Dinner with HM: delicious, delectable, maybe Eggs Drumkilbo

The new month on the calendar that hangs over my desk looks quite delicious and delectable.

It's a Blackcurrant Sorbet, particularly fashionable during the reign of George IV (1820–30) but still served at Buckingham Palace today.

I picked my calendar up when we visited one of the palace gift shops during our trip to England last fall. The calendar is colourful and elegant, adapted from a recent royal cookbook — 12 gorgeous photos of mostly sophisticated dishes that are served at State Dinners but are also enjoyed by the family.

The cookbook and calendar both use the same cover — a photogenic rhubarb and white chocolate parfait. In some of my browsing, I read that it seems like an unusual combination but the tart rhubarb and the sweet white chocolate go very nicely together. We're always looking for new ways to use rhubarb so maybe I'll add this to the list.

Another of their pretty desserts is coming up in September and is called Sablé Breton with English Strawberries and Lemon Cream. It sure sounds good and if you make it at your house, it probably isn't compulsory for it to look like this:

It's not a terribly complicated recipe although it calls for 2 250g punnets of strawberries.

A punnet is a small box for the gathering and sale of fruit and vegetables, typically small berries. The word is largely confined to Commonwealth countries and is of uncertain origin, but is thought to be a diminutive of "pun", a British dialect word for pound, from the days in which such containers were used as a unit of measurement or from the name of Reginald Crundall Punnett (1875–1967), a geneticist and grower of strawberries who used to sell them in the London market in a small chip basket.

One of the more eccentric dishes showed up for the month of April. It's called Eggs Drumkilbo and I wasn't surprised to read that it was a favourite of Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother.

The story goes that one night, back in the 1950s, some guests arrived late at Drumkilbo House, long after dinner had been cleared away and the owner of the house, Lord Elphinstone, asked his cook to feed his guests with whatever she could put together.

In the fridge she found some leftover lobster, there were some eggs which she hard-boiled, prawns and tomatoes. However, with the addition of anchovy sauce, Tabasco, stock, gelatine and mayonnaise — a dish to be proud of was born. So much so, that Lord Elphinstone served it to his neighbour and aunt, the Queen Mother, who immediately got her chef to copy the recipe and include it within their repertoire of dishes.

Eggs Drumkilbo is a magnificent dish, combining Scottish seafood with haute cuisine, or to put it another way, it is like a posh prawn cocktail and egg mayonnaise all wrapped into one!

I can see that Eggs Drumkilbo might be quite tasty.

I had asparagus for dinner today. Ours was steamed until just fork-tender, then plunged into cold water so it would stay nice and green. It was then tossed with halved cherry tomatoes, minced garlic, a chiffonade of fresh basil leaves and a little olive oil. It was beautiful asparagus and I think Her Majesty would have liked it.

Hers, however, looks like this:

Her chef says it's a spectacular starter. It's made to look like a crown and the extra flavours added are crab and mango.

Another cook says:

The asparagus is lightly cooked and then lined into metal rings to create a crown like, circular shape. The middle is filled with crabmeat, mango, chives, lemon and lime before being topped with salad leaves dressed in a lemon vinaigrette. It’s lifted carefully out of the rings and tied together with chives.

I've only scratched the surface of the royal menus but as the months go by and I turn my calendar pages, I'll probably be inspired to return to this subject.

I loved looking at your dishes, Your Majesty

Her Majesty celebrated a birthday today and in honour of that, I'm going to show you some of her pretty dishes.

These beautiful pieces are part of the exhibition in The Queen's Gallery at Buckingham Palace. There are also paintings, antique exotic furniture and other random beautiful things. We visited the gallery last fall and found a nice combination of art and history.

We start with a gravy boat and move on to a tureen:

gravy boat

tureen

tureen and extra pieces

I would serve tea every day if I had such beautiful tea service sets as these:

forget-me-not

I love to set a pretty table and I don't mind being a little flamboyant but maybe this would be going too far.

What would I serve on this platter? Fruit, I guess. The nachos probably wouldn't be appropriate here although I think I see red peppers – and a tomato.

And what would I use this for?

mystery piece

Or this?

mystery piece 2

I think it's safe to say that none of these beautiful pieces is dishwasher safe so being the practical person I am, perhaps I'll just be happy to look at them and leave them on Her Majesty's shelf and let her worry about them.

Meanwhile, we're definitely art lovers but William and I always grab the opportunity to have a little rest on a comfy bench:

Life and shopping at the Palace

Our visit to Buckingham Palace’s State Rooms was overwhelming. There are many state rooms – 19, I think – they’re big, they’re elegant, they’re filled with paintings and sculpture and furniture that would knock your eye out.

I enjoyed walking around, looking at everything, imagining Her Majesty coming in to check that everything is ship-shape when company is expected. I can picture her swiping her index finger along the banister of the grand staircase to make sure no one missed a spot when they were doing the dusting.

