Encore Holiday Special: Turkey Joints: A Central New York Holiday Tradition
"Christmas will break your heart."
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Tune in next Wednesday for the second annual LAST CALL Holiday Special followed by next Friday’s very special, holiday-themed Dive Bar Jukebox.
A Bittersweet Christmas Story
I won’t be back home in Central New York for Christmas, but this time of year always makes me think of a rather curious confection made in Nora’s Candy Shop in Rome, New York, known as Turkey Joints. The name comes from the knobby shape of the shiny, metallic-colored, candy-coated rods of chocolate which resemble a skinny turkey leg. A 20-ounce jar contains around 12 turkey joints and those little “knobs” are Brazil nuts that are mixed in with what Nora’s calls “chocolate marrow.” The candy coating doesn’t exactly melt in your mouth like the shell of an M&M but has more of a ribbon-candy shatter and sticks in your teeth like toffee. I honestly fancy Turkey Joints more from nostalgia than actual crave-ability, but they will always be inherently wrapped around memories of my mother.
Starting around Thanksgiving you’ll find stacks of Turkey Joints jars on display at key points-of-purchase in Central New York grocery stores. They’ve long been a Christmas morning tradition with my family. I can remember when they were around $12 a jar and now they hover closer to $28. The original Brazil nut flavor dates back to 1919 and is what you’ll find in the wild, but at Nora’s shop (and online) you can find several other flavors, including Hazelnut (plain and chocolate-covered), Cashew, Coco-Mond (almonds and coconut flakes), and Peanut Butter.
I had always wanted to write about my personal connection to Turkey Joints but every time I got around to pitching a story the long-lead outlets had locked down their December issue months prior. Then during an Oktoberfest party in the garden at Frankies 457 Spuntino, I was talking to Peter Meehan, who was then the editor of Lucky Peach magazine. As I told him about Turkey Joints and my desire to write about them I realized my conversation was turning into an in-person, elevator pitch. He was on his way out but said, “Let’s do it. But we’re closing the holiday issue soon so I’d need it by next week.”
My first hurdle was trying to speak with any of the family members who owned Nora’s Candy Shop. I wanted to at least share a quote or two from them but it was their busy season and, like a lot of small businesses, they had little interest or desire to entertain questions from a writer. But I turned in my draft and worked with Rachel Khong on edits and soon it was in layout. The “Feel the Joy!” holiday issue of Lucky Peach No. 13 was released in mid-November 2014.
So much has changed since then. Two and a half years later Lucky Peach would abruptly shut down due to creative differences between Meehan and David Chang. And with that closing went all of their online assets, including their library of writing. The entire catalog of print magazines are now as collectible as rare books (the holiday issue alone, which also featured stories from Dorie Greenspan and Anthony Bourdain, is listed as high as $100-$150 on eBay). I can’t help but sigh at the mention of being “north of 40” (add a decade to that now) and my blind-eyed optimism about one day having my own family. My then-teenage nephew is 22. And my mother is now gone. She died a few days after my birthday in January 2017.
I mention my father often in my writing but this was the first story about my mother, and the fact that, like most things, it doesn’t still live online somewhere, stings. But I tracked down an edited draft in my email folders and wanted to share it here in the spirit of holiday traditions. Nostalgic, bittersweet, and sentimental? Yes, but so is Christmas.
