There's much more to British cooking than fish 'n' chips. When celebrating the royal family, Brits are known to go all-out in the kitchen and even invent dishes to mark important occasions.
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British dishes to delight kings and queens
Dine like a queen: theses dishes will turn your royal wedding party into a truly regal celebration. Inspired by the monarchy, these dishes are widely recognized throughout the UK but may be less well-known elsewhere.
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Sausage Rolls
No British party is complete without sausage rolls. A small sausage wrapped in a blanket of dough — a perfect party snack enjoyed throughout the nation. This grub has even popped up in menus seen at Buckingham Palace and can be found at stores throughout the UK. Meanwhile, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are rumored to be spending GBP 25,000 ($35,000) on sausage rolls alone at their wedding.
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Gleneagles Paté
A favorite of the Queen's — especially when she retreats to her summer residence in Scotland, Balmoral, where she gets daily fresh deliveries of seafood from the waters of the North Sea. This fish dish features layers of smoked salmon, trout and mackerel as well as copious amounts of butter and dill. It is served cold as an appetizer, although some people may brave it for breakfast.
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Coronation Chicken
This dish comes in as many shades of yellow as you can imagine — depending on how much curry powder you use. It was invented for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953 using cold, cooked chicken and a curry mayonnaise cream sauce as the main two ingredients. You can put your own spin on it and add fruit such as raisins or apple chunks. It can be eaten as a salad or used as sandwich filling.
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Beef Wellington
A tricky dish to prepare, Beef Wellington is a popular item on the menu across Britain. It is unknown whether it was named after the Duke of Wellington but is always a royal delight nonetheless. After coating a filet steak with paté, it is wrapped in puff pastry and baked. The trick is in retaining the moisture of the steak and preventing it from making the pastry soggy. A regal balancing act!
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King Edward Potatoes
Our contribution for vegans and vegetarians: the coronation of King Edward VII in 1902 coincided with the introduction of this namesake potato variety. It is unknown, however, whether the monarch himself enjoyed the spud. The potato lends itself particularly well to roasting, which is a popular way to prepare vegetables in the UK. Add some olive oil, rosemary and salt and serve while piping hot.
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Victoria Sponge
The Brits certainly have a sweet tooth — which could explain the state of their dentistry. Victoria Sponge is a delectable delight named after Queen Victoria (1819-1901). The Empress had a reputation for enjoying pound cake for high tea. With the invention of baking powder, royal bakers managed to make it rise. Cut in half, Victoria Sponge is filled with rich cream and strawberry jam.
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Eton Mess
Though not necessarily a royal delight in and of itself, this is likely a dessert that many of Britain's elite who attend Eton College in Berkshire grew up with. Again, there's a theme of strawberries and cream here, featuring broken pieces of meringue, raspberries and a bit of mint as well. An adult version, "Drunken Eton Mess" uses blackberries soaked in vodka. What's not to like?
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Battenberg Cake
The royals' worst-kept secret: they're Germans. Their lineage goes back to the German House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, However, there is also the Mountbatten branch of the Royal Family, direct descendants from the German House of Battenberg. This dessert is named after them: a fluffy sponge cake with a thin apricot jam filling. The checkered cake is then covered in Marzipan and enjoyed with tea.
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Trifle
Cream, custard, yogurt, strawberries and loads of sugar. Why would you do dessert any other way? Trifle is hugely popular as a formal dessert dish, and for Queen Elizabeth's diamond jubilee in 2012, chefs and wannabe chefs came up with new trifle recipes to celebrate the monarch. You can also add a thin pastry base drenched in sherry at the bottom to make this delicious treat even more fun.
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Lemon and Elderflower cake
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle chose to have a lemon elderflower cake decorated with buttercream as their wedding cake. It will be baked by Claire Ptak, founder of London's hip Violet Bakery. Elderflower, a popular ingredient in British desserts, is having a bit of a moment right now. Whether the cake will be as elaborately ornamented as William and Kate's wedding cake in 2011 is yet to be seen.
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Pimm's Cup
No summer party in Britain is complete without Pimm's. While most Brits enjoy gin and tonics on a hot day, a pitcher of Pimm's is far more refreshing and won't go to your head as fast. That's why Pimm's is also known as the traditional Wimbledon drink. You need cucumber, lemon, mint and perhaps some strawberries. Add to that equal amounts of ginger ale, lemonade and Pimm's, a gin-based liqueur.
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British cuisine still gets bad rap — despite the island producing such culinary luminaries as Jamie Oliver, Ainsley Harriot and Nigella Lawson. With dishes like "spotted dick" and "toad in the hole," it does admittedly have a deserved reputation for leaving more to the imagination than could possibly be pleasant. But experiencing a royal banquet is sure to change your mind.
While the British monarchy marks important events such as coronations and jubilees with elaborate meals that usually borrow a lot of ideas from French cuisine, there are a number of original dishes that have been invented over the decades to celebrate such special royal moments — or were at least inspired by them.
A cool gin and tonic works well with any dish in British cuisine — especially in summerImage: picture-alliance/dpa/T. Hase
Sophisticated to-go food
These meals aren't solely reserved for aristocratic taste buds; in fact, you can buy dishes fit for a queen such as Beef Wellington or Victoria Sponge ready-made at most supermarkets in the UK. This makes the planning of celebrations to mark big royal events, such as the 2012 wedding of Prince William to Kate Middleton, easy to plan for most Brits.
Add some simple traditional bunting to your shopping list and throw in some token Union Jacks for decoration, and you're ready to have a royal revelry.
In fact, this is how most Brits today know these dishes: as convenience food items ready to be picked up at the grocery store, ideal to bring to someone's house party or to dish up during a neighborhood street bash.
Of course it's always fun to experiment with recipes and put your own twist on some jubilee favorites such as Coronation Chicken or Battenberg Cake, but some of the recipes can be tricky and may require a lot of time spent in the kitchen to perfect.
No British party is complete without sausage rollsImage: picture-alliance/BSIP/Houin
Fine motor skills needed
When making Beef Wellington for instance, it is an art to get the balance right between making sure the pastry is thoroughly baked while also guaranteeing that the meat is cooked just well enough.
Even seasoned chefs consider this a challenge. Or when layering a trifle, you will want to make sure the ingredients don't mix, even though the yogurt is prone to caving in. You would only bring a homemade trifle to a party after extensive practice and thorough experience.
The ability to get Beef Wellington right sets a good cook apart from an amateurImage: Imago/UIG
There's clearly more to British cuisine than meets the eye — especially when celebrating a royal occasion.
But don't worry, if things get too hectic: you can always take a break, have a cup of tea (or a Pimm's), sit back and think of England, as your royal menu takes shape one way or another.
