Supermarket deception

 

HM Queen Elizabeth II

Aspects of her food and drink domain

Further to comment made about the Palace, the appropriate unit is "F Branch" and "G Branch" here if only contact were possible.

The Internet is full of Q E 2 food likes and dislikes but as a means of drawing readers to adverts and cannot be relied on.

Plenty of bangers and mash linked to royal "events" such as here.

Two approaches used. The Queen entertains - what does she give her guests. The Queen is entertained. Hosts are likely to find out what she likes.

State Visits

State visits are formal visits to the UK by Heads of State from overseas, with the aim of strengthening Britain's relationships with other countries.

There are usually two incoming State visits each year. Invitations are sent on the advice of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

When Heads of State visit Britain less formally, they are nearly always received in audience by The Queen.

source

View a film about state banquets much lower down.


 
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Life inside a royal kitchen video     All the Queen's cooks video.

 

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The Obamas visit Buckingham Palace:

The preparations are incredible; the huge dining table, measuring 160ft and taking six men three hours to assemble in a horseshoe shape, is so wide the only way to maintain its sheen is to have footmen shuffling over it with dusters covering their stockinged feet. The Palace Steward has responsibility for the solid gold cutlery: 1,350 knives, forks and spoons and 850 crystal glasses (five for each of the 170 guests – sherry, white wine, red wine, champagne and water.



Read
more: some text on the present page has been tense-updated

The Ballroom hosted the State banquet, where the Queen was the star and every guest wore 'every rock in the book'

        

 

 

Inside the royal suite where the Obamas stayed during their visit to Buckingham Palace.

 

Examples of the menus are below.

 

Other rooms.


 

 

 

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Source and more pictures

 

The  Pommes Boulangère are great, your Majesty!

See menu below.  

 

 

Arrival lunch                                                                    

Tartlet of Soft Poached Egg with Asparagus                                  

Poussin with Morels                                                                            

Mango and Passion Fruit Parfait                                                       

 

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Her Majesty's State Banquet Menu
in honour of
President Barack Obama

Paupiette de Sole et Cresson
Sauce Nantua
Sole with Watercress, with a Bechamel Sauce with Crayfish

Agneau de la Nouvelle Saison de Windsor au Basilic
New Season Lamb in a "Windsor Basil"
Courgettes et Radis Sautées
Sautéed Zucchini and Radish
Panaché d’Haricots Verts
Green beans
Pommes Boulangère
French Gratin Potatoes
Salade
Salad

Charlotte à la Vanille et Cerises Griottes
Vanilla Charlotte topped with Sour Cherries
Fruits de Dessert
Dessert Fruit

Les Vins
Wines
Ridgeview Cuvée Merret Fitzrovia Rosé 2004
Chablis Grand Cru Les Clos 2004 (Domaine William Fèvre)
Echézeaux Grand Cru 1990 (Domaine de la Romanée-Conti)
Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin, Vintage Rich 2002
Royal Vintage Port 1963

picture and menu source 

 

The search widens to America only to return home

We consult chef Patrick O'Connell whose "The Inn" is at Little Washington in the foothills of Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains.   He had been invited to "the governor's mansion in Richmond [in 2007] to prepare the food for a private cocktail reception in honor of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip",

"When it came to her preferences, though, O'Connell had left nothing to chance. He consulted Michel Roux, a chef favored by the royal family, about likes (eggs, seafood) and dislikes (raw fish, garlic, strawberries). The Monday before the event, O'Connell staged a three-hour dress rehearsal at his restaurant. He and his cooks prepared all of the dishes and served them to one another to experience them from the guests' perspective."

" Did the queen eat? "Of course," O'Connell said, but added that there was no word on just what she tried and what she thought of it."

And that sums up the situation! . 

 

 

 

 

 Queen Elizabeth II gives State Banquet in Honor of President Zuma - Neither English Sparker nor South African Wine Served (2010)

We presume the menu is a compromise between HM's household here research into the guest's food preferences and her own.

The state banquet


* Pavé de Saumon Glamis
* Noisettes d'Agneau Narbonnaise; Courgettes Jaunes et Vertes Sautées; Pommes Forestière; Salade
* Sablé aux Pommes de Sandringham
* Fruits de Dessert
* Les Vins: Pol Roger, White Label Brut Réserve NV; Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru, les Referts, Louis Jadot 2002; Château Lynch-Bages, Pauillac 1986; Louis Roederer 'Carte Blanche' Demi-Sec NV; Royal Vintage Port 1963

 

 

Queen makes rare visit to Downing St     here    21 June 2011

The menu

The lunch menu featured a starter of Stilton and watercress tart, a main course of Inverurie beef from Aberdeenshire in Scotland, and a dessert of peaches and nectarines with ice cream.

