How the Turducken Made Its Way From New Orleans to Sarasota
Image: Simo Ahmadi
We’ve all had some interesting cravings, but turducken? The idea of a chicken stuffed inside a duck stuffed inside a turkey was said to have been inspired by a customer’s request at Hebert’s Specialty Meats in South Louisiana. In 1986, famed New Orleans chef Paul Prudhomme trademarked the term and popularized the dish. Then Alpine Steakhouse, a family-owned business in Sarasota, boarded the turducken train and began selling its now signature dish here in 1996.
With the Rebhans Comes Turducken
Mark Rebhan and his family moved from New York to Florida in 1972 and started a meat market and bakery that eventually turned into Alpine Steakhouse, a meat market and restaurant. It’s been at its current location, 4520 S. Tamiami Trail in Sarasota, since 1989. Mark began making turducken for special occasions or customer requests, when his son and now co-owner Matt was just a kid.
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Rise of the Turducken in Sarasota
When Food Network star Guy Fieri featured Alpine Steakhouse and its turducken on his show “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” 19 years ago, the restaurant business took off. In fact, its turducken became so popular that Alpine began shipping it across the U.S. Today, it sells more than 1,000 turduckens a year.
How Much Work Is it to Debone a Turducken?
Alpine brings in most of its fresh turkeys, ducks and chickens from Pennsylvania. The birds undergo a day-long process that includes preparing, seasoning and deboning. On average, the Alpine team removes more than 400 bones per turducken.
Image: Simo Ahmadi
The Making of a Turducken
All the stuffings are homemade. This includes homemade cornbread, andouille sausage, fresh spinach, red bell peppers, garlic, Cajun seasoning and more, all layered between each bird. The skin on the duck and chicken is seasoned with Cajun seasoning, and the fat is rendered before the birds are stuffed inside the turkey. To cook, the turducken is sewn up using a needle and butcher twine.
Turducken For the Holidays
Turduckens are most popular during Thanksgiving and Christmas and available in small, medium and large sizes, ranging from $100 to more than $300; slices of turducken are also available for $15-$18.
