What it takes to cook for the Royal Family
Queen Victoria loved roasted bone marrow, the present queen is no fan of garlic, and Prince William loves chocolate biscuit cake. We look at the men (and women) who have cooked for the Royal Family.
Charles Elme Francatelli
Francatelli only cooked for Queen Victoria for one year, yet of all the people who must have done so during her 63-year reign, it is he that made the most fame from the experience. He gives the recipe for Marrow Toast a la Victoria in his book The Cook's Guide, and Housekeeper's & Butler's Assistant (1857). As a note, he adds ‘marrow toast used to be eaten every day at dinner by the Queen at the time when I had the honour of waiting on Her Majesty.’ History, as they say, is written by the winners.
Alma McKee
Alma McKee was born in Sweden and was cook to Queen Elizabeth II and The Queen Mother. Her Royal Cookery Book contains the following thoughts on British food in its introduction: ‘Traditional food has become the fashion - the top dish in one famous London hotel is Irish stew, in another it’s bread & butter pudding. Smart young men earnestly discuss the best place to find travel pudding and a saddle of English lamb’. That was written in 1968, yet it sounds like she could be describing St John, or The Gilbert Scott. There’s also a recipe for ‘sailor beef’ which McKee made for Prince Phillip when he returned from serving in Malta, stating ‘sailors know good food when they see it, and Prince Phillip was no exception’.
Darren McGrady
Darren McGrady (pictured above) was the former personal chef to Queen Elizabeth II, Diana Princess of Wales, Princes William and Harry for 11 years. On a visit to London last week he told me about his time there and some of the family’s favourite dishes. “One of the Queen’s favourite cakes is the chocolate biscuit cake (Darren’s recipe is here). When Her Majesty has afternoon tea, a large cake goes up, and she takes a slice of it, with the rest coming back down to the staff room. However, the chocolate biscuit cake is the only cake that goes up again and again until it’s all gone.” This was an old family recipe that the Royals had enjoyed for many years, and Prince William selected it as his Groom’s cake at his wedding.
Proudest moment
Cooking for royalty adds an extra layer of pressure on chefs. “Not only do you have that responsibly to create something wonderful, you were also conscious that you were representing your country and cooking for your Monarch,” said Darren. Perhaps his finest moment was cooking a state banquet for Presidents Regan and Ford, on the Royal Yacht Britannia sailing into Miami surrounded by a flotilla, and the Royal Navy in their number 1 uniform, and the Band of the Royal Marines playing Life on the Ocean Waves... "it still gives me goose bumps,” he said.
Darren’s Jubilee sandwich
Darren’s put his royal knowledge to good use and has created a Royal Sandwich in association with Flora spread. It features roast fillet of juniper crusted Balmoral Estate Venison, guinea fowl pate, pea shoots and a ‘Gin & Dubonnet’ beetroot and apple relish. It’s all the Queen’s favourite things in every bite. Darren chose to use game in the recipe as this is something the Queen loves; it is often featured on the Royal menu, at least twice a week. He has also integrated Gin & Dubonnet in his specially created relish as this is Her Majesty’s favourite drink, which she drinks before dinner. You can get the full recipe off Flora’s Facebook page.
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