On the Move Royal Recipes

'The royal family are steeped in tradition and, throughout history,

'the royal tables have showcased culinary excellence.

'In celebration of royal food...'

We know it's the Queen's recipe

because we've got it in her own hand.

'..from the present and the past...'

That is proper regal!

'..we recreate old family favourites...'

Now, the Queen Mother had this really wicked trick with these.

What a mess.

'..we sample royal eating alfresco...'

-Oh, wow!

-That is what you want.

'..and revisit the most extravagant times.'

Pheasant, stag, turkey, salmon, oysters

-and turbot dressed in a lobster champagne sauce.

-Unbelievable!

'This is Royal Recipes.'

Hello, I'm Michael Buerk, and welcome to Royal Recipes.

This is Audley End, one of Britain's finest stately homes,

built in the style of a royal palace and once owned by a king.

In the splendour of the gardens, halls and kitchen

of this grandest of country houses,

we'll be recreating the food served at the highest royal tables.

And it all starts here with this gem,

a royal kitchen maid's cookbook -

the only surviving recipe book of its kind in the royal archive.

This is an exact copy of the original,

which is kept at Windsor Castle.

Inside - the recipes of Mildred Nicholls,

who worked at Buckingham Palace in the early 1900s.

And for the first time in over 100 years,

we'll be bringing these recipes back to life.

'This time, we're cooking food inspired by

'the royal family's travels.

'We're going on the move with the Queen and the Windsors,

'overseas and at home.

'Today, in the Royal Recipes kitchen,

'chef Paul Ainsworth is inspired

'by Prince Philip's Canadian trip across the Arctic Circle...'

I bet that was better than the duke had.

Thank you very much.

'..Dr Matt Green investigates the history

'of a favoured royal tipple,

'taken on tours at home and abroad...'

-Ooh, that is delicious!

-Isn't that gorgeous?

-Ooh, that is.

-That really is.

-Yeah.

-I might have to have another sip.

'..and a top chef cooks Indian food the way Prince Charles likes it.'

And I made sure that I cooked it to perfection

when I got the chance to cook for His Highness.

In the grand setting of this stately home,

we're going on tour with Her Majesty.

Welcome to the historic kitchen with the very modern,

Michelin-starred chef Paul Ainsworth.

-Paul, we're going travelling today.

-We are.

The Queen does a lot of travelling.

In fact, she's the most travelled monarch we've ever had.

She's been to 128 countries,

and the country that she's been to most,

-not surprisingly, I suppose, is Canada.

-Right.

As far as food's concerned, what does Canada make you think of?

Straight away - maple syrup, crispy bacon.

Oh, that stuff that shatters when you try to cut it?

That's it. That's the stuff.

But also, they're very fond of game.

What are you going to cook for us today, then?

Today, I'm going to cook for you a beautiful loin of reindeer

with an amazing sauce.

So, it's reindeer. Same as venison, isn't it?

-Absolutely.

-Canada - caribou.

-Yeah, yeah.

-So, how are you going to do it?

-What we've got here, Michael,

is the loin, so what we call the saddle - right along the top.

And what we're going to do is we're just going to wrap it in bacon,

and that is our fat - we're adding our fat.

-You're stopping it from drying out and getting stringy.

-Absolutely.

We've got that lovely flavour of the bacon.

-So, we'll just...

-That's a bit tricky.

-Just over like that.

And do you know what?

When it comes over the other side, it's ever so pretty.

So, we're just going to go over one more time,

but we don't want to go too much. Then we're just going to cut that.

-Just to make it look neat?

-Yeah, just to make it look neat

and I don't really need all of that.

We've gone over twice,

so the loin is properly sealed in there, OK?

Here, lovely British ingredient - rapeseed oil.

So, just going to move that oil round the pan

and we want to get this pan quite hot, all right?

So it'll sear the whole thing and seal everything in?

Do you know what? Yeah. Not so much seal. The first bit -

-caramelise, sear, flavour.

-Yeah, yeah.

So, just going to take a nice knob of butter, straight into the pan,

-and we'll get cooking straightaway.

-A lot of butter in there. Wow.

But we want to get that really nice and hot. OK.

So, Michael, we're going to turn it over

and we're going to put it join side down, so it doesn't spring open.

We're basically going to seal that side first.

I was going to say - what stops the whole thing falling open?

