Continental Christmas
One of the joys of having a Pan-European team at Roullier White is the bouncing around of ideas, sharing recipes and tips. Nothing is more interesting than other countries’ festive traditions. Although a Victorian name, the notion of stuffing meat and fish goes back to Roman times, when it was first documented. Wrongly presuming stuffing to be a uniquely British dish, I quizzed my continental colleagues. Roberta Cattaneo joyfully gave me her father’s favourite stuffed turkey recipe. Wash and dry a 4 to 5kg turkey inside and outside – remembering to remove the giblets which are usually in a bag inside. Take 1kg of roasted and peeled chestnuts, 300g dried prunes - soaked overnight in a mixture of water and white wine - 300g of diced Italian sausage, and 2 peeled, finely sliced, pears. Brown 100g butter in a pan, then add all the ingredients and stir until you get uniform dough. Stuff the turkey and sew with string. Put the turkey in a roasting tray with high edges with 150g bu...
