[nic99]

Having recently decided it is ok to eat happy, rare breed meat. I am looking at options for christmas dinner. My OH really wants a turkey, so I was wondering if there is such a thing as a rare breed turkey and if so which breeds would come under this category?

[Hopewell]

Yes there are rare breed turkeys. The commercial turkeys are various strains of white or bronze and are broad breasted. The rare breeds come in different colours: black, pied, red, lilac, blue.... Since they are not broad breasted don't expect all that breast meat and it doesn't sit as nicely in the roasting dish as it tips over to one side. But the taste is great and some of us prefer the darker meat anyway. You may find the following site helpful for the different breeds and colours.
www.turkeyclub.org.uk