Live
The Queen’s former personal chef has revealed the 95-year-old monarch’s out-of-the-ordinary fish and chip order.
Darren McGrady, who cooked for the Queen in the 1980s and 1990s, gave royal onlookers an insight into how the 95-year-old monarch likes her fish in a recent YouTube video.
He said the dish was often requested by the Queen when she hosted important guests at Buckingham Palace. However, he admitted it was a tad on the unconventional side.
He said heavily battered and fried foods were “a little too much for her”.
“The Queen wouldn’t really eat the fish fried in all that crispy, rich batter,” he said.
“She preferred a more refined fish and chips.”
According to Mr McGrady, the Queen likes her cod coated in a panko breadcrumb crust and baked in the oven, rather than fried in oil.
When it comes to chips, the Queen insists they are all cut to exactly the same length “in perfect rectangles”.
Mr McGrady then piled the precisely-cut chips into a Jenga-like stack – although he did not mention whether this was his own styling flair, or another of the Queen’s specifications.
To finish off the meal, Mr McGrady revealed that the Queen would not opt for tomato sauce, vinegar or even a tartare – instead requesting a homemade tarragon hollandaise sauce.
The creamy sauce is dolloped around the edges of the plate, before the dish is garnished with an edible flower.
Now that’s a meal fit for a Queen.
“So, does the Queen eat fish and chips? Sort of, I guess,” Mr McGrady joked at the end of the video.
He also revealed that the palace’s menus were written in French, meaning the official name for the dish was “cabillaud et pommes pont neuf” (cod with Parisian fried potatoes).
If you, too, would like to eat like a royal, you can follow along with Chef McGrady’s recipe here.
Enjoy your lunch!