So, in we go. Just nice and gently like that.

And you know what the trick is, Michael? Moving the butter.

-Right.

-By moving the butter,

you're then controlling the temperature,

and we control that by adding a little bit more butter

to cool it down or moving it.

-But you don't turn the actual meat?

-Yeah, we're going to turn it,

-but we want to get flavour.

-You're going to sear it first.

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

-Garlic.

-Yeah.

-And what that's going to do,

that's going to permeate through the butter

-and go right into that venison.

-And you just split it?

-Just split it. Leave the skin on.

-You don't blast it.

-Thyme. Again, just rub it in our hands.

-Mm-hm.

-Oh, yeah, yeah.

-Delicious. OK?

Watch out cos the thyme will spit a little bit, like that.

Now, do you know what else would be lovely with this?

Something like a fillet of beef.

-Yeah.

-Something that hasn't got much fat.

-That hasn't got much fat itself.

-Hasn't got much fat itself. Wrap it in bacon.

Or, like a Wellington, you could then wrap it in pastry,

-bake it - beautiful.

-Yeah, yeah.

-Right.

So, we're just going to move it over like that.

Just look at how it's starting to go crispy now, Michael.

-Yeah.

-Absolutely delicious.

We actually know the Duke of Edinburgh

has eaten, well, caribou.

He was the first member of the royal family

to actually cross the Arctic Circle and he had caribou then.

-And caribou's rather like reindeer, isn't it?

-Yeah, absolutely.

Again, under that kind of venison umbrella.

-But I don't think his was as nice as this.

-Right.

So, we're now going to...

..transfer this to a tray and we're going to cook that in the oven

and, believe it or not, do you know how long that'll take in the oven?

-About six minutes.

-Six minutes?

-Six minutes.

And do you know what you want to do, Michael, as well?

That join side, where the bacon is,

-we want to keep that join side down, like that.

-Yeah.

-Looks good?

-It does. It does. It looks really good.

So, beautifully caramelised, that lovely bacon flavour.

If you could just pop that one into the oven for me

and grab the other one that's cooked.

It's had a nice, long rest.

-Yes, Chef.

-Thank you.

-Here we are, Paul.

-Thank you very much.

-On the resting grid. That's important?

-Yes, that's it.

What we're going to do - straight off and onto there.

-Right.

-OK?

-Ready to make some sauce?

-Absolutely. What have you got here?

So, we've got some shallot here that has just been

basically cooked without colour in a little bit of butter.

We're just going to get that moving around.

While that's happening, remember that bacon that I cut off?

-Yeah.

-We're just going to cut it up nice and small.

So, just going to move that shallot and bacon, which is delicious.

-Right, that's our base for the sauce.

-Yeah.

Next, we've got here mushroom ketchup.

Not much, all right?

We're just going to literally deglaze the pan.

Next, we're going to add our Madeira.

Now, we don't put the mushroom ketchup in

and then the Madeira in. We want a fast reduction,

so we want to cook this fast so we retain the flavour.

Otherwise, it's just all disappearing into the atmosphere.

So, Madeira.

Oh, what a waste of a glass of Madeira!

No, I'm telling you, it's not.

And now we're going to let that reduce right down, OK?

In the meantime, I've cooked some kale,

which is so beautiful with this dish.

Nice and simple. We've just kind of cooked it in its own steam, really.

We haven't, like, boiled it in water to lose the flavour.

-It's a kind of wintry vegetable, isn't it?

-Yeah, perfect.

And goes so well with this.

Just going to put our kale back on to warm, Michael.

And now we're going to add our beef stock.

Going to bring that to the boil

and then we're just going to add in peppercorns.

These are pink ones, Michael, and they've been brined, as well,

so they've got, actually, a nice acidity to them.

They're not, like, a harsh pepper taste.

-Little bit of cream.

-Oh, your little bit of cream. Let's have a look.

-Watch, it is little.

-Yeah.

-Only a little bit.

-Yeah.

-Definitely the butter?

-Just a little bit.

And that, we're just going to let that melt in there.

-Right, it's time to plate up.

-Yeah.

We've got our kale that we've just, like I said, cooked in butter.

-Just smell that.

-Yeah, but look...

Oh, the smell is lovely, but look at the colour.

-Colour of it.

-Look at the colour.

