Born out of the Cajun culinary spirit, a turducken is such an audacious concept it can seem like a joke. But the decadent combination — a deboned chicken stuffed inside of a deboned duck, stuffed inside of a mostly deboned turkey, all swimming in strong Cajun spices — is actually rooted in a classic cooking technique. If executed correctly, a turducken will make a Thanksgiving main dish that guests will never forget.
While its Cajun roots are known, the specific inventor of the turducken is less certain. Sometimes credit is given to Corrine Dunbar's (a New Orleans restaurant that closed in the 1980s) or Hebert's Specialty Meats (a Louisiana-born chain of butcher shops that sells turduckens online). Another potential inventor, the late chef Paul Prudhomme, even trademarked the name "turducken" for his restaurant and cookbook.
Well-established as a local Louisiana delicacy, the turducken hit the big leagues on December 1, 1996. The New Orleans Saints were hosting an NFL game, and the late commentator John Madden was in the press box sampling a turducken. Madden enjoyed it so much that he had turduckens delivered to him all over the country and frequently mentioned them on TV for years, whether or not it was Thanksgiving.
A national obsession was born. The turducken's historic roots and enduring appeal Three different proteins plus stuffing all stacked inside of each other can seem like a uniquely American excess, but turduckens are actually an example of a somewhat forgotte.