Making meals fit for a queen -- and a princess
If you haven't heard enough about Princess Di, her cook has just come out with his memoirs. Darren McGrady, 45, began cooking for the British royal family in 1982, shortly after the wedding of Prince Charles and Diana Spencer. As junior chef, and then senior pastry chef at Buckingham Palace, and later as Princess Di's private chef at Kensington Palace, he has braised and baked for many royals and their guests.
From his vantage in the kitchen, he was privy to eating habits and all kinds of other information about the royal family. Alas, his book, "Eating Royally: Recipes and Remembrances From a Palace Kitchen," is hardly a tell-all.
Shortly after Princess Di's death 10 years ago, McGrady moved from his homeland to this country, where he teaches cooking classes and works to support charitable causes that had also been close to his employer's heart. All royalties from "Eating Royally" will go to the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation.
He spoke from his home in Dallas.
Q When you first went to work for the royal family as a junior chef at Buckingham Palace, what surprised you?
A What surprised me the most first of all was that they didn't have caviar, foie gras, and smoked salmon every night. Quite often the queen could have a piece of grilled chicken with salad for dinner. They eat normal food.
Q Can you talk about the process of getting the food to Queen Elizabeth, with her dining room being so far from the kitchen? How did the staff manage to keep her meals hot?
A Well, it depends on different palaces. At Buckingham Palace, that was the biggest one and the one furthest away. There, what would happen is that the food would go on electric hot carts. At Windsor Castle, because it was such an old castle and not designed for carts, they would go on big butler's trays.
Q At Buckingham Palace, how long was the trip?
A Probably about five to eight minutes. Probably wasn't a mile, I was being artistic [in the book]. It seemed like it.
Q What did you most enjoy cooking for the queen? Was there a particular dish you liked to make for her?
A Her favorite dish, I don't know. That's tough. I enjoyed cooking so many different dishes and pastries. I think the chocolate biscuit cake in the book was one of my favorites I cooked for her. Oh, it's heaven.
Q Does she really eat asparagus with her fingers?
A Um, with her fingers? That's a tough one. I'm not sure. I'd imagine that they all probably used a knife and fork.
Q Is there any truth to the rumor that she and Princess Anne sometimes dined on TV dinners while watching "Dallas" on television?
A I've never heard that before. I was stuck in the kitchen, so once I've sent the food up I wouldn't know if they ate off trays or on the roof for that matter. It would surprise me if they did.
Q What about the queen's tea time? Does she have a favorite kind of tea or type of water that it must be brewed in?
A Actually she uses Malvern water, which she takes with her wherever she is in the world. But the tea is not brewed with that water. For afternoon tea it's either Darjeeling or Earl Grey tea.
Q And the scones, is it true that her corgis eat more of them than she does?
A I think, yeah. She actually takes them and crumbles them for the dogs. It's not that she doesn't like them. You'd get bored with them every day. It's her special way of having tea with the dogs and spoiling them. It's really a backhanded compliment. If the scones are good enough for the dogs, they're good enough for the royal family.
Q What else do the dogs eat?
A The food for the dogs is prepared in the kitchen. The dog menu is split up. One day they'll have chicken. One day they'll have beef. One day they'll have rabbit. Another day, liver. With that they'll have rice or cabbage. The queen's footman comes down the stairs and takes the food upstairs.
Q Do you know if the queen offers beer to the corgis daily as the Queen Mother is said to have done before her?
A I didn't know that either.
Q When you became Princess Diana's personal chef at Kensington Palace after her separation from Prince Charles, what did you first notice about her eating habits?
A I noticed that the princess was now eating healthy. She was eating all sorts of healthy foods. The bulimia years she talked about, she got her life back on track. It was lots of pasta and stuffed vegetables.
Q Did Diana still show up in the kitchen for snacks as she did when you were working for the queen?
A She'd come into the kitchen and have snacks, but it was usually apple, orange, fruit, or something like that.
Q Would she come in for different snacks during the bulimia years?
A I never talk about those dark years and the sort of things she ate.
Q You mention some favorite dishes of hers. What were they?
A The tomato mousse was her favorite and the stuffed eggplant was one of her all-time favorites -- she'd have that at least once a week.
Q And what did her sons, William and Harry, like to eat?
A Their favorite was probably the cottage pie. They'd have that at least once a week, too. They were royal princes, but they had children's palates. They liked to go to
Q What were family meals like with the three of them?
A They'd have the food all put onto the sideboard. Then you'd probably go to something like roasted chicken or roasted pork loin. The princess would have the breast meat and vegetables. The boys would have the potatoes. And one of the desserts in the book to go with that -- a crumble or a pie.
Q What would Diana be glad to see left unmentioned in the book?
A I would say that anything I left out of the book I purposefully left out of the book. We'll leave that one at that. The book is something I want to focus on the positive side.