Beautiful and green, nice and buttery.

-Really deep green.

-And soft, as well.

There's nothing worse than when kale is undercooked and it's all chewy.

-Right, like that. Beautiful.

-Mm-hm.

-OK, ready?

-Yeah.

-Go on, do it! Do it!

-OK. First bit is for you to try.

-Look at that.

-Oh!

And that is what you call cooked properly. It's not raw.

And that's because the meat was at room temperature,

and that's because all of those little things we did along the way

-make the difference.

-Mm!

-Oh, I say!

-Crunchy bacon.

-Mm!

Carve that all the way along. Our sauce is nice and ready.

And then we're just going to pile them on like that.

That is just...

That is absolutely beautifully cooked.

Finish it, Michael.

Little bit of sea salt just on the face on the middle.

And we're just going to take some thyme...

-It's really succulent.

-..like that. And now our sauce.

-Just look at that. Just over, OK?

-Yeah.

-And there you have it.

Beautiful. Absolutely beautiful.

Right, let's have a noodle of your noisette.

-There we go. There we are.

-Dig in. Dig in.

-Can I go first?

-Go for it. Yeah, absolutely.

-Shall we try this one?

Oh, look at that!

-I've mucked up your bacon, haven't I?

-No, it doesn't matter.

-I'm going to have the kale, as well.

-It's all in the eating.

-Yeah.

Ooh, I love that kale. Look at the different colours.

Mm-mm-mm!

-Mm!

-Happy?

-Mm! Yeah, the sauce has got a lovely kind of acidity to it.

Mm!

I bet that was better than the duke had.

Thank you very much.

My pleasure, in every possible way.

A game dish inspired by royal tours of Canada.

Wherever the Queen travels, she's said to enjoy a taste of home

and one treat in particular.

Top chef Anna Haugh is heading north...

..in search of a slice of what's reported to be

a regal tea-time favourite

wherever in the world Her Majesty happens to be.

Apparently, when the Queen goes on foreign visits,

she has a list of things that she brings with her.

One of the things she brings with her is tea,

which is understandable, because we're all very sensitive

about our perfect cup of tea, but she also brings a cake -

Dundee cake.

This reigning monarch, who could have anything she wants,

and she wants Dundee cake with her wherever she goes.

And I thought that was so interesting.

This fruit cake shares its name with the city of Dundee on the banks of

the River Tay, famous for The Broons, jam and marmalade.

But what's so distinctive about it?

To find out, Anna has headed just south of Dundee

to Cooper in Fife,

the hometown of Scottish bakers to the royal household,

Fisher & Donaldson.

"Team members required." Might be a good job for me.

-Hi, I hear you're hiring.

-We are. Would you like a wee trial?

-Why not?

And she's joining the staff behind the counter of the shop.

So, right, what do I start doing?

Do I get to eat the cakes first, or...what's the story?

That's part of the job, right?

This fifth generation of family bakers

produce 400 different treats and it's said that

while Prince William was studying at nearby Saint Andrews,

he came here to get his favourite chocolate biscuit or Tiffin cake.

But it's Dundee cake they've famously been making

for nearly a century.

Right, so, I'm here for some Dundee cake.

-OK. Would you like to come over and have a wee look?

-Yes.

OK, this is Dundee cake here.

Do you want to have a little feel and...?

-Oh, it's much lighter than I expected it to be.

-It is, yeah.

Yeah, considering fruit loaves and all of those kind of cakes,

-you always think that they're real heavy, but this is the small one.

-That's the individual one, yeah.

That's super cute. Look at that.

And we'd sell about 110 of these a week.

-Go away. Really?

-Yeah, they're very popular with us.

All the nuts, all lovely placed around.

-Yeah, by the nutter.

-By the nutter!

-BOTH LAUGH

That's not being disrespectful.

The person who places the almonds on top of a Dundee cake,

which gives it its unique look, is called the nutter.

And do you know what's in a Dundee cake?

I've got a rough idea,

but I wouldn't like to say it's true, but I'm thinking.

-Sounds like you know the secret recipe.

-Oh, no. No.

Never been open to the secret recipe.

Anna's now heading to the nearby bakery headquarters

to find out what goes into the cake to give it that unique flavour.

Ben Milne has worked in the factory since he was a boy

and is the fifth generation of his family to do so.