Stilton and Watercress Tart with Summer Leaf Salad 

Roast Fillet of Inverurie Beef

New Potatoes Seasonal Vegetables 

Caramelised Peaches and Nectarines

Home-made Raspberry Ice Cream

 

picture source

 

H M Queen Elizabeth State Visit to India 2009 

The menu included halibut, salted saddle of lamb and stuffed courgettes with mango ice cream, washed down by Chateau Cos d'Estournel, St Estephe 1988.

Read more:

 

Arrival Lunch

Poached Vine Tomato filled with Celeriac

Avocado Mousse

Pot roasted English Partridge from the Sandringham Estate

Blackberry and Apple Tart 

 

State Banquet:

Baked fillet of Halibut topped with a Herb Crust with a white Wine Sauce

Stuffed Saddle of Salt Marsh Lamb garnished with Aubergines and Onions

Iced Mango Bombe

 

 picture source

 

State dinner menu for Britain's Queen   Dublin Castle - May 2011

A State dinner was hosted at Dublin Castle by the President and Dr Martin McAleese in honour of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh.

Here are the details of the dinner::

Menu

Cured salmon with Burren smoked salmon cream and lemon balm jelly, horseradish and wild watercress, Kilkenny organic cold pressed rapeseed oil

Rib of Slaney Valley Beef, ox cheek and tongue with smoked champ potato and fried spring cabbage, new season broad beans and carrots with pickled and wild garlic leaf

Carrageen set West Cork cream with Meath strawberries,
fresh yoghurt mousse and soda bread sugar biscuits,
Irish apple balsamic vinegar meringue

Irish Cheese Plate

Tea and Coffee

Château de Fieuzal, 2005, Graves Pessac-Léognan

Château Lynch-Bages, 1998, Pauillac

 

Irish Cheeses

Glebe Brethan
Hard Comté style cheese made using raw cow's milk from the Tiernan's own herd of Montbéliarde cows.

Cashel Blue
Semi-soft blue cheese, made using cow's milk from their own and selected neighbouring farms.

Milleens
Semi-soft, washed rind cheese made in a classic Munster style from pasteurised cow's milk.

Knockdrinna
Semi-firm goat's milk cheese in the classic French Tomme style.

Source 


 View a film about State Banquets:
 source

H M Queen Elizabeth Coronation menu

Queen Elizabeth had two banquets for her coronation.
Coronation Chicken was certainly not the only dish to be served during the Coronation Lunch; it is simply the most most famous once since it had been specifically created for the informal meal served to the guests

Menus were deliberately kept simple both because the Royal Family liked simple food, and because Britain was still recovering from the devastation of World War II and an extravagant banquet would have alienated a lot of people.


The Menu for the First Coronation Banquet:

1st course - Clear Turtle (turtle soup)
2nd course - Scottish Salmon with Cucumbers, Souce Verte
3rd course - Baron of Beef (roast beef), Jacket Potatoes, Salad
4th course - Norfolk Asparagus, Sauce Hollandaise
5th course - Ice Pudding, Kent Strawberries, Maids of Honour (round open tarts)
6th course - Coffee
Each course was accompanied by beverages; for example, Baron of Beef was served with vintage Champagne.


The Menu of the Second Coronation Banquet:

1st course - Soup
2nd course - Scottish Salmon (again)
3rd course - Grilled Steaks (garnished with quarters of artichoke hearts in butter), Cocotte Potatoes with truffle, Salad
4th course - Coronation Chicken
5th course - Souffle, Fruits
6th course - Coffee
Again, each course was accompanied by suitable beverages.

 source          menu cover source

Queen Elizabeth II Coronation menu 1953

 

Royalty recipes

There is an abundance of modern day dishes named after British Royalty, suggesting that the alliance between royalty and British food has been strong for hundreds of years. The names often stem from a single event (for example Coronation chicken and Crepes Suzette [?]), physical appearance (Crown of Lamb) or were simply named so because they were fit for a Queen (Queen of Puddings). Often however they are named after a King or Queen who favoured the food (For example Victoria Sponge and Fillet of Beef Prince Albert).  source

 

Crepes Suzette and British royalty?  See here. here and numerous here, including recipes if you accept the notion.

 

Continuing within the theme that celebration menus involving HM at least will not include her dislikes we can go back in time:

38. The "wedding breakfast" was held after the marriage ceremony at Westminster Abbey in the Ball Supper-room at Buckingham Palace. The menu was Filet de Sole Mountbatten, Perdreau en Casserole, Bombe Glacee Princess Elizabeth.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7100546.stm