Licques Turkey Festival est. 1987

In the small town of Licques (self-named European Turkey Capital), in the Trois Pays area of Nord-Pas-de-Calais, the local turkey farmers parade their turkeys through the village streets on the second weekend of December.

The birds are herded through the town on the Saturday morning, preceded by the Licques majorettes (les Amazones de Licques) and a band.

Throughout the weekend, there is also a Regional Food Market (Marché du Terroir) and a special dinner, called the Licquoise - la potée Licquoise (which has been wrongly described on other websites as a liqueur!), consisting of turkey cooked in stock in an enormous cooking pot; approx. 3,000 meals are served over two days. The festival lasts 3 days.


Accommodation in the Nord/Picardy area of France


A local recipe to try:
Licques Turkey with mushroom sauce and kale with bacon pieces

Serves: 4
Preparation time: 30 mins
Cooking time: 90 mins

Ingredients :
1 small Licques turkey pullet
1 kale
200g bacon pieces
4 carrots
4 turnips
2 leaks
Cèpes mushrooms
25cl crème fraîche
10 juniper berries
1 litre of milk
150g butter
130g flour
1 bouquet garni
25cl white wine
8 rattes du Touquet potatoes
Salt and pepper

Recipe:

- Wash, peel and prepare all the vegetables.
- Place in a large cooking pot, the turkey, the vegetables, the bouquet garni, the juniper berries, ¼ of the kale, salt and pepper.
- Pour over the white wine.

Allow to cook for 1 hour 30 minutes in a medium oven until the turkey is cooked through.

- Peel the potatoes and boil until tender.

- After cooking the turkey, make a white sauce with the butter, flour, milk and cooking juices.
- Season and add some crème fraîche to thicken.
- Chop the rest of the kale, throwing away the outside leaves, blanch in boiling water for a few mins and drain.
- Fry the bacon pieces, set to one side and fry the chopped mushrooms in the bacon fat then add the mushrooms to the sauce.

- Cut the turkey into 4 pieces. On heated serving plates place the kale and the bacon pieces. Add a piece of turkey and pour over sauce.

- Accompany with vegetables from the cooking pot.