The Christmas Bird, Marinated Overnight and Roasted Golden

At home in Guadeloupe, Christmas was never turkey. It was ham, pigeon peas with rice, boudin to eat standing up, and somebody singing in the next room. I have written about all of that in Christmas in the Caribbean.

Then I came to England, and the turkey came into my life. The first one I cooked was the English way, with butter and a little thyme, and it was fine. Fine is the problem with turkey. It is a big, lean bird that needs help, and nobody gives it any.

So the second year I did what any Caribbean cook does with meat that needs help. I marinated it. Overnight, under the skin, with spring onion, thyme, allspice, lime and my own hot sauce. That is jerk. It is Jamaican, not Guadeloupean, but the whole Caribbean understands it: the marinade does the work, and the fire finishes it.

Now that is the turkey my family asks for. The skin goes deep mahogany, the meat underneath is seasoned all the way through, and the kitchen smells like a Caribbean Christmas by eleven in the morning.

It is also easier than a normal turkey, because the hard part happens the night before, when you have time. On the day, it goes in the oven, and you get on with everything else.

Let me show you how I make it.

Recipe at a glance

• Cuisine: Caribbean (a Jamaican jerk marinade on an English Christmas bird)
• Prep: 30 minutes • Cook: about 2 hours 45 minutes for a 4.5kg turkey • Total: about 3 hours 15 minutes, plus overnight marinating and 45 minutes resting
• Serves: 8, with leftovers
• Featured sauce: Caribbean Hot Sauce
• Heat level: 7/10 in the skin, much gentler in the meat. See below to make it milder
• Diet: gluten free and dairy free as written, made with tamari instead of soy sauce, cornflour for the gravy and a gluten free stock

What you’ll need

This is written for a whole turkey of about 4.5kg, which feeds 8 with leftovers. For a turkey crown of about 2.5kg, which feeds 6, use half the marinade and see the timings in step 6.

For the turkey

• 1 whole turkey, about 4.5kg, fully defrosted, giblets removed
• 2 onions, halved
• 2 carrots, halved lengthways
• 1 lime, halved
• A few sprigs of thyme
• 250ml water

For the jerk marinade

• 6 tbsp Caribbean Hot Sauce
• 6 spring onions, roughly chopped
• 1 onion, roughly chopped
• 6 garlic cloves, peeled
• A thumb of fresh ginger, peeled
• 2 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
• 1 tbsp ground allspice
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 2 tbsp soft dark brown sugar
• 3 tbsp gluten free tamari
• Juice of 2 limes
• 4 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper

For the glaze

• 4 tbsp of the marinade, set aside before it touches the turkey
• 3 tbsp honey
• 1 tbsp Caribbean Hot Sauce

For the gravy

• The roasting juices
• 600ml gluten free chicken or turkey stock
• 1 tbsp cornflour, mixed with 2 tbsp cold water
• A squeeze of lime
• 1 tsp Caribbean Hot Sauce, or to taste

How I make it

1. Make the marinade. Put every marinade ingredient into a blender and blitz to a thick, rough paste. Taste a tiny amount on the end of a spoon: it should be salty, hot and very lively, because it has a lot of turkey to season. Spoon 4 tablespoons into a small jar for the glaze and put it in the fridge. Do this first, before anything touches raw meat.

2. Loosen the skin. Pat the turkey dry with kitchen paper. Starting at the neck end, slide your fingers gently between the skin and the breast meat, working all the way down to the legs without tearing the skin. Then do the same over the thighs from the cavity end. Take your time; this is where the flavour goes.

3. Marinate under the skin. Push about two thirds of the marinade under the skin, spreading it over the breasts and thighs by pressing on the outside of the skin. Rub the rest over the outside and inside the cavity. Wear gloves if you have them: the Scotch bonnet in the sauce is real.

4. Leave it overnight. Put the turkey on a tray, cover it, and leave it in the fridge for at least 12 hours and up to 24. Take it out of the fridge about an hour before cooking.

5. Get it into the oven. Heat the oven to 190°C (170°C fan). Put the onions, carrots, halved lime and thyme in a large roasting tin with the water, and sit the turkey on top, breast up. Cover the tin loosely with foil. The sugar in the marinade would burn without it.

6. Roast. Roast for about 35 minutes per kg, so about 2 hours 40 minutes for a 4.5kg turkey. A 2.5kg crown needs about 1 hour 30 minutes. Check the tin every hour and add a splash of water if it is drying out, so the juices do not burn.

7. Glaze. For the last 40 minutes, take the foil off. Mix the reserved marinade with the honey and the tablespoon of hot sauce, and brush it all over the skin. Brush again after 20 minutes. If the skin darkens too fast, lay the foil back on loosely.

