Chef Darren McGrady, who was Queen Elizabeth II’s personal chef from 1982 to 1993, revealed to The Telegraph that the 96-year-old monarch prefers to eat grilled meat and avoid strong aromas in her food.
It is known that throughout these 70 years of reign, the monarch likes to have sandwiches made for her afternoon snack and that her medical team constantly monitors her diet to incorporate the nutrients she needs.
However, McGrady assured that for years he dedicated himself to creating very satiating dishes that would help improve the health of his majesty, always taking into account the ingredients that he does not like.
The chef assures that Queen Elizabeth II rejects any dish that contains garlic, onions and paprika (red-orange pepper powder).
His diet for many years has been based on proteins to have more energy and he prefers to avoid carbohydrates and starches such as potatoes, pasta and rice.
“The Queen loves scrambled eggs with smoked salmon and a zest of truffle. But she is too frugal to ask for fresh truffles and she only enjoys them at Christmas when they are sent as gifts”, she recounted in relation to breakfast.
Mark Flanagan, current personal chef of Queen Elizabeth II, has been in charge of the breakfast at the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton in 2011, the honorary dinner for President Obama in 2016 and the honorary dinner for the King and Queen of Spain in 2017.
Although she doesn’t discuss the monarch’s private life, Flanagan has revealed some of her culinary details in two books, one of them titled “A Royal Cookbook: Seasonal Recipes from Buckingham Palace.”
In it, he assures that His Majesty likes well-cooked grilled meat, mainly from birds such as pheasant or partridge, although it can be adapted to other species.
In addition, he revealed that every afternoon he sits in the Buckingham dining room to be served his classic tuna sandwich, mayonnaise and thin slices of cucumber, with a very particular detail: the crust must always be removed because he does not like it.
It also ensures that Elizabeth II’s tastes for food are not luxurious, but rather classic and accessible to many people. The most important thing is small portions and never missing a meal to always be healthy.
ABC