WITH no let up in sight in the ‘should pineapple be anywhere near a pizza’ debate, Tiny Rebel have thrown an extra question in the mix.

Can cranberry sauce work on a pizza? The answer, in this reporter’s humble opinion, is yes.

For a limited time over the Christmas period, the popular brewery will be offering customers the chance to tuck into two festive meals at their Newport and Cardiff bars.

The Charred Turkey Burger is packed full of deep-fried, crispy-coated stuffing, bacon and cranberry jam and is even topped with pigs in blankets.

The Christmas Pizza is loaded with pulled turkey, heaps of brie, mini stuffing balls, pigs in blankets and is drizzled with cranberry sauce.

Both menu items are the brainchild of Tiny Rebel’s head chef Rickie Ash, who decided to turn Christmas culinary tradition on its head this year.

“It was originally an idea from the office team. We’re always thinking of over the top ideas, for beers mostly but the rest of the team sometimes like to give me a few ideas, especially around lunchtime,” he said.

“Once the seed was planted I just got on with a few ideas and took my inspiration from classic Christmas dishes.”

According to Mr Ash, both food items were easy to pitch to fellow staff members who apparently “demolished the test runs”.

“It’s been a bit of a talking point for the guys here. They can’t wait for it to be available, but I’m keeping it from them until we can offer it to everyone,” he added.

But how difficult was it balance the sweet and savoury sensations of a Christmas lunch, and then transporting them onto fast food vessels?

“This particular idea was relatively easy as it’s based on existing dishes like a full Christmas lunch,” said Mr Ash.

“We know the ratios from that so we can just lift the idea and make sure the same amounts of each component are there.

“There are some things that can be overpowering but it’s just a case of using them sparingly, to give a burst of flavour here and there rather than to overwhelm the whole dish.

The head chef, who has been in the post since February, says he enjoys “100 per cent” creative freedom to shape the food menus across Tiny Rebel’s bars.

“They defer to me for the food and I defer to them on the beer. There are more than a few areas of crossover where we can bounce ideas off each other and give suggestions, but the kitchen is all mine

“Ideas are open to everyone and I like to get input from everyone - these dishes started as an idea in the office but I ran with them and exceeded the expectations a little bit. It’s a group effort but I take all the credit!”

Both the burger and the pizza are on sale for £9.25 each.

l Are you a restaurant in Gwent that is putting on some quirky festive menu items this Christmas? Get in touch by emailing niall.griffiths@gwent-wales.co.uk