Mollie Kelly, who founded U.K-based Kelly Turkeys with her husband, Derek, recently died at home in Danbury, United Kingdom. She was 80 years old.
She had a major influence on the company’s practice of breeding for flavor. In her quest to cook the ultimate turkey, she adopted a method of roasting the birds breast-side down that she then passed on through cooking demonstrations to many households in the United Kingdom. She is author of The KellyBronze Turkey Cookbook. English food writer Marguerite Patten has described the Kelly family as a new “dynasty” in the world of food.
Kelly studied at Houghall School of Agriculture in County Durham, where she met Derek. When his American employer left the British market in 1971, Derek and Mollie founded their business with a hatchery at Danbury.
In the early 1980s, they began breeding bronze turkeys, and the business has now sold the KellyBronze for more than 25 years. The KellyBronze won the top award at the British Turkey Awards three years in a row.
Mollie is survived by her husband, four children and six grandchildren.
