Garlic, 1 clove
• Bay Leave
• Flour, spoonful
• Stock, spoonful
• Salt
• Pepper

Directions:

The giblets of the turkey consist of the pinions, feet, neck and gizzard. After having scalded pick them well and put in a saucepan wiht a piece of butter, some parsley, green onions, clove of garlic, sprig of thyme, bay leaf, a spoonful of fluor moistened with stock, salt and pepper. Brown to a good color. 

PEACE.