12 December,2010 12:15 AM IST | | Melissa D'costa
The purists will say, Christmas is incomplete without a roast stuffed turkey meal. That's only in Charles Dickens novels, and Catholic homes, you'll sigh. Sunday MiD DAY finds you the lady who'll stir up the perfect, juicy stuffed turkey (red wine and roast potatoes on the side) so you can say Hallelujah, without the bother
Pastry chef Christina Fernandes won't look at cupcakes till the end of the year. And that's got nothing to do with a switch of allegiance. "Come December, I'm busy with orders for Stuffed Turkey," she smiles.
A Stuffed Turkey (that weighs between 4 - 5 kg) costs Rs 5,000 onwards.
A smaller stuffed chicken that weighs 2 kg costs Rs 1,200.
Call 9820228420 to order. pics/Mahesh Chafe
Armed with a pastry and baking certification from Mumbai's Sophia Polytechnic, the 31 year-old Cuffe Parade resident is known for her heavenly Apple Crumble. But year-end means she shifts her focus to everyone's favourite and elaborate Christmas meal option -- a Stuffed Roast Turkey.
The recipe for the traditional meal is one she credits her mother for since she grew up watching the family laboriously prepare the dish every year. "But I owe a bit to my mother-in-law too," she quickly adds. "While I picked up my mother's method of seasoning the turkey, I learnt how to prepare the stuffing from my mother-in-law.u00a0
I made a few changes to their recipes, taking clients' tastes into account. So, my stuffing is a bit more spicy. That's how people here like it."
The traditional recipe involves using pork mince, chicken liver, bacon, sausages, carrots, beans, all sauteed along with bread crumbs. The mixture is used to stuff the innards of the bird.
"As additional filling, I also use Macadamia and Pecan nuts. Both, the turkey and the chicken are served with a wine gravy and roast potatoes on the side," she says.
Once stuffed, the turkey has to be set aside for a while to let the meat absorb the juices. "In fact, the bigger the bird, the longer it should be kept aside to take on the flavours," says Fernandes, whose labour of love weighs 4 kg. If you have a small family or a few friends coming over, she recommends ordering a stuffed chicken instead.
A week before Christmas, Fernandes races against time to complete between 40 turkeys and 60 chicken orders.
Since the birds arrive from a trusted supplier only in the second week of December, she isn't left with too much time. "The best bit of having bulk orders is that all the stuffing that remains finally goes into a turkey I make for family. Nothing is wasted."
Drop the chaotic outing idea. Plan a quiet sit-down dinner instead, and soak in the Christmas spirit, traditional-style. Bon app ufffdtit!
How the turkey made its way to the Christmas dinner table
Turkeys were brought to Britain from America, and the tradition of gifting and eating turkey at Christmas became popular only in the Tudor times, in the 15th to 16th centuries. However, being exotic and expensive, the turkey became more popular with the upper classes.
When Queen Victoria ascended the throne, chicken and turkey were too expensive for most people to enjoy. The Queen's Christmas Day menu in 1840 also included beef and a royal roast swan or two, besides turkey.
In northern England, roast beef was the traditional fare for Christmas dinner while in London and the south, goose was a favourite. The poor even made do with rabbit meat.
