SAMPLE THE BOOK

The turkey is a very large bird. Indeed, the wingspan of an adult turkey can be up to 1.8m and have a mature weight of up to 18kg. Most commercial turkeys will weigh about 4.5kg – 6.5kg.

Kitchiner observed:

“Turkeys (especially large ones) should not be dressed till they have been killed three or four days at least, in cold weather six or eight, or they will neither look white nor eat tender.

Turkeys, and large fowls, should have the strings or sinews of the thighs drawn out.

Truss them with the legs outward, they are much easier carved.”

Turkey has recently become the classic Christmas roast in this country, but it has been traditional Christmas food in Europe for a very long time. Mrs Beeton described roast turkey as follows:

“A noble dish is a turkey, roast or boiled. A Christmas dinner, with the middle classes of this empire, would scarcely be a Christmas dinner without its turkey; and we can hardly imagine an object of greater envy than is presented by a respected portly paterfamilias carving, at the season devoted to good cheer and genial charity …”

Turkey is a really good meat. It is sweeter than chicken, there is more of it and it is a special thing. Reserved for Christmas as it usually is, it is a spectacle and deserving of special attention. The problem, apart from the degree of difficulty in cooking the thing, is that an Australian Christmas is apt to be really, really hot and not the best time to enjoy such a beast. As Clive James observed:

“It was the usual Australian Christmas dinner, taking place in the middle of the day. Despite the temperature being 100°F in the shade, there had been the full panoply of raging hot food, topped off with the volcanic plum pudding smothered in scalding custard. My mother had naturally spiked the pudding with sixpences and threepenny bits, called zacs and trays respectively. Grandpa had collected one of these in the oesophagus. He gave a protracted, strangled gurgle which for a long time we all took to be the beginning of some anecdote. Then Aunt Dot bounded out of her chair and hit him in the back. By some miracle she did not snap his calcified spine. Coated with black crumbs and custard, the zac streaked out of his mouth like a dum-dum and ricocheted off a tureen.”¹³

How can you ignore a dish with a name like bebek betutu? It sounds much better than the more prosaic Balinese roast duck. It simply has to be made. It is somewhat involved but not if you have a little time on your hands. Think of it as something to do on a Sunday afternoon.

Duck (at least 1.8kg) – 1
Belachan* (shrimp paste) – 1 tsp
Shallots (medium size, roughly chopped) – 6
Garlic (peeled, cloves, roughly chopped ) – 6
Galangal* (peeled, finely chopped) – 15g
Ginger* (peeled, finely chopped) – 15g
Kaffir* lime leaf (very thinly sliced) – 5
Candlenut* (unsalted, macadamia nut can be substituted) – 4-5
Lemongrass (white stalk only, bruised and roughly chopped) – 2
Chilli (long, red, deseeded and white membrane removed, roughly chopped) – 2-3
Lime juice (lemon juice can be substituted) – 2 tbsp
Palm sugar* – 40g
Turmeric* (peeled and finely chopped, or dry) – thumb sized piece or 1 tsp if dry
Peppercorn (black, cracked) – 1 tsp
Coriander* (seed, cracked) – 1 tsp
Cumin* (seed, cracked) – 1 tsp
Nutmeg (grated) – pinch
Coconut oil* (vegetable oil can be substituted) – 1 tbsp
Spinach – 300g Cinnamon* (quill) – 1
Banana leaf* (foil can be substituted) – sufficient to wrap duck
* Available from Asian grocers.

Wrap the shrimp paste in foil. Roast in a 180°C oven for 5-10 minutes, until quite strong smelling.

Wash and dry the duck. In a food processor, make a paste of all aromatic ingredients (but not the cinnamon and spinach). Once a smooth paste is achieved, (it is much easier than using a mortar and pestle, like the Balinese), fry the paste in a little coconut oil until aromatic (about 2 minutes). Set the paste aside and allow to cool completely. Use the paste (reserve about 2 tbsp) to rub onto the duck well both inside and outside and refrigerate the duck overnight (covered).

Preheat an oven to 180°C. Blanch the spinach, refresh and squeeze dry. Mix the spinach with the reserved spice paste and place inside the cavity together with a cinnamon stick and 1⁄2 a lemon or lime. Close the cavity with skewers or string. Wrap the duck in the banana leaf or foil.

Place the duck in the oven, reducing the temperature to 120°C after one hour. Cook thereafter for 3-4 hours until the duck is well cooked. Remove the duck from the pan once cooked. Drain off the fat and using a little water deglaze the pan to make a sauce. Brown the duck well under a grill.

Serve at once with rice and the sauce from the pan juices.

Moi is a Balinese river.

The fascinating nature of an egg is not confined to its edible interior. The egg itself is a marvellous piece of evolution. It is hard to find a better example of everyday natural selection.⁴⁸ It is also a remarkable piece of engineering. It is, in fact, an example of an arch. The arch is one of the strongest structures in physics. It takes about 3.5kg of mass in weight or 35 Newtons of static force to break an egg. Remember that an egg weighs between 50-60g. It is remarkable that such a small thing can withstand the force of about 75 times its own mass. The reason why it can do this is all about geometry. The arch shape is very strong. Look in doorways in old buildings like churches. They are often arches. It is a strong way to hold up a building.

The egg is so well designed that compression forces applied evenly to it cannot break the shell. Trust me, it is true. The reason is obvious, eggs are incubated externally to the fowl. That is to say the fowl sits on the egg in order to keep it warm. Poultry does not weigh a great deal, in fact they go to great evolutionary lengths to ensure this. Small bones, and not many of them, small frame, and bones which are very porous to reduce weight. All the better to fly with you see. But I digress.Nonetheless, eggs must not be crushed during the incubation process. To do so would be a very bad thing from an evolutionary point of view, and of course, not great for the egg. Here is a way to test the engineering of evolution, or the evolution of engineering, I do not know which.The best way to illustrate the strength of the egg structure is as follows. I am prepared to share with you a party trick for the kids (and adults) which I have enjoyed for many years. Take a raw egg, hold it in the palm of your hand. Close your hand and apply even pressure. Do not dig your fingers into the egg. Squeeze as hard as you want. You cannot break the egg, unless you are some kind of superman or are cheating. Challenge the kids. They will readily assume that they can break the egg. Bet them a month of putting out the garbage or tidying up their rooms. They will lose. They will hate you. They will get over it. It is funny for me.

Whereas if you tap an egg shell lightly on a hard surface, it will shatter very easily. Yet it is extremely strong under a uniform force, if applied in the right manner. A beautiful piece of engineering and evolution.

I am a river to my (grown up) people.

48 See Darwin, C. – “The Evolution of the Species” for a more erudite explanation.