Chufas and Turkeys in the Turkey Lover's Home

Well I guess the ol' cold winter wind is blowing and you are between seasons, in need of something to do, so you came back to the site to see what is new and just realized that you had not read this tidbit so here you are.  So get out that ol' turkey caller and practice that one call you just couldn't quite get right (check to see that the wife is off doing something), while you pick up some more pointers on how to make next year's fall season even better than this one.  Scout your local area and make a list of farmers who have prime land locations on which a food plot might be placed.   Narrow the list to one or two to work on this year and plan your work then work your plan.

Is your tongue tired of practicing yet?  Well quick!  Get that handful of chufa you saved for the next person who said, "What's a chufa?" and eat one.  Wow - that was good, wasn't it?  Tastes sorta like coconut, but kinda sweet.*   Now you see why turkeys like 'em, and you just might want to plant a few in the garden to have some around to nibble on and share.  You already know how to grow them so we won't go into that again.  *(I know one hi-tech redneck who claims to have eaten so many chufas in his childhood that he claims that coconuts taste kinda like a chufa but not near as good and that almonds make a pretty good substitute if you can't get any chufas.)

So when it is sometime between Labor Day and Halloween next year, you will need to build a (primitive) seed cleaner out of 2x4's and some 1/4 inch hardware cloth for the bottom (e-mail us if you need plans or you can order a kit for $25.00 and save that dreaded ride to the store - order when you are ordering seed and beat the rush).  Now dig your chufa clumps like new potatoes and put them in the cleaner and rub the clumps until the sand is gone.  Remove the "easy to remove debris/tops" and dump in to a tub of water.  Continue this procedure until the tub of water is half full of chufas.  Swirl water to wash the chufas, then skim off all floating debris.   Next pour the chufas back into the cleaner and use the hose to "clean" them.  You are not done yet - you must dry them now.  This is kinda like new potatoes - plenty of room with dry air or hot sun.  (Chicken or other meat boxes make excellent drying containers, if bottom is covered with no more than 2" of chufas and stirred daily.)  When dried to about 12% (slightly wrinkled but chewy), place in freezer bags and put in refrigerator for storage.  The root cellar will work if it is mouse, child and Blue Jay proof.

Some folks pressure cook them at 15 lbs. for 30 minutes and add a little salt before serving, but we recommend the chufa bread.  Just sweet-talk your wife into using that bread maker she just had to have, and substituting chufa flour (grind chufas in food processor until very fine) for 1/2 of the required flour in her favorite recipe.   Don't forget to brag on your chufa-fed wild turkey (which will not be the typical darker, drier, stringier wild turkey) and remind folks that in the first half of this century an acre of chufas were planted just to finish off some hogs to improve the flavor of the pork and get LARD that did not harden.  (This is a result of the unsaturated fat characteristic of chufas.)

Don't forget to make some HORCHATA on Cinco de Mayo for all your Mexican friends.  Other Latino friends will appreciate it anytime as it is still a popular drink in Spain as it has been for over a 1000 years.  (A MILLENNIUM!)