My gorgeous cousin Mariana Rose has managed to impress 25 guests with home-made turkey for Thanksgiving. She is outstanding cook and amazing hostess.

The turkey was so juicy and full of flavours, perfectly suitable to wow everyone for Christmas and today she is my food guest blogger with her wow recipe.

The big thing, which makes this turkey taste so exceptional is the preparation:

You need to marinate the Turkey in:

Approximately 6 litres water
1 large orange or 2 smaller (quartered)
250 grams maldon salt (or 125g / ½ cup table salt)
3 tablespoons black peppercorns
1 bouquet garni
1 cinnamon stick
1 tablespoon caraway seeds
4 cloves
2 tablespoons allspice berries
4 star anise
2 tablespoons white mustard seeds
200 grams sugar
2 onions (unpeeled and quartered)
1 x 6 cm piece of fresh root ginger (unpeeled and cut into 6 slices)
4 tablespoons maple syrup
4 tablespoons runny honey
stalks from 1 bunch fresh parsley
1 x 5½ kilograms turkey

The turkey should soak in the marinate at least for a day before cooking in a cold place.Once you are ready for the roasting, take the turkey out of the marinate 30 minutes before cooking.

Place it in big tin tray and roast for 2.5 -3 hours with plenty of butter or melted goose fat, until the juices run clean, as you would normally do. The turkey needs to set for around 30 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!