Lifestyle

Have you tried the 10-bird roast?

Turkey Whatever bird you serve up for Christmas, someone is sure to cry fowl. Because it's hard to satisfy everyone's taste in poultry... until now, that is.

Because one cook has come up with a spectacular solution to the seasonal dinner dilemma.

Take one 18lb turkey... and stuff it with nine other birds.

Celebrity chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, who is championing the 10-bird roast, has deemed it "one of the most spectacular and delicious roasts you can lay before your loved ones at Yuletide."

The turkey is stuffed with a goose, duck, mallard, guinea fowl, chicken, pheasant, partridge, pigeon and woodcock.

Stuffed!
How to cook the perfect dinner.

However the roast, which weighs 22lb when cooked, contains around 10,000 calories, compared to the 3,000 calories of the average turkey. It also carries a hefty 160 price tag and takes over nine hours to prepare and cook.

Yesterday Mr Fearnley-Whittingstall told the Daily Mail: "It is the perfect dish as it has the benefit of offering the two favourite Christmas birds together.

"And once you've taken the decision to do that, you may as well take it one step further and add some others.

"This is a spectacular and celebratory dish and it's the time of year when people have a lot of time on their hands to prepare something like this.

"It is worth it because it is absolutely delicious."

Mr Fearnley-Whittingstall came up with the dish for the Christmas special of his successful Channel 4 River Cottage series - which goes out tonight and shows him cooking a medieval banquet for friends.

The roast feeds around 30 people and as well as the ten birds, also includes stuffing made from 2lb of sausage meat and half a pound of streaky bacon along with sage, port and red wine.

How to cook your 10-bird roast

Bone the turkey leaving the legs, wings and breast and clean out the inside
Slice the breasts of the other birds and remove the skin
Lay the turkey breast side down
Press a layer of stuffing around the inside
Take two goose breasts and place in the middle and then cover with stuffing
Continue with the rest of the breasts, with a layer of stuffing between each
Sew the turkey together
Smear with butter, cover with streaky bacon and wrap in foil
Place in a pre-heated oven at 200C for an hour then 150C for four to six hours
Serve with crisp roast potatoes, roast parsnips and some fresh, lightly cooked greens, such as kale, cabbage, or the beloved Brussels sprouts

How much does it cost
Turkey: 56.00
Goose: 53.00
Farmed duck: 8.99
Mallard: 5.50
Guinea fowl: 11.00
Chicken: 4.60
Pheasant: 5.00
Partridge: 4.70
Pigeon: 2.90
Woodcock: 9.20
Total: 160.89