TALKING TURKEY . . . AND FAREWELL TO FRIENDS

As our first Christmas on Mallorca approached, we thought back fondly to the wonderful butcher's shop in the village of Adderbury, where I'd lived for eleven years. Not only did Rob and his wife sell locally produced meat of a very high quality, they stocked lots of deli-type items and had even expanded their premises to provide a mini-supermarket offering general groceries. Their plump, flaky croissants – still warm from the special oven they'd installed – were a naughty treat. Our last Christmas in the UK we'd treated ourselves to a Kelly Bronze turkey from Rob's fine emporium. Cost a fortune. Tasted fantastic. Where would we find something that good on Mallorca?

We'd only seen turkeys here as frozen lumps of nobbliness in supermarket chest freezers, so we sought the advice of the butcher's stall in Manacor market. There, a cheerful chap wearing a jolly knitted hat, bottle-bottom specs and a big grin, explained that a fresh turkey would be no problem. He'd make a note of what we wanted and have it in by Christmas Eve. We'd turned to leave when, with a deadpan face, he called out a final question: did we want it dead or alive? We had a good laugh and, as it happened, a decent enough turkey for Christmas.

By the following Christmas we'd found Anype – a great little local butcher's shop, tucked away in a side street in Manacor – and they sold us a great turkey. Since then, we've been regular customers of Antonia and her husband Pedro, buying something most Saturdays, We're hardly their best customers: the locals seem to buy enormous quantities of meat, whereas we don't eat very much meat, but that's certainly not reflected in the way we're treated.

Each Christmas they've given us a small Anype-branded gift as a token of their appreciation. But what we've most valued have been all the laughs and great chats we've enjoyed with this couple - in spite of our less-than-perfect castellano (they usually speak only mallorquìn on a day-to-day basis).

But when we went in to order this year's turkey, there was bad news (for us and their many loyal customers): Antonia and Pedro are closing their shop on December 31, and retiring. Pedro is now 67 and, not surprisingly, ready to give up the long hours, hard work and chilly hands that are the lot of an old-fashioned butcher.

We collected our turkey and some of their delicious home-made sausages today, and delivered a Christmas card (the only one they had received since the locals don't tend to go in for these things). Both Antonia and I were a bit teary-eyed, even though we'll be back in the shop next week to stock up the freezer. And to ask where they'll be buying their meat in future . . .

Merry Christmas!