The way Mary Berry transports her Christmas turkey is genius

By Prudence Wade, PA

It’s the age-old conundrum: what to do if you cook the turkey at home, but then want to transport it to wherever you’re having Christmas?

Luckily, Dame Mary Berry has the perfect answer – and it’s all about repurposing something you already have in the house.

“I roast the turkey at home, and I’ve learned not to overcook it. So many times, even I have overcooked it. This time, I’m cooking it without foil. I shall cover it with foil once it’s done, then I shall put some tea towels over the top,” Berry says on the latest season of Dish, a podcast hosted by Nick Grimshaw and Angela Hartnett.

Then comes the more unusual step. “I’ve got an old sleeping bag that’s got no zip and I put that over the top in the corner of the kitchen, and then I shall take that in the back of the car to Annabel’s [her daughter]. Once you take it out of the oven, it goes on cooking. And so you want to insulate that. I shall pop it in the back of the car inside its sleeping bag and we’ll be having drinks and lots of jollity until we need to carve it.”

The 87-year-old is beloved of many households, with her recipes of festive favourites frequently beamed onto our TVs over the holidays (her latest, Mary Berry’s Ultimate Christmas, airs on December 19).

“I really love Christmas. I’ve done a few Christmases in my time, and it’s all a matter of being organised.”

Not that she was always this way, with the former Great British Bake Off host adding: “I mean, there was the time when I did everything on the back of an envelope, then lost the envelope, but I start with a big sheet of paper, I think, ‘I ought to order my turkey’, and then you know, you tick things off. It’s a great thing to be ticking things off that you’ve done to get ready for Christmas. This Christmas, we’re going to Annabel’s and she’s said what we’re each doing. I’m doing the turkey and trifle.”

One thing that will probably be on the drinks menu in the Berry household? “I love mulled wine. Glühwein,” Berry divulges. “It reminds me of skiing and you’ve been absolutely exhausted and knackered and fallen over and whatever, and you get to the bottom and what do you get? Mulled wine, glühwein.”

Dish, hosted by Nick Grimshaw and Angela Hartnett is available on all podcast providers now.