A London restaurant has banned turkey at Christmas because it’s 'boring'.
In what some might see as a misguided move, High Timber restaurant in the City of London will not serve turkey this year on the basis that it’s not as good as steak.
Head chef, Justin Saunders said, ‘I have tried cooking turkey every way imaginable and the end result is still an unattractive, bland meat.
‘I think if we are honest, we’d much rather be tucking into a juicy steak at Christmas.’
Brian St Pierre, cookery writer and Decanter’s restaurant critic, does not agree.
‘If you have the same old turkey cooked the same old way then yes, it is boring. It’s like listening to a Barry Manilow album over and over again.
‘But you don’t need to just stick it in the oven. If a chef can’t think of new ways to do turkey, then he’s better off not having it on the menu.’
St Pierre, whose blog carries a recipe for roast turkey stuffed with pancetta and herbs, suggested anyone short of ideas of what to do with the ubiquitous fowl should look to Italy.
‘They love turkey in Italy. Try doing it involtini – sliced and rolled with spices, or braised.’
He also said that if you wanted traditional roast, one of the best ways of roasting was slowly – at least 12 hours – in the coolest oven of the Aga.
‘But not everyone has an Aga, of course.’
DON’T MISS ‘Stuff the Turkey… have goose instead’ – Fiona Beckett on the popular Christmas alternative, in the January issue of Decanter magazine, out on 2 December
http://dads-cooking.blogspot.com/
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Written by Adam Lechmere
