From monkfish to porchetta – what Christmas dinner will look like in 2023
From monkfish to porchetta – what Christmas dinner will look like in 2023
According to research, 67% of UK adults claim they don’t eat turkey, or it’s not important for them to eat turkey at Christmas.1 This interest in alternative centrepieces continues to grow, with searches for ‘beef wellington’ on asda.com rising by +1,235% last Christmas.
Despite this, the appetite for the traditional turkey centrepiece remains high, with almost 2 million searches for the product on asda.com in the run up to Christmas last year and searches for ‘turkey crown’ rising +3,500% over the same period.2
Asda shares insight into what Christmas dinner will look like in 2023:
Turkey alternatives:
Jordan Muldoon, Fish Buying Manager at Asda says, “This year, we’re excited to launch our high quality and delicious Extra Special Sundried Tomato Stuffed Monkfish wrapped in Parma Ham (£18), as an indulgent centrepiece addition. We know that not all customers enjoy salmon as an alternative main, so we have diversified our offering with a ready-to-roast solution that also takes the hassle out of cooking on the big day.”
Jonathan Moore, Asda’s Senior Director of Food Trends and Innovation adds, “Our Monkfish wrapped in Parma Ham and stuffed with sundried tomato is the ultimate surf and turf. The prosciutto seasons the fillet as it cooks, then you serve it with rosemary and sage basting butters. It’s about serving your guests a restaurant-quality dish but at the fraction of the price.”
When it comes to recreating restaurant-quality at home, Asda also launched its first ever signature flavour this Christmas: Brown Butter and Spiced Dark Rum. The flavour features throughout a range of festive food, including the **Extra Special Gammon Joint with Brown Butter & Spiced Dark Rum (£20). **For those wanting to try something a little different, the British pork leg is slow cured with sea salt and demerara sugar, infused with cinnamon, nutmeg, anise, vanilla and clove. Drenched with a sticky spiced dark rum, maple and brown sugar glaze.
Italian-inspired festive centrepieces will also be popular this year, such as Asda’s expertly butchered Bristish, Yorkshire bred pigs in its Extra Special Porchetta (£9/kg). The meat is hand rolled in a bespoke seasoning of fennel, garlic, olive oil and lemon zest for a deliciously succulent roast. Plus, with Asda’s **Crackling Pork Belly Roast with a Caramelised Leek & Apple Stuffing (£9/kg), **pork crackling will be a welcome addition to the Christmas dinner plate.
For customers choosing to have beef this Christmas, another luxurious alternative centrepiece is the **Extra Special Ruby Port Drenched Sirloin (£40). **Listed in the top ten ‘Best alternative Christmas dinners for 2023’ by Good Housekeeping Insititute, the 21-day matured sirloin is soaked in Ruby port for 9 days and accompanied with a port drizzling sauce for extra juiciness.
Traditional turkey:
For those who stick to the traditional, Asda’s **Extra Special Heritage Breed Slate Whole Turkey, with pork, sage & caramelised onion (£10/kg) **is reared in Norfolk. The British RSPCA assured birds are bred for longer and grown slower, creating an added depth of flavour and succulence.
If a turkey crown is preferred, Asda’s **Extra Special Corn Fed, Norfolk Bronze Turkey Crown, with pork, sage & caramelised onion (£25/kg) **won ‘Best Turkey Crown’ in BBC Good Food’s Christmas Taste Awards 2023, with the judges commenting, “the lean meat is easy to cut, the turkey stays moist under a flavoursome bacon covering and the stuffing is a welcome addition.”
How to order your festive centrepiece:
For customers planning ahead, Christmas grocery delivery and click and collect slots are already available to book online at Asda.com or via the Asda app, with over one million slots available in Christmas week.
Customers can also take advantage of Asda’s turkey pre-order service which offers the chance to reserve a Christmas dinner showpiece, up to two months in advance. With 12 different turkeys on offer, there’s plenty of choice for feasts of all shapes and sizes.
To place their order, customers will need to add their chosen turkeys to their basket before December 14th to ensure it is delivered ahead of the big day. The minimum online spend at Asda is £40 for delivery and £25 for click and collect.