So, I've been to the shop and it was fabulous.

The ladies were amazing.

One thing they didn't know was what exactly goes into the Dundee cake.

It's quite a simple recipe.

Well, the first thing we do is we put the butter

and the sugar into the mixer.

Mix this for about two or three minutes.

The next thing we need to do is just put the eggs in,

pouring in a little bit at a time.

-That looks like that's coming together nicely.

-Yeah.

And then the next stage is to add your marmalade,

your ground almonds, your mixed peel.

Is there some sort of story that, originally, it was cherries,

or have I got that wrong?

The idea was Mary Queen of Scots didn't like cherries.

They put almonds on instead.

But the Dundee cake was popularised

and certainly mass-produced by the Keillers,

-who were a marmalade producer...

-Ah, I see, I see.

-..in Dundee.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So, they used Sevillian oranges in their marmalade

and that's how the marmalade ended up in the Dundee cake.

It all makes sense now.

So, it's the almonds on top,

then that all-important marmalade inside,

which really makes a Dundee cake.

And then your mixed peel. We're going to add the flour.

So, now we just add the fruit by hand at the end. Fold that in.

The next thing is to put it into the baking tin

and you want to get it nice and smooth

so that it's easier to put the nuts on the top.

The ladies in the shop mentioned that the person

who puts the nuts on top is called the nutter.

Yeah, well, it takes quite a while to place all the almonds on the top,

so, yeah, if you're not a nutter before you start the job,

you certainly are when you get to the end!

After nutting, it's into the oven at 170 degrees

for an hour and a half or two hours, then it's ready to taste.

Oh, that smells amazing. Smells beautiful.

I'll just cut you a little slice off.

Mm! Mm!

The cake is delicious, it's well-balanced,

it's not too light, it's not too heavy.

-You could say it's a cake fit for a queen.

-Mm.

Apparently, when the royals are on the move in the United Kingdom,

maybe going from, you know, one of their houses to another,

they like to live a little more simply.

One of their servants who actually served in several reigns,

a guy called Charles Oliver, said they had an absolute passion -

nearly all the royals have an absolute passion for eggs.

The Queen, apparently, likes hers brown.

-And I totally agree.

-Really?

-Yeah.

Once you crack them open, they're all the same, aren't they?

No, they're not. What you find is...

-You see, like this one here, really dark brown.

-Yeah.

Nine times out of ten, if you crack that open,

it's a really tight yolk.

The white around it is really, really tight.

And you find the really pale ones, like that,

the white is a lot more watery, and just, yeah...

That's why they're more expensive and it's worth it, you reckon?

Well, maybe. But the dark brown, I totally agree with the Queen.

The dark brown ones are lovely.

She likes her brown eggs, apparently,

-either fried or scrambled.

-Scrambled.

Prince Charles likes them with crumpets...

-Yes.

-..apparently.

-Yeah.

But what royals down the generations have particularly liked

is a dish called oeufs en cocotte a la creme.

And it's actually got some minced chicken on the top, I think.

It's a bit of an odd idea, isn't it? What is it?

Is it what we used to call coddled egg,

-or is that something different?

-I don't know why you're asking me.

Yeah, it's very strange. Basically, the cocotte is the mould.

-Yeah.

-Break the egg in there

and exactly like you said - coddled eggs.

You're just baking them with a little bit of cream on top.

It's quite a French dish,

-back in that era of when things were very rich.

-Bit rich?

-Very, very rich.

-Try it?

-Yeah.

Oh, it's pretty nice. A bit rich.

-Nice sort of combination of tastes.

-Yeah.

-Mm! And the minced chicken -

-gives you something to chew, doesn't it?

-Yeah.

-All right. I wouldn't be mad on it myself.

-No.

But with eggs, apparently,

the Duke of Edinburgh likes to cook for himself and the Queen -

likes to cook omelettes -

and he's got his own special electric frying pan

with a glass lid. Do you approve of that?

Not really. I don't think you can...

With an omelette, you've got to stay classic.

You've got to stay true to its roots and it's about having a good pan,

good eggs and just nice seasoning,

keeping it simple, not too many flavours,

and just gently stirring those eggs.

And the secret to a great omelette, which the French will call baveuse,

which is nice and soft in the centre.

But it's easy, isn't it? It's a doddle. Even a duke could do it.

-Well, you're about to find out!

