I get my turkey from a local farm and it’s always lovely. Moist and flavourful. The last few Christmas’s I’ve applied a dry brine rub to the turkey 2 days prior to cooking , which has added to the flavour. I also do a ham as my ac prefer ham and use the stock for pea and ham soup .
I usually cook turkey and beef as some of our family group of 10 aren’t keen on turkey.
My Gc couldn’t quite believe me when I was telling how my maternal grandparents used to post us a fresh turkey from their small farm in Ireland when I was a child in the 60s. Rolled up in brown paper and tied with string. My Mum would watch out anxiously in the few days leading up to Christmas for the postal van. It always arrived on time and amazingly we never once had food poisoning despite not owning a fridge.
One year on its journey from rural Ireland by train and boat the brown paper became damp and torn and the legs were poking out when it arrived 🦃
This year we had a rolled turkey breast roast. It was lovely. As an alternative we often have a goose, and one year we had a couple of ducks. With ducks or geese you really only have enough meat for Christmas day.
My DD and her partner don't like turkey and every year they have something different. I'm sure last year I recall they had mutton. They have meat that I never thought of buying. Perhaps my taste buds have changed with age.
Because we have a large Thanksgiving celebration, which always includes turkey, we rarely have it at Christmas.
We had venison this year. It was excellent. Previous years we’ve had salmon, stuffed squash, a very rich mushroom bourguignon, an amazing feta stuffed shoulder of lamb,
This year we had pork which we did Italian style (Porchetta). Our Butcher butterflied it for us and we stuffed it with herbs, thyme, sage, rosemary and fennel. It was delicious and we cut the rest up and froze it in gravy ready for another meal.
I have stopped buying Turkey for quite a few years , we used to get them from a work colleague who had a small holding and they were delicious, but when they stopped doing them I could not find one that tasted as nice. Last year we had roast pork and this year we had a boned and stuffed guinea fowl , which is just the right amount for 2/3 people which is perfect as I don't want much leftover. We ordered it from a company called : The wild meat company , and I have had one ordered from them a few years ago , guinea fowl is tasty like a good quality chicken. Will definitely have one again.
A couple of Christmases ago we bought a turkey crown from a local supermarket (name begins with S). It was horrible and chewy. I ended up throwing the whole thing away. We found a small local butcher who is quite popular in our area and his meat is excellent. We got a turkey crown from there last xmas which was nice but I'm finding that the taste of turkey which I usually love has changed. Maybe it's just me but we got another this year which was far bigger than I wanted so I cooked it and split it into 3. One for xmas dinner and froze the other two to slice for sandwiches at a later date. I said to DH that I was a bit disappointed with turkey and they don't taste the same as they used to do. So next year we are looking to get something else. My daughter said her and her partner had bought a nice piece of beef so I think we will look to getting one instead of a turkey. What meat do you have at xmas instead of turkey? I'm interested in something different.