If you had to think of just one food to embody Christmas lunch, it would have to be turkey. It started being a staple part of Yuletide lunch around the 1950s (when fridges and freezers became more widely available) and nowadays the traditional Christmas table is almost always crowned with a roast turkey.

Smart talked to Mario and Edmund Azzopardi, Directors of Smart Butcher, to find out how to make the best and most delicious tasting turkey for the Christmas lunch extravaganza. Now,if anyone knows how to prepare the perfect turkey for Christmas, it has to be the Directors ofSmart Butcher – Mario and Edmund Azzopardi. They say that, first of all, the most important thing when it comes to turkeys is to look for the date and buy one that is as fresh as possible. Turkeys tend to change taste when they are frozen for too long and the meat becomes bitter. Sometimes, it can be difficult to calculate how large a turkey to buy to satisfy the hunger of the whole family. Mario and Edmund say that, most of the time, they calculate that 400g per person should suffice; therefore a 2kg turkey is enough for 4 people (once you consider shrinkage and bone content after cooking). As for the gravy, the best way is to heat up it up a pot and leave it to cool completely, so that, once the fat is solid it can be easily removed. Once this is done, blend the gravy with a processor to make it fine without any pieces. Heat, add salt and pepper and serve. Mario and Edmund hope you have a nice Christmas and… enjoy your turkey!

MARIO AND EDMUNDS’ FAVOURITE TURKEY RECIPE

Remove any feathers from the turkey, as well as any giblets from inside the bird. Cut small pieces of butter and place them over the breast under the skin. Cross the drumsticks and tie them with roasting line or cooking elastic bands. Prepare a dish big enough to hold the turkey. Cut onions to be 1cm thick and place them over the dish and put the turkey the turkey in – breast facing down (this is done so that the

breast is not directly in the oven heat as it stops it from drying up). It is very important that you do not over-cook the turkey as this is what will make it dry out. Generally speaking, cooking time is about one hour per kg of meat at about 215 degrees Celsius. However, other schools of thought go for a more slow-cooking method: 1 hour 15 minutes for every 1kg of meat at about 185 degrees Celsius.