EAST Anglian turkey giant Bernard Matthews Farms is joining forces with fiery chef, Marco Pierre White, to move the bird further up the UK’s culinary agenda.

The celebrity foodster will act as its ambassador and work with the Suffolk and Norfolk based company to champion turkey as a great tasting and versatile meat. The chef will encourage people to move away from the ‘turkey is just for Christmas’ psyche and inspire the public to cook with turkey all year round. He will be developing a new range of turkey products for Bernard Matthews Farms later in the year.

“Ever since I was a young boy I’ve been an admirer of turkey and particularly Bernard Matthews, because he is without question one of the great farmers of the last 5 decades,” he said.

“Turkey is the nation’s favourite roast on the most important family day of the year, so why not all year round? Turkey has more flavour, more texture than chicken, but for many the only association with turkey is Christmas or Easter, which is down to tradition and nostalgia.

“Consumers traditionally roast turkey but there are many other ways to prepare this majestically delicious bird.

“Through our joint collaboration, we wish to show the great British public how perfect the great bird is for today’s modern lifestyles – as it is versatile, healthy and affordable. Bernard Matthews Farms is unique in that it is a fully integrated food business. I never realised until I visited their Norfolk farms, that they do everything from breeding their own turkeys, hatching the eggs and rearing the birds, through to delivering the end product. They even mill their own feed from locally sourced wheat. It really is an iconic British brand, based on one great man’s vision more than five decades ago. I am honoured and privileged to be working with Bernard Matthews Farms to promote the great bird.”