We did walk up this very staircase on our tour. We didn’t take this photo as photos are not allowed in the state rooms.

We saw the Throne Room, the room where HM hands out honours, the ball room, the state dining room and countless reception rooms of various sizes and shapes. They’ve done a nice job of setting up displays to give their guests an idea of what happens in each room.

We learned how the kitchen functions when a major state dinner is being prepared, how the tables are set, how the guests are seated. I’m pretty sure it all runs like clockwork.

There was also a display from the Queen’s dressmaker and milliner, showing a recent dress, coat and hat creation – that I remembered seeing her in!

I kept thinking how Mum would have loved these displays.

If we weren’t allowed to take photos in the state rooms, clearly someone was allowed. If you’re planning a visit and want a preview of what you’ll see, just do an image search for Buckingham Palace State Rooms and you can be overwhelmed too.

I can’t leave Buckingham Palace without mentioning the gift shops. There are several – as there are everywhere these days. Gift shops in the palaces, in the museums, in the Tower of London, in the galleries – no shortage of places to begin your Christmas shopping. (Please note those crown ornaments.)

The Palace may be elegant and tasteful but the gift shops are no less tacky than anywhere else. I’m afraid we chuckled with a sense of superiority as we looked over some of the very strange souvenirs but we happily bought some embossed tea towels for Cousin Dale, HM’s biggest fan, and we resisted all crowns and orbs and sceptres.

The art of Queens

I’ve already done the background and the intro so I’m afraid I’ve procrastinated long enough and I’d better move on to the real thing.

Our first stop on the visit to Buckingham Palace was at the Royal Mews. It’s one of those places one hears of but it doesn’t quite have the glamour of the art gallery or the state rooms.

We’ve been to many historical museums and have seen lots of coaches and other conveyances. They always look uncomfortable to me – and I suspect they are – and I think if I were a passenger in one, I’d always be a little worried that it was going to tip over. They’re top-heavy but they must have sufficient stability because I’ve never heard of HM having to be extracted from a tipped-over coach.

This (above) is Queen Alexandra’s State Coach. It’s used to carry the crown and other essentials over to Parliament on the days of the State Opening.

Other coaches (above) are used on special occasions – weddings, funerals etc.

This (above) is the showpiece, without a doubt. This is the Gold State Coach. It was built for George III in 1762 and has been used at every coronation since then to transport the monarch.

The stables are beautiful and were quiet the day we were there although we did catch this fellow having a snack break.

We went from the Mews to The Queen’s Gallery. The exhibit changes and the one that's currently running is called Painting Paradise: The Art of the Garden. The gallery’s own website describes it this way:

Whether a sacred sanctuary, a place for scientific study, a haven for the solitary thinker or a space for pure enjoyment and delight, gardens are where man and nature meet.

Painting Paradise: The Art of the Garden reveals the way in which gardens have been celebrated in art across four centuries.

Bringing together paintings, botanical studies, drawings, books, manuscripts and decorative arts, the exhibition explores the changing character of the garden from the 16th to the early 20th century. It includes works by Leonardo da Vinci, Maria Sibylla Merian and Carl Fabergé, and some of the earliest and rarest surviving depictions of gardens and plants.

The exhibit included depictions of the Garden of Eden, ancient Persian poems about gardens, the origins of gardening for food, the beginnings of the formal garden and much more. It was an amazing and original display of art and an inspiration. It was different from many of the art museums we’ve visited.

We all know that a picture is worth a thousand words so here are a few examples of the art:

Solid silver

Fabergé

Fabergé detail

Two art lovers

The art has overwhelmed me. I'll be back with a note about the visit to the state rooms.

Buckingham Palace: An intro

Yesterday, I provided some background into my life-long relationship with the Royal Family – most specifically with Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth. I did it to explain why I chose Buckingham Palace as one of the places I wanted to visit in London. (It was a short trip and we were three people so we tried to accommodate everyone.)

I was a very young woman when I first went to London. We had flown there directly from Newfoundland where we had spent the summer. England is not really far from Newfoundland and it was a short flight. When we got there, the air felt different and it smelled different and the cars were all driving on the wrong side. Even so, I needed some proof that I was really there and the way I thought I could convince myself was to see Buckingham Palace.

So that was our first stop all those years ago. The palace itself doesn’t look much different.

What is different are the crowds. Thousands of people fill the sidewalks and streets and accessible grounds in the neighbourhood.

Tourism seems to be doing just fine, thanks.

The other major difference between now and then is that certain parts of Buckingham Palace are now open to the public. We booked before we left home and so we arrived with tickets to visit The Queen’s Gallery , the Royal Mews and the State Rooms.

It took much of a day to see it all – we also walked out the back way behind the palace and enjoyed the very beautiful park.

Because I’ve spent too much of this evening watching the Emmy Awards on television, I will be back tomorrow with details on the visit to Buckingham Palace.

Including this:

(I know I don't have to remind you but please click on the photos to get the lovely big version.)