Filling (cooking)

Stuffing, filling, or dressing is an edible substance or mixture, often a starch, used to fill a in another food item while cooking. Many foods may be stuffed, including eggs, poultry, seafood, mammals, and vegetables.

Turkey stuffing often consists of cornbread or dried bread, in the form of croutons, cubes or breadcrumbs, pork sausage meat, onion, celery, salt, pepper, and other spices and herbs such as summer savoury, sage, or a mixture like poultry seasoning. Giblets are often used. Popular additions in the United Kingdom include dried fruits and nuts (notably apricots and flaked almonds), and chestnuts.

It is not known when stuffings were first used. The earliest documentary evidence is the Roman cookbook, Apicius De Re Coquinaria, which contains recipes for stuffed chicken, dormouse, hare, and pig. Most of the stuffings described consist of vegetables, herbs and spices, nuts, and spelt (an old cereal), and frequently contain chopped liver, brains, and other organ meat.

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