Andrew's tour of the South East Birds of a feather - the turkeys that made Christmas

Date Published:

31/10/2008

Elaine Waymouth added Copas to the Map writing: "I know you won't be disappointed. The Copas family will give you a great insight into how never compromising the highest standards in poultry welfare brings the most succulent traditional turkey ever. Do check it out." With Christmas just around the corner, I went to meet the main course

Copas Traditional Turkeys started in 1957 when Tom Copas' father (also called Tom) gave his 17-year-old son some turkeys and told him to get on with it. "That first year, dad did 157 carcasses," says Tanya Copas, who along with sisters Sarah and Fenella and brother - again called Tom - run the business.

Mission statement

Despite the years of growth, the Copas family's mission remains the same: as the sign above the door says: "to produce and supply the finest quality, traditional, farm-fresh Christmas turkeys available in the UK, unbeatable in taste, texture and presentation."

Tanya says that "apart from a few for Thanksgiving, we only produce for the Christmas market." This means that the turkeys – which have been enjoying a free-range lifestyle since July – are slow-reared and much tastier. "We also dry pluck by hand and because turkey is essentially a game bird, hang it long legged (fully intact with the head on) for two weeks to mature the flavour. We then eviscerate, process and box each bird ready for the customer."

There's a sentence from Tom Copas on the Copas website that reads: "The turkey is the most important part of the most important meal of the year." He's right; it's the one time that everyone makes an effort at the table. It's also, as Tanya describes: "a time of huge pressure for the cook. People, even foodie people, might not have the time to make everything from scratch, or might need help cooking."

Fundamental condiments

To relieve the overworked Christmas cook, the Copas girls have helped to develop a range of accompaniments: proper gravy, chutneys, sauces and two types of stuffing. But best of all every turkey comes with a little pop-up widget thing "You simply stick it in the breast and it slowly rises; when it pops up, your turkey's done," says Tanya.

Outside we meet the birds, which unlike other animals I've met on this trip don't immediately leg it to the other side of the field as I approach. I also get to meet Pip, the turkey dog, who can also herd sheep and indeed cattle. In her spare time, Pip even does a bit of moonlighting as a gun dog. What's more she's expecting. Now that's a talented pooch. Pip's handler and head turkeyman, Steve Hellings, shows me how he controls the dog, and you can watch her in action as well as find out more about rare-breed turkeys here.

Down to the basics

We finish up with a tour of the processing room, which in a month's time will be a flurry of feathers and activity. "We have about 300 people working here for two weeks solid," says Tanya. It's a huge logistical operation ensuring everyone gets their turkey on time. But for now the room is quiet and the turkeys are strutting about the field enjoying the low winter sunshine – they've a little while yet.

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