Sir Cliff Richard has revealed his own unique recipe for Christmas gravy however the concoction has been slated as ‘absolutely vile’ by professional chefs.
The 84-year-old pop star avoids the traditional method of mixing juices from a roast with a dash of wine and instead goes for a more unorthodox recipe.
He combines eight stock cubes from different flavours – including lamb, chicken, beef and vegetable – with boiling water before adding two chopped fried onions along with teriyaki, soy and Worcestershire sauce.
Sir Cliff has described the gravy as ‘probably the greatest in the world’ and previously cooked it on This Morning.
However, plenty of cooks are not so sure about his creation.
Speaking to the Daily Telegraph Tom Brown, the Michelin-starred chef and owner of the Pearly Queen oyster bar in east London, said: ‘I am not really sure what the correlation between teriyaki sauce is and gravy.
‘I am not taking any cooking tips off Cliff Richard anytime soon. It sounds absolutely vile.’
Former semi-finalist on MasterChef Professionals Matthew Ryle said Sir Cliff’s concoction would likely taste ‘very salty’ and need to ‘thicken up a bit’.
The 84-year-old pop star avoids the traditional method of mixing juices from a roast with a dash of wine and instead goes for a more unorthodox recipe. He combines eight stock cubes with boiling water before adding fried onions along with teriyaki, soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce
Sir Cliff has described the gravy as ‘probably the greatest in the world’ and previously cooked it on This Morning. However, plenty of cooks are not so sure about his creation
He suggests roasting veg alongside a piece of meat before pouring wine over the roasting tray to deglaze the caramelised sediment left behind on the tray.
Then, what Mr Ryles describes as good quality stock can be added to the mixture to help thicken up the sauce.
Alternatively, Birmingham chef Glynn Purnell suggests using cornflour or regular plain flour to help produce the desired consistency, with a small knob of butter whisked in at the end to give the gravy richness.
Elliott Grover, executive chef at 45 Park Lane, a five-star hotel in Mayfair, spoke up in defence of Sir Cliff’s condiment pointing out that stock cubes can be used as a hack to make gravy.
He said: ‘Cliff is a good friend of the hotel. Personally, I’d definitely give it a try, but I’d leave out the teriyaki sauce.’