Tom Parker Bowles’ book features more than 100 recipes spanning from Queen Victoria’s reign to King Charles III
Tom Parker Bowles has revealed a simple recipe that Queen Elizabeth savoured during her Coronation 72 years ago, while also lamenting how it’s been butchered over time. Despite acknowledging the ‘vile’ alterations to the dish over the years, Tom chose to focus on the original version crafted by Constance Spry and Rosemary Hume.
“I know, I know it really wouldn’t be a royal cookbook without this so-called regal ‘classic’,” he wrote in his 2024 book, Cooking & The Crown. “…Now the original version, as below, is perfectly civilised, but as the years went on, all manner of base and vile things were done to this perfectly innocent recipe, adding almonds and sultanas, lashings of turmeric and God knows what else, until it became a banana-hued, sickly-sweet aberration, the abject filling for a thousand sorry service station fillings.”
The dish in focus is Poulet Reine Elizabeth, or as we know it, Coronation Chicken sandwiches. While Spry and Hume are credited with its creation, the exact source of their inspiration remains a mystery.
Back in 1935, George V was served Jubilee Chicken, a concoction of mayonnaise, chicken, and curry powder. This has led some to speculate that it might have influenced the creation of Coronation Chicken, although concrete evidence is scant.
Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation took place at Westminster Abbey in 1953, just a year shy of rationing’s end after 14 years of post-war austerity. Chicken wasn’t exactly an everyday staple back then, which made the Coronation dish quite the indulgence.
For anyone fancying a taste of Royal history, Tom’s book lays out the uncomplicated recipe. Whilst boiling and shredding chicken is standard fare, nailing the sauce might take a bit more finesse.
You may be surprised to learn that the original filling contains more than just chicken, mayonnaise, and curry powder. It also includes tomato paste and red wine, amongst other components.
Bay leaves, lemon juice, and the usual salt and pepper seasoning are added for additional flavour before the mixture is served on brown bread. Tom explained the crusts must be cut off to enjoy sandwiches the Royal way.
“Remove the crusts and cut each sandwich into three fat fingers,” he added, according to a previous OK! article. Tom’s book Cooking & The Crown provides a more detailed step-by-step recipe and ingredient guide to creating the Coronation classic.
Beyond Poulet Reine Elizabeth, it features more than 100 recipes spanning from Queen Victoria’s reign to King Charles III. Whilst many of these seem rather lavish, including ‘Pommes Elizabeth’ and ‘Pudding au Pain et aux Cerises’, there are numerous simpler recipes to attempt at home.