While you may assume her Royal Majesty the Queen enjoys fine dining every day, this isn’t always the case.
According to The Telegraph, twice a week the head chef to the royal household, Mark Flanagan, provides the Queen with menu suggestion which she can approve by ticking off or crossing out.
However, Darren McGrady, a former chef in the royal kitchens, said that the Queen is “not a foodie. She eats to live, unlike Prince Philip who loves to eat and would stand and talk food all day.”
“When she dines on her own,” he added, “she’s very disciplined. No starch is the rule.”
We took a look at the Queen’s typical day of eating and drinking, from the tea she drinks and biscuits she eats when she wakes up to her low–carb lunches, her nightly glass of Champagne, and penchant for chocolate.
Deciding what to eat must be tough when you’re a royal. Luckily, her Royal Majesty the Queen has a team on hand to help her pick her menu — even when she’s shopping at Waitrose.
The Queen starts her day with tea and biscuits.
She has a freshly brewed pot of Earl Grey tea (no milk or sugar) in bone china cup, with a few biscuits, according to BT.
She then moves on to breakfast, which normally involves cereal and fruit.
She’s partial to Special K, according to The Telegraph. Kellogg’s, Quaker Oats, and Weetabix all hold royal warrants.
However, she likes her cereal to be served from Tupperware, which she believes keeps it fresh.
She occasionally opts for toast and marmalade…
Jam in the royal household comes from Wilkin & Sons.
…Or, on some occasions, enjoys scrambled eggs with smoked salmon and truffle.
However, she prefers brown eggs.
She thinks they taste better, according to The Guardian.
Before lunch, she enjoys a gin and Dubonnet (a sweet wine-based aperatif) with a slice of lemon and a lot of ice.
It’s likely she uses Gordon’s Gin, which has a royal warrant.
Lunch is something simple, like fish with vegetables.
She likes to eat grilled Dover sole with wilted spinach or courgettes, according to former royal chef Darren McGrady.
She’s also partial to a simple grilled chicken with salad.
She has a “no starch” rule when she’s eating along, meaning no potatoes, rice, or pasta, McGrady told The Daily Mail.
Every day, she takes afternoon tea.
It’s served with fingers sandwiches such as cucumber, smoked salmon, egg and mayonnaise, or ham and mustard with the crusts removed (to save calories, no doubt), as well as jam pennies — tiny raspberry jam sandwiches cut into circles the size of an English Penny.
It also comes with McVitie’s rich tea biscuits, scones, and cakes, her favourites being honey and cream sponge, ginger, fruit, and the chocolate biscuit cake that was served at Will and Kate’s wedding, according to McGrady.
For dinner, fillets of beef or venison, pheasant, or salmon come from farms in Sandringham and Balmoral.
The meat is turned into Gaelic steak, and served with a sauce of mushroom, cream and whisky. She also loves a Sunday roast, when it’s served well done.
While her former chefs didn’t mention condiments, the likes of Lea & Perrins, HP Sauce, and Heinz ketchup all hold royal warrants.
Dessert includes strawberries, also from Balmoral, or sweet, white peaches from the greenhouses at Windsor Castle.
The Queen also adores chocolate, whether it’s a luxury or grocery store brand.
Charbonnel et Walker, Bendicks, and Prestat all hold royal warrants, but supermarket brands like Cadbury and Nestlé could also be found in the royal household.
Along with the chocolate biscuit cake that’s one of her favourites, she also loves chocolate mousse and a traditional chocolate ganache sponge cake.
And, last but not least, she finishes her day with a glass of Champagne.
She usually has a glass of Champagne in the evening, according to The Independent, likely chosen from the eight brands— including Bollinger, Lanson, and Krug — that have been given royal warrants.
And, of course, warrants have been given to a number of fine wines, though she isn’t a huge fan.
source: Independent
Can you answer these questions?
1. What’s Tupperware?
2. Whose all-time favourite is marmalade if you think of literature?
3. What’s Waitrose?
4. What’s bone china?
5. How can you make wilted spinach?
Answers
1. A brand name for a type of plastic containers, usually for storing food, and usually having lids that fit tightly.
2. Paddington Bear’s.
3. Waitrose is a chain of British supermarkets.
4. White porcelain containing bone ash, made in Britain since about 1800.
5. In a bowl, mix the olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice, garlic, salt, and pepper. Place the spinach over boiling water in a pot fitted with a steamer basket, and steam 2 to 3 minutes, until wilted but not soggy. Toss spinach in a bowl with the dressing, and sprinkle with pine nuts to serve.
| to assume | presumere |
| to tick off | spuntaree |
| to cross out | cancellare |
| foodie | amante della buona cucina |
| disciplined | disciplinato |
| starch | amido |
| rule | regola |
| low-carb | a basso contenuto di carboidrati |
| champagne | spumante |
| penchant for | debole per qualcosa |
| tough | duro |
| freshly brewed | appena infuso |
| bone china | porcellana fine |
| to be partial to | goloso di |
| royal warrant | certificazione reale |
| occasionally | occasionalmente |
| to opt for | scegliere qualcosa |
| marmalade | marmellata |
| scrambled eggs | frittata |
| salmon | salmone |
| truffle | tartufo |
| sole | sogliola |
| wilted | floscio |
| spinach | spinaci |
| courgette | zucchina |
| cucumber | cetriolo |
| crust | crosta |
| scone | scone (facaccina scozzese) |
| sponge | plum cake |
| ginger | zenzero |
| beef | manzo, bovino |
| venison | carne di cervo |
| pheasant | fagiano |
| well done | ben cotto |
| condiment | condimento |
| brand | marca |
| last but not least | e non ultimo, ultimo ma non meno importante |