-BOTH LAUGH

-Go on.

-So, what we're going to do,

we're going to do omelette with fine herbs.

So, fine herbs - again, it's quite a classic French dish.

You've got parsley, tarragon and chives.

That's what we're using in here.

So, not things like thyme or rosemary.

They're what you call hard herbs.

So, you're going for these soft herbs.

So, we're just going to start, Michael, by chopping some chives.

God, you're doing that very, very fine.

-Chive is part of the onion family...

-Yeah, yeah.

..so it's quite a strong herb.

So, you can see, I've got this lovely sharp knife

and letting the knife do all the work.

-So, that's our chives.

-Yeah.

-I'm going to take some tarragon.

Got the nice, small tarragon here. Leave it on the stalk.

When it's so young like this,

just nice on the stalk, it's a lovely flavour.

Love tarragon. Just smell that.

-Oh, it's great.

-It's just gorgeous, isn't it?

-Do you think the duke does this?

-Maybe.

-A bit of prepping?

-Maybe!

You'd know better than me.

-Well, maybe he's got his people. Maybe his people do it.

-Yeah.

-OK, our last herb - parsley.

-Yeah.

-Great herb, parsley.

And again, we're going to leave the parsley slightly larger.

-OK. Pan on now, all right?

-Yeah.

While our pan's getting nice and hot,

we're going to go with our eggs.

For the omelette, this size of pan - these are quite nice, large eggs.

We're going to use exactly like the Queen likes.

We're going to go with the nice, dark brown ones.

-Look at the colour of those yolks.

-That's a really rich colour.

-They are gorgeous, aren't they?

-There you go.

OK.

Whisk the eggs up.

Now...

..at this stage...

-You use butter, not oil?

-I use butter cos I want flavour.

Especially for this, we just want that butter - a just amount -

and then we're going to get that nice nuttiness.

Right, nice pinch of chives. Now, some people...

-These herbs aren't for decoration.

-Wouldn't some people put that in later?

They'd put that in later, exactly.

And that's a very good point you raise

and we're putting it now because this isn't for decoration.

We want flavour.

-So, it gives it more time...

-Absolutely.

-..to steep into it?

-Right.

I could do this, you know. I could do this.

This is the key here.

Gently.

-Now control the heat.

-Yeah.

-OK? Control the heat.

-By taking it off?

-Like that. By taking it off.

-Can you see how quick it's cooking?

-Yeah.

-Now we start our base, like that.

-Yeah.

Now back on the heat.

-And you see how lovely and soft those eggs are?

-Mm-hm.

-OK?

Like that, and now we make the shape.

And we're just basically setting the bottom.

-Patting it out.

-Yeah, we're patting it out,

setting the bottom. And there's so much heat in there.

And I can't stress more - take your time, relax with it.

We don't want colour on the bottom.

Now, just gently, you can start to see, underneath,

-it's going to come together like that, all right?

-Yeah.

So, we're just going to turn it round like that

and basically just roll our omelette over.

-Can you do that?

-That's it, yeah.

-This is the intricate bit.

-It's still going to be gooey inside, isn't it?

-Absolutely.

-Is that how you want it?

-That's exactly how we want it.

-Yeah.

Because the idea is we don't want to be eating rubbery eggs.

We want that lovely flavour of the eggs.

So, you don't flip it over or anything like that?

No, we're just going to now take our plate...

And for me, if you're tipping an omelette out of the pan,

it's cooked.

It's gone right the way through. It's like rubber.

We want that lovely, soft egg.

So, we're just going to gently take it out,

place it on our plate like that.

Can you see how those eggs are just so lovely and still gooey and soft?

-Yeah, yeah.

-And now, if you want, just a little bit more herbs.

Oh, you sprinkle some more on the top?

Only a little bit cos we've got it through...

-Beautifully orange, those eggs, aren't they?

-Absolutely stunning.

-Even in the omelette.

-Yeah.

Oh, that looks great.

-OK? And that's it.

-Incredibly simple.

-Simple as that.

-Quick, simple.

-But that's what we're after there.

And when you go in the middle of that, it's cooked.

People think, "Oh, it's raw egg." It's not raw egg. It's cooked.

-Cos you can imagine, we folded it over...

-Yeah.

-..so imagine the heat that's in the middle there.

-Yeah.

-Wow!

