There are some things that we can be certain Queen Elizabeth loves to eat. Surely Her Majesty loves tea with scones and jam in the afternoon or a cooked-to-perfection beef Wellington? One can be fairly certain as well that there are plenty of British food staples, such as pork pies, roast beef and maybe even some shortbread biscuits, served in her homes, but when it comes to some dishes we’re just not sure.
Do you think the queen likes to eat sushi in the gardens of Buckingham Palace? Perhaps she likes to enjoy a nice fish-and-chip parcel on the sofa on a Friday night, just like the rest of us.
At last, a Royal insider has let a few secrets slip from the palace kitchens!
Chef Darren McGrady cooked for the Queen for over 15 years, before transferring with the household of Princess Diana and her young sons, Harry and William, to Kensington Palace in the late 90s.
In an interview with US Weekly, he admitted: “In the years that I cooked at [Buckingham] Palace, the queen never had pizza. I didn’t start cooking pizza until I moved across to Kensington Palace.
“The queen loved chocolate, so anything that we put on the menu with chocolate [was a hit],” he also mentioned in his interview. According to Chef McGrady, the queen had a particular fondness for dark chocolate. She “loved” chocolate that was “80 per cent [cacao] and higher,” he noted.
Her Majesty is also a fan of “eating local”, with a hit dish always being guaranteed when he prepared something from the estate. “She loved game too and even more so if it was from the estate – whether it was salmon, deer from Balmoral or maybe some venison from Sandringham.”
Hungry for more royal recipes? We have a few for you right here:
Celebrate the Queen’s birthday with this royal cupcake recipe straight from Buckingham Palace
The Queen always saves room for something sweet – here’s what we’d serve if she came for tea
Bake Prince Harry’s favourite ginger biscuits at home this festive season