Indian Cooking with British Turkey and Cyrus Todiwala

On Tuesday night I was invited to Café Spice Namaste in London for a cookery demo by celebrity chef Cyrus Todiwala using British Turkey. I’m trying to go to more and more blogging events to get over my fear of new people and thankfully Filipa and Lilinha were very kind and took me under their wing.

The evening kicked off with a quick talk and introduction from Turkey Farmer Paul Kelly who actually is based in Danbury in Essex. Paul was fabulous – very entertaining and also informative, the amount of time and care that goes into raising a turkey is incredible. It’s also crazy to hear that outside of Christmas, the UK are one of the lowest consumers of turkey in Europe!

Then Cyrus took centre stage to do some cooking for us – using some turkey liver and turkey neck. I must admit, I was internally wincing at the thought of eating either, but, I was happy to give it a try. Cyrus was wonderful to watch, taking questions from all the gathered foodies, mixing answers with stories and tales of India, a truly fascinating and clever chap.

He served up the Turkey Liver first of all, the room was buzzing with sounds of ‘Hmmm – It’s delicious’ and ‘Oh Wow.. That’s Good’ – I actually really liked it, it had such a nice flavour! Cyrus then knocked up a Turkey Egg Omelette with an Indian twist – it was AMAZING, the eggs made an awesome omelette, and the spices and herbs Cyrus used were perfect! We then got served the part I was dreading, the turkey neck.

I really don’t like meat on the bone, it makes me feel sick, but being polite, I thought I should at least try what I’d been given, I’m glad I did! There wasn’t masses of meat, but it all fell off the bone – not only that – it was DELICIOUS. I had never even thought of cooking a Turkey Neck!

Then came the Indian Feast, our start was a trio of Indian goodies – the little pie was a real surprise. Why? Because it was Turkey Heart Pie (Yes – Really!), Cyrus decided not to tell us until after our plates were clean. I’m glad he did, I’d probably mentally make myself NOT enjoy it, truth is – it was divine!

Now, unfortunately, this is where it all gets a little hazy – the lovely waiting staff at Café Spice Namaste were very generous with their servings of wine. Our main course consisted of an assortment of curries and sides, most containing British Turkey! The dessert, wasn’t entirely turkey based, Cyrus had knocked up a gorgeous Creme Brulee (I think!) with Turkey Eggs with a fruit salad side.

I did have a fantastic time chatting away with the Chairman of Kelly’s Turkey – Derek Kelly – such a top chap who seemed keener to party the night away the most of the young’uns! Alas, it wasn’t to be, we all sloped off into the night, a lot fuller, and a fair bit tipsier that we arrived! It was a fabulous night and Cyrus and British Turkey certainly know how to ‘do’ a blogger event!

Header Image from Filipa Kay – Cheers Lovely