-And there we are. As simple as that.

Let's be having it. Here we go.

You are eager, aren't you? You're looking forward to this one.

-It's the best bit.

-It's so simple, but delicious.

-Come on, get on with it!

-Go on.

-Stop talking.

-In you go.

Talk, talk, talk!

I'm surprised you ever get round to serving in your restaurant!

PAUL CHUCKLES Mm! Ooh!

-Mm, that is really nice.

-Worth talking about, you see?

-It's the tarragon that comes through.

-Yeah.

Really, really nice.

-Those eggs...

-For me, it's that soft centre.

-Yeah.

-You broke those eggs, but not in vain.

-No.

Lovely omelette.

An egg and herb delight.

The easiest of dishes to cook and eat,

whatever the location.

Overseas tours can tickle royal taste buds, as well.

After two recent visits to the subcontinent,

Prince Charles is said to be more interested in Indian food.

With the job of developing the prince's palate

is Michelin-starred chef Atul Kochhar.

Chef Atul knows mutton is the Prince of Wales' favourite meat.

He's chosen a shoulder cut to cook a dish which will perfectly showcase

the most delicate nihari spice mix.

I'm going to make a mutton pie, but it's just not a mutton pie -

it's THE mutton pie.

I've cooked this on a couple of occasions for Prince Charles

and I have to say that His Highness absolutely loved it.

I had kept the recipe very mild,

because he's not a huge fan of massive spices.

So, I kept it to rose water, rose petal.

I used some garlic. He was OK with the garlic.

I didn't use any chilli powder. So, I've kept it very mild.

To create flavour without heat, Atul uses aromatic spices.

We're going to make a marinade. Now, ginger, garlic.

So, I'm not going to use a huge amount, but about a tablespoon

and we have about a good 300g of thick yoghurt.

Garam masala.

Turmeric powder.

Salt to taste.

Lemon juice.

It's best to take the seeds out, if you can.

Prince Charles is very keen on mutton, and so am I.

I work a lot with him and his charity.

I'm passionate about all his ethos, to be honest.

His ways of looking at the way our countryside works,

the way our farming works,

the way we should look at mutton in terms of a food -

I am totally bought into it and this is one of my favourite meats.

The smell is just amazing.

It will be taken over by the flavours.

Rub in all the nooks and the corners.

OK, that's it.

And this needs to go for resting.

Next, Atul makes the sauce for the pie.

He adds spices, including black cardamom, cinnamon,

cloves and mace to hot mustard oil.

And the spices are crackling and that's a very good sign.

The sliced onions here, which can go in.

Then he adds ginger, garlic, coriander,

nutmeg and dried rose petals.

OK, I'm going to bring the lamb in.

And from here on, I have some lamb stock.

That goes in.

The lid goes on.

160 degrees for six hours in the oven

and we'll have our nihari almost there.

Once the mutton is ready,

Atul removes the slow-cooked meat from the bone

and adds it back into the sauce, along with some vegetables.

So, I have the mixture ready for my mutton pie.

So, we have beautiful mash here -

just potato which has been cooked and passed through.

To that, we'll add a nice blob of butter and about three yolks.

All I do is just beat it with a paddle.

OK, I think I've got my mash ready.

Got a piping bag ready.

The mash is ready. Let's get the pastry cases.

We've got mutton and let's fill it.

And let's be generous about it.

That's pretty good.

Whichever way you like it.

If you want to be rustic,

just slap the mash on it and straight in the oven.

That's fine.

But not for the royal nihari lamb pie or mutton pie.

It has to be perfect for me

and this one is almost.

So, now I'm taking this into the oven - 12-15 minutes.

While the pies go in the oven,

Atul sautees some beetroot and Brussel tops.

Now coconut, just to finish the cooking.

You can use desiccated coconut, if you have at home.

And we are done, believe it or not, and just need to plate up.

Let's go for it.

I'm just going to roll a few Brussel tops.

Nihari is something which is

a kind of a celebration food for people

and I don't want to get it wrong.

This is a very important recipe for me

and I made sure that I cooked it to perfection

when I got the chance to cook for His Highness.

Official overseas tours can certainly present the royal family

with many different challenges.

Katie Nicholl is a royal correspondent

who's been on tour with the royal family

over the last decade and more

with several generations of the royal family.

