William Hill invent The Liquid Christmas Lunch.

LONDON, 23rd December: As the average Brit gets ready to consume a gut busting 7,000 calories on Christmas Day – and pile on 6lbs by New Year — a crack team of food scientists recruited by William Hill have come up with a brilliant, healthy alternative.

Thanks to high tech kitchen know-how there’s no need to stuff yourself with the traditional lunch as well as festive favourites like mince pies because now you can enjoy all those flavours courtesy of an extraordinary layered liquid lunch that packs just 294 calories.

The culinary breakthrough came after bookmaker William Hill engaged food scientist Dr Rachel Edwards-Stuart, who has spent her career working with top chefs, including a three year PhD focussed on creating innovative flavour and texture experiences for Heston Blumenthal to use in his restaurant The Fat Duck, and Miguel Toribio-Mateas, chairman of the British Association for Applied Nutrition & Nutritional Therapy (BANT).

They were asked to create a balanced, high carbohydrate, low glycaemic load meal that provides all the nutrition needed for a jockey to remain light, yet full of energy and sharply focused before a big race.

The festive feast will be a boon for jockeys preparing for the William Hill Winter Festival at Kempton Park on 26 and 27 December. In the past many have had to restrict themselves to crackers and water for fear that seasonal indulgences would have them fail the weigh-in.

Using equipment commonly found in the modernist kitchen the meal consists of flavour extracts, foams and gels that are layered on top of each other so the diner can enjoy each individual taste as they progress through the meal.

The elfy Christmas dinner consists of the following layers: · Turkey gel · Umami-rich gravy · Carrot fluid gel · Dehydrated Brussels sprouts · Potato infused foam · Cranberry “air” ·

And it is topped with a pancetta crisp It is served with an espresso-style shot of mince pie extract and a spoonful of powdered brandy butter – an additional 38 calories. Jon Ivan-Duke at William Hill, says, “Christmas is a time when we all want to let ourselves go and enjoy all the different foods on offer but the top jockeys can’t do that.

“Typically jockeys trying to make weight will eat a restricted calorie diet in the run up to a big race, so the traditional Christmas lunch was most definitely off the menu for those racing at the William Hill Winter Festival at Kempton. The usual festive fare for jockeys riding on Boxing Day would be a slither of turkey, a couple of sprouts and a few water biscuits. Even then they will probably spend a couple of hours on race day in the sauna sweating off those last few pounds!”

Champion jockey A P McCoy who will be riding at the William Hill Winter Festival at Kempton Park on Boxing Day agrees, “This is a great invention for jockeys who are struggling to make weight for the William Hill King George but still want to feel part of their family’s festive celebrations. I always used to feel a bit left out when they all started tucking in to their turkey so this year I am looking forward to enjoying the full flavours of Christmas lunch, without having to worry about the calories.”

Food scientist Dr Rachel Edwards-Stuart says. “I am used to experimenting with tastes and textures but the brief from William Hill to prepare an appetizing meal that features all of the flavours of the traditional Christmas lunch but at a fraction of the calories was a challenge. I created a layered dish full of different flavours and textures that I hope will prove both delicious and visually appealing to our jockeys!”

Press Contact: Taylor Herring

Photos: here

Recipe: Place 40g cooked turkey in the bottom of a glass. Top with 40g homemade turkey stock, and leave in the fridge to set. (Note – depending on how concentrated your stock is, you may need to add a small amount of gelatine to the turkey stock to ensure that is sets solid). Rehydrate 10g dried mushrooms with 50g turkey stock, and then finely blend. Place turkey infused mushrooms on top of the gel. Add 15g of dehydrated Brussels sprouts (but you may want to keep a few aside to garnish the dish!). Prepare the carrot fluid gel by adding 1g of agar to 100g to carrot juice, bringing the liquid to the boil, leaving to set, and then blending with a hand blender. Add 60g of this mix to the layer of Brussels Sprouts. Top with 60g potato foam, which is made by pureeing 30g boiled potato with 15g semi skimmed milk and 15g water, and aerating the mix “with nitrous oxide” OR “in a cream whipper” Finish with 20g cranberry juice mixed with 0.5g soy lecithin, blended to create a foam. Add a slice of grilled pancetta or bacon to serve. To prepare the mince pie extract, add 30g mincemeat to 30g orange & mango juice and 60g water. Mix thoroughly and strain through muslin to collect the juice. Serve 40g in an the espresso cup. To make the powdered brandy butter, melt 2g butter, flavoured with brandy, and mix with 2g maltodextrin. Serve on a teaspoon alongside the mince pie infusion.

Nutritional Information: Nutrition information provided by Miguel Toribio-Mateas, Registered Nutritional Therapist and Chairman of the British Association for Applied Nutrition and Nutritional Therapy, BANT.

Ingredients for main and dessert: Brussels sprouts, raw 1.0 x 100 grams (100g) Butter powder 0.02 x 100 grams (2g) Carrot juice 0.6 x 100 grams (60g) Cranberry juice 0.2 x 100 grams (20g) Gelatin sheet mix 0.25 x 100 grams (100g) Lecithin 1.0 x 4 grams (4g) Maltodextrin 0.5 x 4 grams (2g) Milk, reduced fat, fluid, 2% milkfat 0.15 x 100 grams (100g) Mushrooms, all varieties, dried 0.1 x 100 grams (100g) Orange & mango juice 0.3 x 100 grams (30g) Pie, mince, prepared from recipe 0.3 x 100 grams (30g dry but only 10g accounted for after filtering) Pork, cured, bacon, cooked, pan-fried 0.5 x 1 slice cooked (6g) Potato, flesh and skin, raw 0.3 x 100 grams (30g) Turkey stock, homemade 0.8 x 100 grams (100g) Turkey meat 0.4 x 100 grams (40g)