Chef Ramsay rates Battle butcher’s birds

It is believed that fiery chef Ramsay himself requested the 17 turkeys be couriered over from the 1066 Butchers in the High Street to the London-based TV studio to feature on Gordon’s Christmas Cookalong Live.

In fact butcher Alistaire Ray was even asked to personally deliver the poultry to the millionaire’s home.

Mr Ray said: “Unfortunately December 23 is the busiest day of the year and I could not leave the shop.

“I would have loved to have done it, but I had to be practical, which he understands.”

Mr Ramsay’s four-hour Christmas Cookalong, which screened on Channel 4, showed viewers how to prepare and cook the perfect Christmas dinner.

Mr Ray said he was “proud” that his turkeys had been chosen for the starring role.

He added said: “I was very excited he was going to use our turkeys.”

The butcher rears his own white and bronze turkeys at Woodsdale Farm on London Road, Mountfield, even growing the corn which is milled into feed for the birds.

A film crew paid a visit to the farm on December 9 to film Mr Ray and his birds in an interview which was screened on Gordon’s Christmas Cookalong - Get Ready on December 23.

The footage included scenes of the birds being hand plucked, ready for sale.

1066 Butchers sold around 1,800 turkeys this festive season.

The shop reopened yesterday (Thursday) after it closed briefly for the Christmas break and Mr Ray hopes the media exposure will help boost trade.

It is not the first time Gordon Ramsay has sung the praises of the 1066 Butchers.

Back in May, Mr Ramsay was so bowled over by sampling some of Mr Ray’s special Battle Bangers, that he took to micro-blogging website Twitter to tell his 312,891 followers about the “forking gorgeous sausages”.

Mr Ray said: “It made a massive difference to our sausage trade.”

In July, Mr Ramsay’s wife Tana and the couple’s children visited the shop, whilst Mr Ray met the man himself in September.

Mrs Ramsay, who previously released her own range of cookbooks, is no stranger to the town.

She is a former pupil at Battle Abbey and returned as a special guest for the school’s prizegiving in 2008.

FIRST he was extolling the virtues of the humble Battle Banger, now a Battle butcher’s turkeys have received the official seal of approval from celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay after he used the bird in his Christmas Day cookery show.