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A Right Royal Cookbook

14th June 2014 By Urvashi Roe 23 Comments

It’s not every day that the postman brings a package from Buckingham Palace so there was much excitement in our household when this delightful book arrived.

A Royal Cookbook

A right royal package!

The Royal Cookbook by Mark Flanagan and Edward Griffiths

Over 50,000 people visit Buckingham palace as guests of Her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth for State banquets, lunches, dinners, receptions and garden parties.  This book opens the door slightly ajar to those who cater for these diners.

There only thirteen recipes which are divided into Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter because there is a commitment to seasonal produce in the royal kitchens.  The recipes include Eggs Drumkilbo which was much favoured by the Queen Mother.  The name comes from an ancient Highland estate in Perthshire called Drumkilbo where the dish was created.  It’s a first course of hard boiled eggs, lobster and prawns.  Looks incredibly decadent to me but the list of ingredients made me giggle as you’ll find ketchup and Worcestershire sauce alongside gelatin leaves and Scottish lobsters.  I had a little mental image of the Queen Mum getting a bottle of Heinz out of the royal pantry.

Another recipe which caught my eye was the Crown of Asparagus with Crab and Mango.  I don’t know why but I thought the thoroughly modern combination of mango and crab wouldn’t feature in a book like this.  It is of course in the summer chapter as the starter and boy was it fiddly to make! The asparagus is lightly cooked and then lined into metal rings to create a crown like, circular shape.  The middle is filled with crabmeat, mango, chives, lemon and lime before being topped with salad leaves dressed in a lemon vinaigrette. It’s lifted carefully out of the rings and tied together with chives.  Really delicious but can you imagine making this en masse? I don’t envy the commis who has to do the asparagus!

A Royal Cookbook, Buckingham Palace, Queen, asparagus

Crown of Asparagus – Fiddly but delicious

The last recipe in the book is probably the one most of us will remember.  It’s the Chocolate Biscuit Cake which was one of the two wedding cakes created to celebrate the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton.  There is absolutely no baking.  The recipe uses simply McVities biscuits, butter, sugar and dark chocolate.

A Royal Cookbook, Prince William and Kate Wedding, McVities, Chocolate, Cake

A stunning no bake cake

 A Historical Glimpse Into The Royal Kitchens

This book is as much a history book as it is a collection of recipes that are easy to create at home.  Did you know that the Great Kitchen at Windsor Castle is the oldest working kitchen in England? Modern day appliances have replaced those established to cook for Edward III in 1360 but it’s still going strong under the mediaeval oak beams and arched roof.

There are extracts from recipe books and notebooks of kitchen maids.  I really loved the scribbles of Mildred Dorothy Nicholls who joined as seventh kitchen maid and worked her way up to third kitchen maid before she went off to get married.  Her notebook has recipes prepared for the royals but also those that were made for servants to eat as it would have been her job to prepare both.  It was nice to see the Plum Pudding recipe differed only in quantities and not ingredients and judging from the measures in her notes, the servants would have been well looked fed.

Ingredients Sourced From Royal Estates

My favourite chapter talked about how the ingredients are sourced and the rule being to source from the royal estates but then locally where possible.  The estates produce a fair amount. Sandringham is well known for its apples because the orchards were planted by King George V in the 1930s.  What I didn’t know is that there are now nine varieties grown and then pressed for juice.  The same estate produces blackcurrants, parsnips, wheat, rye, oats, beans, millet and barley.

Windsor Home Park was established by ‘Farmer George’ (George III) but it was Prince Albert who set up the hothouses that supplied ‘exotic’ fruits such as peaches, grapes, melons, pineapples and apricots.

A Royal Cookbook, buckingham palace, the queen, royal food

A beautiful insight into the royal kitchens

Happy Birthday Ma’am

It’s our Queen’s official birthday today and all this musing through this wonderful book makes me wonder what she’ll be having for her birthday meal.  What do you think? After all that Trooping the Colour, I bet she just wants to put her feet up in the smallest, cosiest room in the palace with a cuppa and a packet of Mcvities for dunking. Bliss!

Related articles
  • All the Queen’s menus: the Royal family’s favourite foods (telegraph.co.uk)
  • Eating Royally (watkinslynn.typepad.com)

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Filed Under: Books Tagged With: book review, cooking, food, royal

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. stellabranch says

    14th June 2014 at 11:08 am

    Oh my! I have several American friends who would adore this book…not that I wouldn’t!

