Sports Calendar

Classically Christmas native oysters can be sent out from the Colchester Oyster Fishery, (www.colchesteroysterfishery.com; 01206 384141) A dozen no. 2 natives £12.95; a dozen no. 1 natives £18 (plus delivery). Also rock oysters: 25 for £12.

The Main Event

Just goose:

It is 20 years since Claire and Robert Symington began raising geese at Seldom Seen farm in Leicestershire, an their flock and profile has continued to rise. These are people who really care about food, who believe that wholesome and home-made is best, and in particular they care about the free range geese they rear on grass and home-grown corn (£4.10 per llb – a 10lb goose will feed 8 people). They also famous for their Three Bird Roast: a boned goose stuffed with a boned chicken, stuffed with a boned pheasant, sandwiched with spiced pork and orange stuffing. An average roast weighs 10-12lb, will feed 12-15 people and costs £7.20 per lb. They also farm range bronze turkeys (£3.80 per lb) and if you collect your bird in person from the farm there are Christmas goodies on sale in the farm shop, from Brussels sprouts to mince pies. www.seldomseenfarm.co.uk; 0116 259 6742. Also via Forman & Field.

Just turkey:

Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall have worked wonders in highlighting the plight of intensively farmed chickens, but remember that mass produced turkeys can also have similarly miserable lives. So plump instead for an organic or free range farm turkey. For one that fits the bill from a welfare and taste point of view, you can’t go wrong with a KellyBronze, developed from a cross of traditional Bronze bloodlines by the Kelly family of Danbury, Essex, slowly grown, traditionally plucked by hand and hung for at least 10 days. These days, to meet demand, the turkeys are also farmed for them by a network of farm franchises, who adhere to their stringent standards (01245 223581; www.kelly-turkeys.com; from £65.85 for a 4kg turkey; breast joint, approx 1.5kg (serves 4-5) £34.35). Also from Forman & Field.

Just Beef:

Jack O’Shea, the dashing former horse trainer from County Tipperary, specializes in beautifully marbled Irish Angus beef, butchered in the French style, tailored to his customer’s tastes and aged between four and six weeks (around £13.95 per kg). For Christmas he recommends a classic, French trimmed 3-5 bone roast (a 3-bone joint, he says, could feed 8-9 people). You can buy from his Knightsbridge shop (0207 581 7771), his new meat counter at Selfridge’s Food Hall in Oxford Street, or order on-line via www.jackoshea.com

Just ham:

A Christmas ham should have a look-at-me air of distinction that raises it about the joints of ham and gammon we buy all year round, and Richard Woodall’s whole Cumberland ham on the bone is mighty and impressive, resoundingly rich and deeply flavoured thanks to the old fashioned curing and maturing that the Woodall family have been practising since 1828. Weighing 5-6kg it costs £63, but it will feed the masses all over the Christmas period. 01229 717237; www.richardwoodall.com

The easy option:

There are many boned and stuffed turkey and geese joints being offered this Christmas, but a particularly tasty one comes from Forman & Field. Made in their own kitchens, it is a boned out Bronze turkey breast, around a stuffing of chestnut, sage and sausagemeat from Simply Sausages, all wrapped in Richard Woodall’s bacon, which you just need to crisp up in the oven for about 20 minutes, until heated right through. £32.95 for 1kg (serves 6).

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