There’s no question — turkey is the icon of the Thanksgiving table: no vision of the holiday is complete without a glistening bird carved tableside before gathered company.

For vegetarians hoping to partake in the Turkey feast a certain phenomenon arose in pop culture in the 1980s: the Tofurkey. To this day, tofu turkey roasts abound online and in food co-ops across the country, and the Oregon-based brand Tofurky sells an entire line of plant-based products from tofu deli slices to the roast itself.

One day browsing the footnotes of food historian Bill Shurtleff’s History of Soy Sauce — one of his classic books tracing the roots of soy products in North America — I encountered an interesting claim: the first Tofu Turkey was baked in Telluride in 1978.

Wondering ‘could it be true?’ I brought the question to Molly Daniel of the Telluride Historical Museum. But, browsing the archives, Daniel reports “I looked and couldn’t find anything, unfortunately.”

Still, she says such an innovation would’ve made sense in Telluride in the 1970s.

“The 1970s were kind of Telluride’s transitional years. People coming for the ski area — Joe Zoline of course opened the ski area in 1972,” explains Daniel. “There’s a lot of idealism, a lot of resourcefulness, and definitely a lot of self -governance which led to a creative atmosphere and kind of a counter-cultural vibe.”

The footnote, in a few paragraphs, named Matthew Schmit as the owner of a Tofu Shop located in the basement of the Sheridan Opera House which became the site of this Tofurky in question.

A scan of the KOTO archives actually bore fruit. In a newscast from July 1978 reporter Rita Robinson was on the scene to cover the shop’s expansion:

“We’re here in the basement of the Spectrum Shop where the Tofu Shop is located and we’re speaking with Matthew Schmit the owner of the Tofu Shop,” Robinson says.

Schmit, in the archival clip says the shop is expanding. “Initially we’re gonna put in a dining room so that people don't have to eat in the hallway anymore,” says Schmit.

“You’ve been open for nine months and can you tell me how it’s been going?” asks Robinson.

“It's just amazing, really fantastic,” Schmit says.

Through some Googling, I discovered a Tofu Shop in rural Northern California which listed a shop in Telluride as its predecessor. The proprietor? Matthew Schmit. I called the number on the website and lo and behold was greeted by a familiar voice.

“Yeah, my name is Matthew Schmit and I lived in Telluride from ‘74 to ‘79. In ‘77 sometime my friend Tim Mekky was making tofu. And he taught me how to make tofu. I really took a liking to it and together we opened a little tofu shop,” Schmit recalls.

Then in 1978, Schmit says, “myself and some friends and people at the tofu shop decided to have a big Thanksgiving feast. We decided to make a main dish with tofu. A friend of mine at the time was an artist named Craig Boyken who had been around Telluride for a number of years, and he was a painter and sculptor among other things.”

Boyken stacked two large block of fresh tofu together, and carved them up says Schmit “so it looked like a roasted turkey on a platter and I think he even put on some fake drumsticks or something like that. We baked that and it kind of melted down a little bit but it was still a big loaf…and we had a great feast!”

By 1980, Schmit had moved on from Telluride for Northern CA, but he stayed in the Tofu business and for years made Tofurkey dinners to sell to customers for their vegetarian feasts.

The Tofurky brand of food, which is now available nationwide, arose in 1980 in Oregon out of a little tofu shop there run by Seth Tibbot. But whatever the origin story of that Tofurkey is, Schmit assures me it happened in Telluride first.

“I met the guy that started that business and I know for a fact we were making tofu turkeys before they were. So I think our claim to being first is still valid,” Schmit says chuckling. “So there you go!”

In the 70s most tofu was coming from small operations — shops which popped up across the country informed by tofu makers in urban Chinatowns and Japanese immigrant communities.

Charting the course of the first Tofu turkey from a Thanksgiving in Telluride’s countercultural heyday, to the recognized, commercialized staple it is today, is to get a snapshot of Tofu’s mainstreaming into American Culture.

Here’s Schmit: “I have an interest in social science and stuff like that so watching tofu blend into American cuisine has been fascinating to watch and to be a part of. The whole thing has been successful because now you can pretty much find tofu anywhere.”

While Schmit himself no longer carves a tofurkey on thanksgiving day — having had his fill over the many years — he was generous enough to share the Tofu Shop’s recipe with us, which we’ve printed below:

The Tofu Shop’s Thanksgiving Tofurkey

5 pounds fresh, firm, organic tofu

Homemade Stuffing Seasoning:

3 Tbsp fresh chopped sage

2 Tbsp each: marjoram, thyme, savory or rosemary (half the amount if the herb is powdered)

1 Tbsp celery seed

1 tsp black pepper

Combine all ingredients.

Homemade Stuffing:

2 Tbsp canola or sesame oil

1 C diced onion

1 C mushrooms, sliced (wild or cultivated)

2 large cloves garlic, pressed

1 Tbsp Homemade Stuffing Seasoning

1/4 cup soy sauce or tamari

4 C whole wheat bread, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

1/2 C chopped parsley

Basting Liquid

1/4 C canola oil

1/4 soy sauce or tamari

Instructions

1. Mash tofu well in a large bowl. Transfer to a large colander lined with cheesecloth. Press down to even out and smooth tofu. Fold edges of cloth over tofu and place a 5-10 lb weight (such as a cast iron skillet) on top for 1 hour.

2. Prepare stuffing by heating oil in a skillet. Saute the vegetables briefly. Add seasonings, soy sauce and 1/4 C water. Simmer for 5 minutes until veggies are soft. Add bread cubes and parsley and stir. Add more water if dry. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

3. Hollow out tofu to within an inch of the colander, setting aside any removed tofu. Pack in the stuffing, then cover it with the reserved tofu. Pat surface until firm. Oil a baking sheet and flip the tofu onto it and remove the cheesecloth. Mix basting liquid and brush half of it onto the surface. Cover with foil and bake for 1 hour. Remove foil, baste again, and return to the oven to bake for another hour, until tofu is golden brown. Allow to cool slightly before carving.

Recipe developed by Linda Redfield, D.C., N.E. with Matthew Schmit of the Tofu Shop and Meredith McCarty (Healing Cuisine)