Would you trade your turkey for a £350 ten bird?

Plucked and pink, with two bony legs sticking out from one end, it looks like the largest turkey I’ve ever seen.

It’s so heavy (a whopping 8kg) that lifting it onto the baking tray is like a gym session. And the less said about the clumsy huffing and puffing required to squeeze it into my modest oven, the better.

You may have heard of a three-bird roast, or even a five-bird roast… but Fortnum and Mason, purveyors of luxury, decadence and downright OTT Christmas food, have gone one better this year.

The astonishingly extravagant ten-bird roast is currently in my oven.

Yours for £350 and could feed up to 30 people, there is of course turkey (a game-hung, free-range, bronze-matured chicken), as well as a free-range chicken and then two each, partridge, wild duck, pheasant and pigeon, all neatly rolled up and tied together so it looks like a whole bird.

I’m told it has a festive filling of cranberry, orange and rosemary pork – and the whole thing is boneless in the middle, so when it’s done all I have to do is cut it up and dig in.

Perhaps the most lavish Christmas piece ever created, food developers at Fortnum’s call it ‘the decadent fruit of our festive daydreams’ – and it’s certainly something to behold. But does it live up to expectations – and that eye-watering price tag?

The concept of putting a bird inside another bird (and doing it nine times) may be unusual, but it is not new.

In fact, it can be traced back to Tudor England, when multi-bird roasts were the height of fashion among the landed gentry as a sign of wealth and a way to show off a thriving game population.

The practice itself is specialist and time-consuming – it can take 45 minutes to debone and spatchcock a single bird, especially smaller ones – and then each bird must be rolled into another in ascending size (not technically ‘stuffed’).

Then there’s the matter of cooking it. My Fortnum’s roast, which comes with an A4 page of instructions and a handy meat thermometer to check the internal temperature, takes five hours, including 15 minutes in the oven, plus a further 35 minutes resting time: a total of just under six o’clock.

I start by seasoning it, cover it in foil and roast it at 200 degrees Celsius for two hours and 15 minutes. The instructions say to check the internal temperature every 40 minutes, but this seems like way too much of a hassle considering the hassle of getting it into the oven in the first place.

Then I turn the oven down to 180 degrees Celsius and give it another three hours. The useful thing about all this time is that on Christmas Day I have a chance to prepare the garnishes: ideal for a last-minute cook like me who never does anything in advance.

The ten bird roast, which features a festive filling of cranberry, orange and rosemary pork, takes just under six hours to cook in total

Perhaps the most lavish Christmas piece ever created, food developers at Fortnum’s call it ‘the decadent fruit of our festive daydreams’

When I say that, the bird fills the entire oven – and then some – so I’m not entirely sure where they’re supposed to go.

Fifteen minutes before it’s ready, I remove the foil to crisp the skin and check that the internal temperature is 75 degrees Celsius (this means it’s done).

Outside there it is quiet for 35 minutes, and finally: the moment of truth. There’s a lot of pressure involved in cutting a £350 piece of meat, so I choose my sharpest knife, which slides through the skin to reveal juicy layers of white and brown flesh, like a meaty rainbow.

Although I can’t quite tell my partridge from my pheasant, they all taste and look different: there are gamey flavors, delicate white meat, buttery brown meat and, thankfully, not a hint of dry, tender turkey – it’s all done to perfection prepared .

My favorite by far is the wild duck: it’s rich, tender and utterly delicious, drenched in the meaty gravy.

The filling inside, full of zesty orange, fresh herbs and plump cranberries, adds a delicious sweetness to every bite, and I wish there was more of it. Ideal if you’re feeding a crowd, and certainly a showstopper, this could well take the place of turkey on my Christmas table.

But first I need to buy a bigger oven… It’s available for shipping from December 19 (£350, fortnumandmason.com).

Sarah is impressed by the gamey flavors, the delicate white meat, the buttery brown meat and, thankfully, not a hint of dry, tender turkey

OTHER Roasts WITH MULTIPLE BIRDS THAT COST SIGNIFICANTLY LESS!

Aldi Specially Selected Three Bird Roast, 1.2kg (£24.99, aldi.co.uk)

This Aldi offering consists of turkey, chicken and duck wrapped around a traditional pork and cranberry filling, serves five people and is topped with beechwood smoked bacon.

Clark & ​​Son Christmas Five-Bird Roast, weight varies, (£100, clarkandsonmeats.com)

This extravagant roast, made by a traditional butcher from the village of Long Melford in Suffolk, features turkey, duck, pheasant, partridge and pigeon. Inside is a generous helping of cranberry and orange filling.

Marks & Spencer Easy-Carve Stuffed Roast for Three Game, 1.3kg (£47.50, marksandspencer.com)

For something different, M&S’s alternative to a turkey centerpiece is this three-bird venison roast. Made from tender pheasant, partridge and pigeon, with a filling of pork, sage and onions, it serves up to six people and takes just two hours in the oven.

Lidl Braemoor Three Bird Roast, 1.4kg (£12.99, lidl.co.uk)

The biggest bargain of all: This frozen roast is cheaper than even a small turkey – and it can feed six. It’s made from turkey, duck and chicken, and you can choose from two types of filling: sage and roasted garlic or cranberry and thyme. Prepare from frozen in 170 minutes.