    Reply
    • Urvashi Roe says

      14th June 2014 at 11:11 am

      Ha! Yes I think several of my American friends would too

      Reply
  2. selfraisingflower says

    14th June 2014 at 11:41 am

    This sounds a lovely book. I may have to add it to my list!

    Reply
    • Urvashi Roe says

      14th June 2014 at 3:39 pm

      It’s a real eye opener. Another thing I liked was learning about the bee project on the grounds of Buckingham Palace. They make their own honey. Amazing

      Reply
  3. Sarah, Maison Cupcake says

    14th June 2014 at 3:37 pm

    That cake looks seriously impressive – can’t believe it’s a no-bake!

    Reply
    • Urvashi Roe says

      14th June 2014 at 3:38 pm

      I’ve seen so many versions of it on the web. Think the key is in the silky ganache topping. Gorgeous though isn’t bit and what a tribute to the childhood memories of our future king.

      Reply
  4. Jac -Tinned Tomatoes (@tinnedtoms) says

    15th June 2014 at 12:03 am

    How posh and delightful at the same time. I am currently drooling over that rhubarb on the front cover. I need some rhubarb in my life very soon.

    Reply
    • Urvashi Roe says

      15th June 2014 at 10:08 am

      It’s a Pannacotta recipe i think. Must give it a try but it looked like there were lots of steps so I left it alone til I have fully put all my kitchen back together! I really must get round to planting rhubarb. It takes a full year to get crop!

      Reply
  5. kellie anderson says

    15th June 2014 at 5:17 pm

    Wow! Your crown of asparagus shot is absolutely gorgeous! This sounds an interesting, behind the scenes book. I agree, American will LOVE it. I might get a copy for my Dad’s lady friend.

    Reply
    • Urvashi Roe says

      15th June 2014 at 5:18 pm

      I would live to be a fly on the wall. I imagine it to be like Downton but way more hectic!

      Reply
      • kellie anderson says

        15th June 2014 at 5:19 pm

        Hopefully not as many accidents/deaths!

        Reply
  6. Sally says

    15th June 2014 at 6:06 pm

    Yep I reckon the Queen dunks! Fascinating review.

    Reply
    • Urvashi Roe says

      15th June 2014 at 8:39 pm

      I think she’d be partial to a sherry too. Also works with rich tea biscuits.

      Reply
  7. judemagee.com says

    15th June 2014 at 7:54 pm

    What a lovely treat, it looks like a fascinating read, I may buy my son a copy, he may cook for royalty sometime in the future.

    Reply
    • Urvashi Roe says

      15th June 2014 at 8:39 pm

      Ooooh really! That would be an amazing achievement for a young chef! Wow!

      Reply
  8. andreamynard says

    15th June 2014 at 9:46 pm

    Lovely review and I do like the image of the Queen putting her feet up with a packet of McVities after all that lobster.

    Reply
    • Urvashi Roe says

      16th June 2014 at 8:57 am

      Thanks Andrea. I really hope she does. Love to think of her with a sense of normal.

      Reply
  9. Nazima says

    15th June 2014 at 11:02 pm

    Some lovely pictures here – I do like the rhubarb pannacotta thing as well. Look forward to seeing your version soon!!

    Reply
    • Urvashi Roe says

      16th June 2014 at 8:58 am

      Thank you Nazima. I’ve just checked the book again. It’s a parfait in a white chocolate ring!

      Reply
  10. Katie Bryson (@cookingkt) says

    16th June 2014 at 4:30 pm

    oh my god… I am SO getting this book for my mum… she is the biggest royalist she will go nuts for these recipes!!!!

    Reply
    • Urvashi Roe says

      16th June 2014 at 6:45 pm

      Oh she’ll love the pics of all the crockery and chinaware too. Fascinating

      Reply
  11. laura_howtocook says

    16th June 2014 at 9:47 pm

    I love you asparagus shot here and also find it amazing that the Royal wedding cake was basically choccy fridge cake!

    Reply
    • Urvashi Roe says

      18th June 2014 at 7:53 am

      I love that about the cake too. Crunchy cake was apparently Will’s favourite as a child. I love how they have made it so elegant

      Reply

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Hi I'm Urvashi!

I love food. This blog is a little glimpse into my foodie world which is an escape from two teenage girls, a busy job and my little cafe.

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