Roast turkey – pavo Latino style in a clay pot

Roast turkey is a favorite at Casa Bouquet for big family meals. As a Latina, I enjoy cooking holiday feasts with Latino flavor. This pavo Latino style has lime and cilantro for flavor. The roast turkey is cooked in a Romertopf pot, an unglazed terra cotta Etruscan pot which steams the food. Turkey is known as pavo, chompipe, guajolote, or chumpe. I use the 113 pot, which will hold up to a 13 pound turkey. I fill the sink with cold water and submerge the top and bottom of the pot for 15 minutes. I fill the wet pot with the turkey and a ½ inch of wine and place on the center rack in the oven. Then you turn on the oven to 480 degrees. So the pot is starting off cold and being brought slowly up to a very high heat. A roast turkey takes between 60 and 90 minutes to cook (check the meat with a thermometer, it should be 175 degrees). Cover the kitchen counter with 2 or 3 towels or use wooden cutting boards. Carefully take the pot out of the oven (I use oven mitts with pads, or you can use barbecue mitts) and place on the cloth. Carefully tip the top of the pot away from you (you don’t want the steam in your face), and place it on the cloth. Use the drippings for the best gravy! You will need a large Romertopf clay pot, up to 4 cloth towels, barbecue mitts, saucepan, whisk, and a sharp knife.

Instructions for roast turkey (pavo Latino style)

Defrost a turkey, 13 pounds or smaller (allow 3 to 4 days in the refrigerator). Two or 2 ½ hours before meal time, place the lid of the pot in the sink. Fill the sink and the lid with cold water. Place the bottom in the lid and fill with water. Soak for 15 minutes. Wash the apple, limes, and cilantro. Cut the apple and limes into large chunks, removing the seeds. If you wish, cut the main part of the stems of cilantro off. Tip: you can use all limes if you wish and parsley instead of cilantro. These flavors will be in the gravy. Agnes is allergic to cilantro, so I have to be careful! Place the rack one level down from the center of the oven. In a clean sink, open up the turkey package and remove all giblet packs, strings, and any other packets. Wash the turkey thoroughly inside and out, using warm water. Pat dry with paper towels. Tip: Wear disposable gloves for this, or be sure to wash your hands with warm water and soap after finishing. Pour 1 tbsp. salt into your hand. Vigorously rub the interior cavity of the turkey to coat with salt. Use a second tbsp. to rub the back of the turkey. Use the third tbsp. to rub the breast of the turkey. Use the fourth tbsp. to make sure all areas are salted. Repeat the process with 1 tsp. of ground thyme on each part of the turkey. Place the turkey in the bottom of the pot, breast side up. Stuff the turkey with the apple, limes, and cilantro. Pour the wine into the side of the pot (not over the turkey). The wine should be about ½ inch deep in the pot. Tip: make sure you really like the wine. It will be a strong component of your gravy.

Put the top on the pot. Place the pot in the oven. Heat the oven to 480 degrees. Cook for 90 minutes.

Tip: check the turkey at 60 minutes, especially if it’s small. It might be done sooner!

Prepare a counter close to the oven with towels or wooden cutting boards. Use mitts plus potholders to take the pot from the oven to the counter. Tip: make sure someone is in the kitchen to spot you. This is a VERY hot pot and if you have a spill, you might attempt to save the turkey or the pot instead of yourself!

Carefully tilt the top of the pot away from yourself to let the steam out. Place on towels on counter. Use a food thermometer to check the center of the breast. It should be 175 degrees. If the turkey is done but not as brown as you like, turn off the oven and return the pot without the lid to the oven for 10 minutes or so. When done, use a knife to loosen the turkey from the sides of the pot. Transfer the roast turkey to a cutting board for carving.

Carefully pour the drippings into a saucepan. Add herbs to the drippings to taste. I like about a tsp each of dried rosemary and thyme. Set the temperature to medium low. Slowly add 1 tbsp arrowroot powder while whisking. Tip: I put the arrowroot in my left palm. While stirring with my right, I wiggle my left hand to allow the powder to slowly drop into the gravy. Continue to heat, stir, and add arrowroot until the gravy is thickened. Add more white wine if needed for taste. Tip: You want the gravy to be heating just at or below a simmer. Adjust the heat accordingly.

Gravy is a very important part of our feasts. It’s become a tradition to add another gravy boat to the table when we’ve added a new member of the family. 

Recipe

Nutrition facts for Latino roast turkey with gravy

This nutrition chart is approximate for 32 oz. of roast turkey meat and gravy. You can lower your sodium intake by not eating the skin. I’ll be looking for comments below, or contact me at lisa [at] thecasabouquet[dot]com.

Resource links

• http://www.whats4eats.com/poultry/pavo-salvadoreno-recipe
  • Salvadoreño roast turkey with sauce from What’s 4 Eats
• http://www.foodnetwork.com/videos/how-to-carve-a-turkey-0112583.html
  • Alton Brown explains how to carve a turkey
• http://www.butterball.com/how-tos/thaw-a-turkey
  • How to thaw a frozen turkey from Butterball
• http://www.foodtimeline.org/foodmeats.html#turkey
  • Turkey and stuffing history from Food Timeline

Let’s talk story

My Mama came to the US from Nicaragua. In her generation, young ladies didn’t necessarily learn to cook. But we ate mangoes and coconuts, managed to find Caribbean restaurants that served the foods she loved, and eventually we learned how to make some of the recipes. Nacatamales are a beloved special meal treat, but I haven’t mastered that yet (I’ve had some good ones in Miami!). For a holiday feast, my menu might include black bean soup, plátanos fritos (crispy fried plantains), achiote rice (rice with annatto seasoning), cornbread dressing, and vigorón (cabbage slaw salad with yuca and crispy pork rinds). Affiliate links: if you make a purchase using these links, I’ll receive a small compensation towards maintaining this blog, at no extra cost to you.

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