The Americans might have served King Charles a course of food he’s not a fan of at the White House state dinner, with a former royal chef saying they’d have known about it ahead of time.
It’s the final day of the King’s state visit to the US today (30 April) and things appear to have gone rather well.
There’s been the usual gladhanding, pomp and ceremony, while King Charles managed to defeat Donald Trump’s attempts to do his trademark yanking handshake.
He also made a speech stressing the importance of NATO, support for Ukraine and the need for democracy to have ‘checks and balances’, while he also met with representatives of his charity, the King’s Trust, in New York City.
One of the main events of a state visit is the state dinner, with the menu curated by First Lady Melania Trump, but one of the King’s former chefs said there was a dish on there he wouldn’t have liked so much.
The food King Charles did enjoy at the state dinner
Former royal chef Darren McGrady told Fox News ahead of the state dinner that the King had several foods he was a big fan of, though almost none of them appeared on the menu.
The chef said: “If there’s a cheese course, the King will adore that, as he loves cheese. He also loves honey, grilled vegetables, risottos and especially lamb.
“There’s incredible lamb here. He would be honoured if there was lamb.”
McGrady said the monarch was also a fan of dishes that supported local produce, with ‘goods coming into season, like asparagus, artichokes, peas, spinach and broccoli’ being among his preferred options.
It’s also known that he’s a fan of eggs boiled for precisely four minutes, while his absolute favourite dish is pheasant crumble pie, which serves poached pheasant in gravy topped with an upper layer of parmesan-bacon crumble.
What was King Charles not a fan of at the state dinner?
However, McGrady also said that Charles was ‘not a great lover of chocolate’, which is unfortunate because the dessert for state dinner was a beehive-shaped chocolate gâteau with smooth vanilla bean crémeux custard.
It seems like a bit of a faux-pas, with the former royal chef sure that the Palace would have been in touch with the White House ahead of time to let them know chocolate wasn’t his preferred pudding, though his affinity for local produce means he may have appreciated the local honey.
Even if King Charles isn’t the biggest fan of chocolate, the former royal chef said the dessert probably went down well with Queen Camilla, who does like ‘anything with chocolate on the menu’.
While his mum was a fan of Special K, Tasting Table says Charles seems to be a muesli man as far as his cereal is concerned, and his breakfast is accompanied by fresh bread, honey and tea or juice to drink.
It’s said that he doesn’t often have lunch, so that explains the substantial breakfast, and he’s not a fan of wasted food either.
If the King wasn’t the biggest appreciator of the chocolate gâteau, then it didn’t put him off his stride at the state dinner, as he made jokes about how the British burned down the White House in 1814 and that the Americans would ‘be speaking French’ if not for the Brits.
What was on the menu at the White House state dinner?
First course
Hearts of palm salad and garden herb velouté sauce with toasted shallots.
Second course
Handcrafted spring herb ravioli with herbs from the White House Kitchen Garden, filled with creamy ricotta, morels, with a light parmesan emulsion.
Main course
Dover sole meunière in a nutty brown butter with tender spring ramps, sweet snow peas, layered potatoes pavé, and a parsley oil.
Dessert
Beehive-shaped chocolate gâteau with a vanilla bean crémeux custard, set inside with an almond joconde, served with crème fraîche ice cream and White House honey.
Drinks
A selection of wines was also presented to ‘complement the menu while honouring the shared heritage and enduring friendship between the United States and the United Kingdom’, the White House said.
