Christmas Meal Tradition – Turkey Dinner
Christmas is here and there are those traditional things that we have come to enjoy in our respective households. Whether it is being with the entire family under one roof or travelling. But wherever you go there are those long-established traditions that make this festive season one to enjoy. For many when you think about Christmas tradition, aside from the exchange of gifts and the setting up of Christmas decorations, food often takes center stage. And when you talk food, most people think of turkey dinner around this time. In tonight’s episode of Kolcha Tuesday, we go hunting for that ham and turkey to make that perfect Christmas meal.
Residents have been going about making their final purchases for the Christmas holidays. As the weekend quickly draws near, they are trying to purchase all the trappings of a turkey dinner.
Duane Moody
Duane Moody (Standup)
“Among one of the first stops is right here on North Front Street at the Belize City Branch of Quality Poultry Products. We caught up with some shoppers as well as the branch manager, Andre Salgado.”
Andre Salgado
Andre Salgado, Quality Poultry Product Manager, Belize City Branch
“Turkey is a part of a Christmas tradition, a Christmas feeling. When you get up in the morning, you smell that turkey baking or the chicken baking and it gives you the warm sense of you know what, it is Christmas day and we are going to have an awesome time as a family and yes Quality Poultry is a part of your family. We do have turkeys from eight to twelve pounds, all the way up to twenty-three, twenty-four pounds. So we do cater for the size of your specific family. When people come here it is more of the option that you can get. So you would come here and ask the staff that you would like a turkey for fifty dollars and my guys would go to the back and we would go through all the crates to ensure that you get a turkey for the price that you would like. Here you get the customer service.”
Dila Garnett
Dila Garnett, Belize City Resident
“We like everything, the full works. Yo get yo ham, yo turkey dah Quality Poultry and yo have to come first because yo get the best in stock.”
Duane Moody
“You got wah big family that you cater for?”
Dila Garnett
“Well actually, dah just me my grandma and my son, so we are celebrating it small, so small ham, small turkey.”
If you travel across the country, you are likely to find that tamales or relleno is going to be part of the celebration this festive weekend. But during this time, it is traditional that in most households, turkey dinner is what’s going to be on the menu for December twenty-fifth.
Iselma Martinez
Iselma Martinez, Resident
“The traditional turkey dinner, tamales, rice and beans the whole trimmings.”
Duane Moody
“So you guys have tamales as well?”
Iselma Martinez
“Yes we do. Traditionally, our grandma – we would all gather around and make about three hundred and odd tamales just for the family, share with friends and all of that. Grandma is no longer here, so that tradition has ended. I try to make a few but it is not the same. So it’s just the turkey dinner tradition.”
Andre Salgado
“We do have chickens from medium size all the way up to extra large – the big ones that you can go and you can put in your oven and season it just like a turkey and so we do have those available. In the north I know we do have ‘gallina’ which is the stewing hen because every culture in Belize is different for what a traditional Christmas is.”
If you are a ham lover, picking out that perfect cut – whether imported or locally produced – could be a daunting task. The folks over at Meat Supply Butchery on Baymen Avenue are there to help you.
Abraham Amaya
Abraham Amaya, Processor, Meat Supply Butchery
“The most common one would be the shoulder, what we call the picnic ham – it’s the cheapest one of all, it is the most common one. Then we also have the legs. We offer them with skin, without skin. The leg also comes without bone which is a hundred percent eatable or usable – no waste from the boneless and it’s already smoked, it is already cooked so you can use it directly whichever way you want to. it’s been different this year, since the country is recovering from the COVID that has passed on by, things are getting a little normal now and traffic is getting heavier for us.”
Duane Moody
“I heard that you guys are providing not only for everyday people coming in, but also for businesses, restaurants as well.”
Abraham Amaya
“Yes we are offering businesses the special service where they can order for their whole staff and we deliver for them.”
Duane Moody for News Five.
