Royal Mania
What is it about the Royals that they fascinate us so? Even the most die-hard republican will, I bet, be watching the telly today if they are not standing on the Mall in the freezing wind. I got up early this morning thinking I would get a few good hours of writing in before the wedding proper starts at ll am. But I succumbed and started watching the endless speculation of what will she wear, will he kiss her on the balcony, what will they eat?
That question, what will they eat, took me back to my cookery student days at the Cordon Bleu, where I learned to make Chicken Elizabeth, otherwise known as Coronation Chicken. I am sure you know it – it has become a ubiquitous sandwich filling, the stalwart of many a buffet table and a faithful standby for summer picnics. It is often bland or even disgusting – made with bottled mayonnaise mixed with curry paste. Yuk. . But if you have never had the real thing, you will be astonished. It is a bit of a fag making the sauce, but if you do every single thing Leith’s Cookery Bible says, it is unbeatable: spicy, slightly sweet, lingers on the tongue. Yum.
Coronation chicken was designed by the Cordon Bleu School as the principal dish to feed the dignitaries entertained at Lancaster House in the Mall after the Queen’s coronation in 1953. Lancaster House belongs to the Foreign Office and the guests were the Ambassadors and High Commissioners and their families from every far corner of the Commonwealth. So that meant a good mix of Christians, Muslims and Hindus. So, no pork, no beef and, since there would be many Jewish people among the delegations and the Brits, no seafood or any mixing of diary and meat. Rosemary Hume, the Principal of the Cordon Bleu came up with a brilliant solution: Chicken Mayonnaise but with a good kick in it. (I don’t know what they did about veggies but the sauce is great with tofu, corn or any veg.)
If the caterers at Buckingham Palace have any sense, they will follow the example of many a home cook prepping for this afternoon’s street party and make Chicken Elizabeth today.
