Every British household seems to have its own way of making gravy.
And the 84-year-old singer Cliff Richard – a self-confessed Christmas fan – is no different.
Cliff amazing chefs and scientists alike with his obscure recipeswho abandons the old way of mixing the roasted juices with wine.
Instead, they roast onions and add eight children – two of lamb, chicken, beef and vegetables – then with hot water.
For a burst of umami, they add teriyaki sauce, soy sauce and Worcestershire – a mixture that experts describe as ‘very bad’.
Cliff says his food is ‘probably the best in the world’ and hopes to partner with a food manufacturer to sell it in stores.
She told Woman’s Weekly: ‘I’m still waiting for a company to give me money.’
But what does his unusual recipe taste like? MailOnline’s Jonathan Chadwick recreated the Cliff’s dessert to see if it could claim a hallowed place on the lunch table on Christmas Day.
Sir Cliff Richard hit the headlines after he boldly claimed he had the recipe for the “world’s greatest gravy”.
Cliff’s recipe calls for eight cubes of four-spice spices, two onions, mixed herbs, teriyaki sauce, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce and hot water.
Cliff made his first appearance on ITV’s This Morning in December 2016, where he described it as ‘the equivalent of art’.
She told Holly and Phillip: ‘It’s such a delicious meal and the funny thing is my sister couldn’t get her kids to eat it because they don’t like it.
‘In the end, I used to make wax and freeze it a few weeks before Christmas to come and get it.’
Religiously following Cliff Richard’s advice, I cook two onions in oil and a few tablespoons of mixed herbs until soft.
Cliff and I use the old fashioned powder that comes in small pieces, instead of the ‘pots’ that are everywhere these days.
Although they may seem unappealing to some, top chefs are still fans of flour cubes, including Marcus Wareing, who has described them as an ‘adrenaline rush’ for dishes such as bolognese and stews.
Roughly I crush eight Oxo cubes between my fingers directly on the mixture and slowly add water, boiling to a boil.
Crikey, that’s a lot of stuff. Of course wherever Cliff Richard goes for Christmas, he leaves a trail of cube wrappers.
Cliff and I use the old fashioned powder that comes in compact cubes – a retro choice over today’s ‘pots’.
The real soup, according to the chefs above, uses the juices and mud from the fried meat and vegetables as a base (file photo)
Cliff Richard’s gravy recipe
These cute little cubes pack a punch
- Fry two chopped onions and mixed herbs in oil until soft
- Add eight Oxo cubes to the mix – two beef, two lamb, two chicken and two vegetables.
- Slowly add 800 ml of hot water
- Add a teaspoon each of teriyaki sauce, soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce
- Simmer slowly for 30 minutes and serve in a gravy boat
Next, Cliff said he thickens his gravy a bit with flour, but I don’t mind that because my gravy already looks thick.
If you’re not familiar with Cliff’s, Oxo’s stock tubes are filled with lots of flavorings like wheat flour, cornstarch and onion powder.
Finally, I add the special ingredients that seem to make Holly Willoughby so dangerous – one tablespoon each of teriyaki, soy and Worcestershire sauce.
As I start the mixture, the whole process reminds me of ‘George’s Marvelous Medicine’ – just get whatever you can and throw it in for good measure.
Cliff’s soup has the potential to accompany my Sunday home roasts and roasted spuds and carrots, but before I start, I drink cautiously.
The closest thing I can compare it to is a heavily salted packet of Walkers chicken crisps – as if some young factory worker had been extra generous with the seasoning.
It’s a lot of salt – and the subtle flavors of teriyaki, soy and Worcestershire sauce are all lost because they’re completely drowned in sodium.
Of course, the combination of four types of stock means it’s not as sweet, but there’s no hidden meaty texture, no hidden umami.
I add the special ingredients that seem to make Holly Willoughby so fierce – one tablespoon each of teriyaki, soy and Worcestershire sauce.
The closest I can compare it to is a heavily salted packet of Walkers chicken crisps – as if some young factory worker had been extra generous with the condiments.
Like Cliff’s ‘Mistletoe and Wine’ video, this Christmas cottage is the epitome of naff – and not really edible.
A real soup, according to the likes of Gordon Ramsay and Heston Blumenthal, uses the juices and sediment from fried meat and vegetables as a starting point.
You pour the bottom of the roasting tray with a good homemade stock, wine, cider or just water, before adding herbs, chopped onions and tomatoes.
Others add a leavening agent such as Marmite or tomato ketchup, according to Dr Nathan Kilah, a food scientist at the University of Tasmania.
‘These ingredients will enhance its flavor due to sweetness (sugar), acidity (vinyl, citric and malic acid), and umami in the case of tomato sauce (natural glutamates, such as those found in MSG),’ he said.
Personally, I’ll be using liquid from my ham collection along with herbs and wine this year – out of sight.
The science behind the perfect baked potato: Cut the spud at a 30-degree angle to maximize its surface area and make it extra smooth.
No Christmas roast is complete without a generous helping of roast potatoes – and many people have ideas about how to get the perfect spud.
But according to scientists, cutting potatoes at an angle of 30 degrees is the key to success.
The ‘edge cut’ is tastier, easier and more attractive than the traditional cut that has been popularized by chefs such as Heston Blumenthal, researchers have found.
Researchers tested their theory using 100 portions of baked potatoes that were prepared using a conventional method and another 100 that used a new edge-cutting method.
Cutting a spud diagonally increases its surface area by 65 percent and makes it more versatile – meaning more satisfaction at the dinner table.
The study was conducted by students from the Edge Hotel School at the University of Essex, together with the Samuel Whitbread School of Mathematics.
They said: ‘We also want to challenge every school in the country to find the best way to cut a potato and prove mathematically that it raises the surface when its parts are equal.’
