'She often eats the same dishes': Former royal chef reveals the dish that left Queen Elizabeth II confused
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM: Darren McGrady's dishes have delighted Queen Elizabeth II, Princess Diana, King Charles, and Princes William and Harry. The 60-year-old chef, who had been in service to the royals from 1982 to 1993, claimed that the Queen wasn't as adventurous when it came to food as compared to King Charles. She would often eat the same dishes. So whenever a new dish was to be added to the menu, the monarch had to approve the recipe first. When McGrady decided to serve her the classic ‘Veiled Farmer’s Daughter’, the effects were quite comical.
The dish was returned to the kitchen almost immediately after it was served. The Queen was not only befuddled by the name of the dish, neither had she been briefed on the ingredients earlier, as the protocol stated. Darren McGrady revealed this humorous incident on his YouTube channel.
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When 'Veiled Farmer's Daughter' was sent back to the kitchen, McGrady got a handwritten note written from the Queen which read, "What or who are the Veiled Farmers Daughters?!"
McGrady told LADbible “With the Queen, she mostly stuck to the same dishes most of the time. If we bought a new dish on the menu, we would write it on the menu, send it to the queen, and then she could choose whichever one she wanted. If we had a new recipe, we actually had to send the recipe to the queen." He said that he rushed upstairs when he received the note, to see what had happened. Darren had forgot to send the recipe of the dish and as a result it came back with the note.
The recipe for the Norwegian dessert consists of strawberries, oranges, cinnamon, crumble. It is served in an ice cream glass. "The Queen communicates with her chefs through a red leather bound menu book called The Menu Royale and that's where the chefs suggest breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner and the Queen actually chooses what she wants for those meal. That way the chefs can gather food in and prepare everything and we usually get about three days notice," McGrady said on his YouTube channel.