8. Check it is cooked. This is the step that matters most. Push a meat thermometer into the thickest part of the thigh, not touching the bone. It must read at least 75°C. The juices should run clear, with no pink, when you pierce the thigh. If it is not there yet, give it another 15 minutes and check again. The timings above are a guide; the thermometer decides.

9. Rest it. Lift the turkey onto a board, cover it loosely with foil and a clean tea towel, and leave it for at least 45 minutes. It stays hot, the juices settle back into the meat, and you get your oven back for the potatoes.

10. Make the gravy. Tip the roasting tin, press the vegetables with a spoon to squeeze out their juice, and spoon off most of the fat. Put the tin over a medium heat, pour in the stock and scrape up everything stuck to the bottom. Strain into a pan, bring to the boil and stir in the cornflour mixture. Simmer for 2 minutes until it thickens. Finish with a squeeze of lime, the resting juices from the board, and hot sauce to taste.

The role of Caribbean Hot Sauce in this dish

A jerk marinade needs Scotch bonnet. Normally that means buying fresh ones, deseeding them and hoping you guessed the heat right, because no two Scotch bonnets are the same.

My Caribbean Hot Sauce is mostly Scotch bonnet and white onion, with garlic, vinegar and a little salt and white pepper. So six spoons of it gives the marinade its fire, its fruity Scotch bonnet perfume and some of its onion and garlic all at once, and the heat is the same every time. The vinegar also helps the marinade into the meat overnight.

Then a spoon of it goes into the glaze, so the skin gets a fresh hit of heat on top of the deeper seasoning underneath, and another into the gravy, where it lifts everything without making it hot.

Make this jerk turkey milder or hotter

Milder: use 3 tablespoons of Caribbean Hot Sauce in the marinade instead of 6, and leave it out of the glaze and the gravy. Most of the heat sits in the skin, so anyone who wants it gentle can have breast meat without skin, and it will be well seasoned but warm rather than hot.

Hotter: put a small bowl of Caribbean Hot Sauce on the table. In my family, that bowl is empty before the crackers are pulled.

Tips from my kitchen

Under the skin, not just on top. Marinade on the outside of a turkey mostly seasons the skin. Under the skin, it seasons the meat. That is the whole difference between this and a normal roast.

Defrost properly. A frozen turkey needs a long time in the fridge: roughly a day for every 2 to 2.5kg. A 4.5kg bird needs about two days. Count backwards from Christmas Eve, when it needs to go into its marinade.

Do not stuff the cavity. A stuffed turkey cooks unevenly and takes longer to reach a safe temperature. Cook the stuffing in its own dish, and put the onion, lime and thyme in the tin instead.

Trust the thermometer, not the clock. Every oven and every turkey is different. 75°C in the thickest part of the thigh is the answer.

Leftovers. Strip the meat off the bones on Boxing Day and keep it covered in the fridge for up to 2 days. The best thing that can happen to it is my leftover turkey curry.

What to serve it with

On Christmas Day I serve it the English way, with all the trimmings, and a little Caribbean in each of them. Honey roast parsnips with a hot honey glaze, pigs in blankets with a sticky BBQ finish, and my cranberry sauce, which has a soft warmth in it and cuts through the rich meat beautifully.

If you want to go further towards the Caribbean, put a pot of rice and peas on the table next to the roast potatoes. Nobody will complain about having both.

FAQ

What is jerk turkey?

Jerk turkey is turkey marinated with a Jamaican jerk paste of Scotch bonnet chilli, allspice, thyme, spring onion, garlic and lime, then roasted. The marinade goes under the skin overnight, so the meat is seasoned all the way through, and the skin roasts to a dark, sticky finish.

How long should I marinate a turkey?

At least 12 hours and up to 24, in the fridge. Less than that and the flavour stays in the skin. Much longer and the lime starts to change the texture of the meat.

Can I make jerk turkey with a crown or a breast joint?

Yes. Use half the marinade for a 2.5kg crown, and roast it for about 1 hour 30 minutes at 190°C (170°C fan). A boneless breast joint cooks faster again. Whatever the cut, check it reaches 75°C in the thickest part.

Is jerk turkey very spicy?

As written it is a 7 out of 10 in the skin and much gentler in the meat. Halve the hot sauce in the marinade and leave it out of the glaze for a turkey that everyone at the table can eat, then put the jar out for anyone who wants more.

Can I cook jerk turkey on the barbecue?

You can cook a turkey crown in a covered barbecue over indirect heat, which is how jerk is traditionally cooked. Keep the lid down, aim for a steady 170 to 190°C inside, and use a thermometer, because barbecues vary even more than ovens.

Final word from me

Every year somebody at the table tells me turkey is boring. And every year they come back for seconds of this one.

Turkey was never the problem. It just needed a Caribbean marinade and a night to think about it. Make the marinade on Christmas Eve, go to bed, and let the fridge do the work.

JP