Thursday, November 27, 1997

The new Thanksgiving dinner: gravy, but turkeys not invited

By LARA ROSENTHAL The Wall Street Journal

Watch out, Butterball! The tofu turkeys are coming.

Vegetarians, tired of eating bean roast and stuffed pumpkin while the nation's carnivores dine on fowl every Thanksgiving, are finding new ways to be included. They and their guests will consume an estimated 26,000 "alternative turkeys" made of tofu and other plant products this year, four times as many as in 1996.

While that's still a fraction of the 67 million real birds eaten on Thanksgiving and Christmas, companies that make faux birds are struggling to meet demand.

One reason is that tofu turkeys have come a long way since they made their debut in the mid 1990s. The "Tofu Turkey" made by Fresh Tofu Inc. of Easton, Pa., is a flat mold of marinated tofu, hand-scored to create feathers that fluff up when baked (at 300 degrees, for 12 minutes). Ursula Ruedenberg of Brooklyn, N.Y., says it reminds her of turkeys she drew in grade school by tracing her fingers. "The fun replaces the feeling you are left out," she says.

The "Tofurky," made by Turtle Island Foods Inc. of Hood River, Ore., comes with gravy, bread-and-rice stuffing and four "drummettes." After all, says President Seth Tibbott, they aren't limited to the bird anatomy, so why not add extras?

There's even a seitan (wheat gluten) turkey called "UnTurkey," made by San Francisco's Now & Zen. Its goals are lofty, promising on the package to "thrill your guests and titillate conversation."

Indeed, besides being a conversation piece, the tofu turkeys fill an emotional emptiness, some vegetarians say. Jerry Werbner, of Portland, Ore., says his carnivore friends used to come to his Thanksgiving dinners "with some trepidation. We would have to make simulated meatloaf and there was a longing for something traditional." This year, as last year, he's baking a Tofurky, and plans to serve it with mashed potatoes, green beans, candied yams and cranberry sauce.

Tofu turkeys can even ease strains in families split by gastronomic differences. Last year, Rod Johnson of Tillamook, Ore., drove three hours to get a Tofurky for his two vegetarian daughters. It "helped me feel not like such a bad guy when I'm sitting there eating turkey," he says.

Prices for the faux birds are somewhat higher than for turkeys, ranging from $16 to $40 to serve four to eight. But they can be sliced and used for sandwiches and other leftovers just like the real thing.