Quite a surprise! Just to further delve into the actual Turducken debate, “beloved football coach”, John Madden, did NOT invent the combo bird idea, but in fact “popularized” the creation when he introduced the dish at a Saints vs. Rams game in 1996. Unfamiliar with this dish? It consists of a deboned duck stuffed into a deboned chicken both of which are then stuffed into a deboned turkey. The English twist is called a Gooducken because they replace a turkey with a goose.
Who really came up with this cool multi-fowl delicacy? The true creator may be unknown, but most in the culinary field attribute Chef Paul Prudhomme from Opelousas, Louisiana as the first to construct this dish. He had said he created this fun combo while cooking at a Wyoming Lodge in the late 60’s. Paul then trademarked his Turducken in 1986 serving it in his restaurant, K-Paul’s Louisiana Kitchen on Chartres St. in the French Quarters of New Orleans.
He included the full recipe in a 1987 cookbook. The stuffing of an animal into the gastric passage of another is called “engastration”, admittedly sounding a tad unappetizing!
Some cooks prefer to stuff each bird with a different filling and add spicy bread crumbs and sausages to any gaps. Most Americans had never heard of a Turducken until John Madden talked up the dish on Thanksgiving at the NFL Turkey Day games and later on Monday Night Football broadcasts. During one game supposedly a sports broadcaster cut through a Turducken with bare hands live on TV to show the layered dish. Madden enjoyed his first taste on December 1 st 1996 while on air during the New Orleans Saints vs St. Louis Rams in the L.A. Superdome.
Sadly, Chef Paul Prudhomme passed away at the age of 75 after a brief illness from an infection. He was an Opelousas native who brought true Cajun cooking to the forefront in the 1980’s. One of his dishes, Blackened Redfish became so popular that a moratorium was put in place severely limiting the number of redfish allowed while fishing.
Starting life as the youngest of 13 children, Paul was always involved in cooking. With no formal culinary schools, just a love for cooking, Paul started his own restaurant at the young age of 17, however without the business knowledge side of ownership, he folded. Yearning to learn all he could, Paul said he packed two suitcases and headed out on his own. He’d find the best restaurant, get hired as dishwasher, etc. but offer to prep for the head chef for free!
Who could pass that up?! Once Paul felt he had learned all he could, he’d pack his two cases up and head to the next great restaurant to pick the brains of each master chef he met along his journeys. As mentioned, he first put his Turducken together at a Wyoming lodge while working. He continued for about 10 years until receiving a phone call with sobering news that his mom was ill. Paul packed up immediately and returned to his hometown, Opelousas, L.A.
After returning home, Paul began working in New Orleans at Maison Dupuy and then Le Pavillion. In 1975, he was named Executive Chef at Commander’s Palace. By 1979, he was ready to do his own thing again, opening K-Paul’s Louisiana Kitchen. The K was for his wife’s name Kay. The nation was excited to hear of these cool new and different twists on American fare. Bringing Cajuns and L.A. into national news also brought his blackening and down-home style of meat and fish recipes to light.
Chef Paul developed his own Seasoning Blends known as Magic Seasonings which are still in most every grocery store, small meat and fresh fish shops as well as on Amazon.
Paul surely traveled to the beat of a different drummer! He was known to be a tad eccentric in the restaurant as there were no reservations, no substitutions….but if you cleaned your plate…you received a gold star! All too often the line to the restaurant stretched all the way down Chartres Street. Paul enjoyed watching people eat his fare, saying it brought so much joy to watch expressions change when tasting. He said the smiles told it all.
Paul was my husband’s uncle and we so enjoyed seeing him at his restaurant as well as the many food shows over the years in the NYC Jacob Javits building. Paul’s older sister, Chef Enola Prudhomme, also a culinary pro opened her own restaurant in Carencro, La., near Lafayette called Prudhomme’s Cajun Café. Both Paul and Enola had published many cookbooks, my favorite being The Prudhomme Family Cookbook which included recipes from all of Paul & Enola’s siblings.
The back book jacket cover shows all the siblings and their wives who contributed. If you happen to have a copy, David’s dad, my father-in-law is the one donning the white cowboy hat.
David and I opened Prudhomme’s Lost Cajun Kitchen in Lancaster County, P.A. in 1990.
Starting with a farmers market stand cooking for busloads of Baltimore tourists and locals alike. Eventually, we found ourselves purchasing an 1896 Victorian Hotel/restaurant up for sheriff’s sale, where we brought Cajun flavors to the land of salt, pepper, butter, P.A. Dutch
and German fare. After 30 years we decided to retire finding our way back to my home state of NJ.