French lessons learned for roasting a Thanksgiving turkey

Despite all of her time spent in Paris, cookbook author Dorie Greenspan had never spent a Thanksgiving in France. One spring, hoping to share the holiday with French friends, Greenspan scoured the markets for a turkey. Standing in line, other patrons offered their recommendations on cooking times for the small, 12-pound bird. “It looked like no other turkey I had ever had,” she remembers. “It looked like a French runway model — flat-chested and legs that went on forever.” Worried that it wouldn’t fit into her oven, it was revealed that turkeys in France are raised to fit into a French pan in a French oven. At 350º — “voila!”— dinner was served.