Ask Wendyl

You have three choices when it comes to your Christmas turkey.

Tegel, the largest producer of turkey meat in New Zealand, offers barn- raised turkeys that SAFE ( Save Animals from Exploitation) tells us are “placed into factory sheds with thousands of other birds”.

They say “the conditions are dark and become intensely crowded as they grow”.

Tegel tells me that “the turkeys are raised in large, modern, wellequipped barns, without cages.

“They are free to express normal behaviours, move around, and have ready access to food and water.

“Their barn environments are monitored and managed to provide optimal conditions for health, welfare and comfort.”

These frozen turkeys are 85 per cent turkey and also come with a lot of additives, such as mineral salts, thickeners, artificial flavour, water, salt and sugar.

Fortunately Tegel also offers this free- range turkey which is more expensive ( consider it a donation towards the prevention of animal cruelty) but they are farmed in accordance with the SPCA’s welfare standards.

In this offering you will find 89 per cent turkey with water, salt, sugar pea starch, natural flavour and spice extracts added.

If you want just a turkey with nothing added then shop around at local butchers or speciality stores.

Tip: To cook a turkey which doesn’t dry out try using a large roasting bag.

Cooking in oven bags is a way to ensure your meat is basted continuously while cooking, but with all the warnings about chemicals leaching from plastic when it is heated, you might think twice about using this method.

The good news is that I could find no evidence that this is harmful as the bag is made out of a nylon which can withstand high heats.

and is avoided by healthy eaters because of concerns that it reacts with stomach acid to form carcinogenic compounds.

It is used in the ham to inhibit the growth of bacteria that cause botulism and as a colour fixative.

You’ll be hard- pressed to find a ham product which doesn’t use this preservative, but do try your local butcher or speciality store as some independent producers use other preservatives.

Other hams on offer had less pork, as well as the added filler soy protein and smoke flavour.

Tip: To keep your ham fresh, soak a cotton pillowcase in one litre of water to which you have added two tablespoons of any kind of vinegar. Wring out the pillowcase so that it is still quite damp and keep your ham inside that in the fridge.

Refresh with the vinegar mixture every two days. If you really want something with absolutely no additives consider opting for a roast lamb on Christmas Day, with mint sauce or a side of salmon.

I’m loathe to let you in on my little secret as they will disappear fast but some Countdown stores have frozen sides of Atlantic salmon in their freezers for a very good price.

The fish is a lighter pink than our local farmed salmon and tastes great if you don’t mind the fact that you’re not eating local food. No Christmas is complete without a plum pudding and this one, unlike the others on offer, actually has plum as Email wendylwantstoknow@ gmail. com with suggestions. Unfortunately, Wendyl cannot correspond with readers. an ingredient as well as sultanas, raisins, lemon peel and cherries with natural colour ( anthocyanins, 163) and natural flavour. It also contains 38 per cent fruit. I couldn’t see any other nasties in there.

The others on offer used 32 per cent fruit, just sultanas and raisins, and artificial flavour.

Tip: Turn leftover Christmas pudding into icecream. Whizz up some vanilla icecream in a food processor, add in the pudding, then refreeze. This is a custard like you would make at home using just cream, whole milk, eggs, sugar and cornflour.

It does, however, have a preservative to keep it fresh on the shelf — nisin which is made from fermented milk.

Other custard products on offer contain thickeners, emulsifiers, artificial flavour and artificial colours.

Tip: Use leftover custard to make rice pudding.

Put the custard in a pot, stir in a little milk to loosen, add some cooked rice and a little cinnamon, then heat. I chose these tarts because, unlike the others on offer, they used no artificial colours or flavours.

And they were 46 per cent fruit ( raisins, sultanas, apple and lemon peel). Others used only 24 per cent fruit. Please note these do use palm oil.

Tip: If you find yourself with too many mince tarts, freeze them. They make a wonderful dessert in the middle of a cold winter. If you want to make your own fruit tarts you can’t go past this fruit mince for real food. It is 63 per cent fruit ( NZ apple, sultanas, raisins, NZ orange, NZ grapefruit, NZ lemon) plus raw and brown sugar, butter, brandy, rum, starch and spices.

Tip: Use three quarters of a cup of this fruit mince in your favourite scone recipe to make Christmas Morning Scones. The sad news is that this cake is very much the best of a bad bunch.

If you want a proper Christmas cake without artificial flavour and a host of additives and artificial colourings then you’ll have to make your own.

See my recipe below for an easy quick one.

It does have one added ingredient, which is sodium phosphate ( 339), which will be in here as a preservative as the best before date on this is a month after I bought it.

Tip: Use leftover pavlova to make Eton mess. Simply crunch it up into bite- size pieces, throw some into bowls, top with strawberries and yoghurt, icecream, custard or whipped cream. You may be pleasantly surprised to