A chef at the prestigious Claridge’s has given Brits one crucial bit of advice when it comes to cooking their Christmas turkey.
Simon Attridge, the hotel’s culinary director, has given his top tips for getting through one of the most stressful days of the year for people in the kitchen.
He said there’s one important request people should put to their butcher when ordering the bird.
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He said: “It’s very hard to cook a full turkey. Even for us at Claridge’s, it’s almost impossible to cook the legs and the breasts properly. I recommend you ask your butcher to get them boned and rolled, so they’ll take the legs and breasts and roll them
“You get two legs and two breasts and cook them separately. Then you cook them to perfection.”
Simon says there are many traps people can fall into when preparing Christmas dinner.
They include making sure you have enough turkey and making sure you invest in good quality produce.
The chef added: “I do not want to be the guy remembered for running out of turkey at Claridge’s. That would be a disaster.
“Obviously there are a lot of different quality turkeys out there. You can’t turn a badly sourced produce into a great dish. So it’s really important to invest in getting the bird right.
“You get what you pay for. I would recommend looking at the bronze turkey. Then size-wise, you probably want around 5kg for a family turkey.
“We work on the principle of about two portions per kilo of turkey, so five would be about 10 portions. Obviously, with Christmas dinner it’s important you have a bit left over for sandwiches, too.”
“Then you have to be prepared. Not everyone cooks every day, and there’s pressure on Christmas Day lunch when you have the family round. So get as organised as possible.”