Tips for (yet another!) new Buckingham Palace Chef
Let me start by saying: I couldn’t do it. But suppose you’re a highly trained chef who handles stress well, doesn’t mind the occasional state banquet, and can get by very well with at least two words (“Your Majesty”). On top of that, you don’t have to be mega-creative because your client would rather eat what she’s been eating for years, and you don’t even have to watch the calories. HOW HARD CAN IT BE to keep your job as Queen Elizabeth’s chef?!
Like dominoes
Apparently, very hard, because this is already the third time in one year that we can report that the British Royal Household is looking for a chef. Admittedly, this time it’s a sous chef and last time it was a chef de partie, but for whatever reason, it seems they don’t really last very long in that kitchen…
And because we like to think along with people, we have some well-intentioned advice for the upcoming royal kitchen hero.
Tips for keeping your job in the Buckingham Palace kitchen:
Make those tacos at home
Liz loves classic French food, please and thank you. No exotic antics, no poké bowls: potatoes, vegetables and meat are what appeal to her most. “She isn’t a real foodie” and mainly eats “because she has to,” according to Darren McGrady, the chef who cooked for her and the other royals for fifteen years.
No bloody gravy
Literally, that is, because she likes her steaks well done. If a substantial roast is served, the end pieces are for her. That way she knows the rosy middle portions will end up on someone else’s plate.
Go easy on your toes
French-ish, okay, but garlic? She’s not a fan. If you’re cooking for her and her husband, you make a separate pan for Prince Philip—with garlic in it.
But be generous with the cream
Butter, cream, crème fraîche—bring it on! “Calories don’t matter when you’re the queen,” according to McGrady. She hates low-calorie products and would sooner order a lean piece of fish ‘with nothing’ on a healthy day than risk a salad.
Pack your suitcase
You don’t just work at Buckingham Palace; you may also be deployed to the kitchens of the Queen’s other residences: Balmoral and Sandringham. You’ll also need a pair of garden shears in that suitcase, because she loves eating produce from the kitchen gardens at those two residences. Parsnip purée coming up!
Impress them with your housekeeping tips
You’re not limited to just one area and provide the household staff with several indispensable tips: did they know, for example, that the Steradent used to clean any royal dentures is also the perfect cleaner and polishing agent for all those crystal glasses and decanters?
Be a chocolate BOSS
She wants chocolate. Every. Single. Day. But (not entirely surprisingly), she has excellent self-control and eats a small slice of chocolate cake, only to send the rest away again. For the next day, because she really is frugal too. So if your chocoskills are mega on point, you’ll definitely have an edge.
With these tips, it can hardly be otherwise than that you’re headed for a brilliant career in those royal kitchens. Go for it!
Also read:
- No, not even a splash in the tea anymore
- Willy and Max are looking for a kitchen prince(ss)
- Queen Elizabeth’s ultimate guilty pleasure