How do they organise what they eat? Do they take their own chefs?

Well, actually, they don't take their own chefs, which,

when I first started doing this job, I was rather surprised,

particularly with the Queen.

You might expect that she would travel with her head chef, but no.

What tends to happen is, before they go away,

they have meetings,

or the head chef will have meetings with the host nations

to discuss exactly what the Queen will eat

and what she won't eat, what she'll drink, how she likes it,

her Dubonnet and gin cocktail in the evening.

It's six o'clock, you know.

Has to be mixed 50-50 and it HAS to come at six o'clock.

Whatever the routine, they pause at five o'clock for high tea.

So, the traditions that they enjoy back at the palace

are taken overseas.

And there is a list, as you might expect,

of very specific foods that they're not allowed to eat

-and the foods that they do.

-What kind of thing?

Well, for example, one of the big no-nos is garlic.

Now, this was an issue

when the Queen went to visit Italy all those years ago,

because, of course, they're in close proximity with people.

Woe betide they might have bad breath.

So, no garlic, no spices. They don't like anything too spicy.

They don't want to have an upset stomach when they're travelling.

No shellfish, because, of course,

there's a risk that they might get sick on shellfish.

And they will eat meat in certain countries that they travel to,

but never rare.

It must be well cooked, because these routines that they're on,

their itineraries are jam-packed, they're very intensive.

They just can't afford to feel unwell.

So, has the Queen ever had anything really exotic at all

-on one of these royal tours?

-She has, actually. Back in 1986,

she was on an official visit to China

and she ate - with great dexterity, I have to say -

using chopsticks, sea slugs,

which, I have to say, didn't look terribly appetising,

but, of course, had she not tried them,

it might have been seen as great offence to her host nation.

Even if you don't like the look of it

or it looks terribly odd,

you must be seen to be polite and to try it, at least.

What about the younger royals? Do they play as safe?

Well, I actually think they're a bit more adventurous.

The one thing the Queen rarely does is eat in public.

In fact, there is a sort of rule

that she's not to be photographed when she's eating.

And all the meals, which are planned with great foresight,

take place behind closed doors.

But particularly when I travel with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge,

they'll get involved,

and they seem to love things that have a culinary aspect.

So, for example, we were in Montreal back in 2011

and they went to visit a cookery school.

William couldn't help sort of sticking his finger into a sauce

and particularly wanting to try something that was sweet.

He has a sweet tooth like his grandmother and loves chocolate.

-And they even tried naughty shellfish.

-Well, they did.

That was on a recent trip, in fact, to Canada.

We were at a food festival

and there were these very unusual, rather rude-looking clams,

and they looked at them with that sort of look like, "What are these?"

And they did actually eat them.

And, of course, that was the story of the day.

-Do they take any snacks with them?

-Well, they do, funnily enough,

because, often, they don't get to each lunch

if the itinerary is very busy.

Now, Kate loves muesli bars. She snacks on those.

-William's partial to...

-You've seen them, have you?

-I have.

I've seen them in the footwell of her car. Boxes of them.

William's partial to a fizzy drink -

a well-known fizzy drink that keeps him going.

And, actually, one thing that they don't travel without

is a tummy settler.

They do take a medical trunk with them

and they've got lots of tummy settlers,

so that if, for example, when they're in India,

they do want to try something a bit spicy,

they've got something to settle the tummy if needs be.

So, if something, after all that, does go wrong, they've got a plan B?

Oh, yes, the royals always have a plan B.

Paul, we all know, don't we,

or at least it's been widely reported,

that the Queen's favourite tipple is gin and Dubonnet.

-Packs a real punch.

-Don't mind if I do, Michael. Thank you.

Prince Charles likes gin too, but he likes gin and tonic.

And his own gin and tonic.

Apparently, his bodyguards carry his own gin and tonic round with him...

-Right, OK.

-..so he can have it to hand when he needs it.

Do you know what, though? On a cold day like today,

-this is actually quite nice.

-Yeah.

-I quite like this, actually.

-The common thread is gin.

-Right, OK.

Historian Dr Matt Green looks at the origins

of what is really a very regal drink.

Matt has come to a gin distillery in Chiswick, West London.

I'm here to meet a man called Jared Brown.

He's the master distiller at Sipsmith Gin

and he's going to tell us the fantastic story

of how a foreign king turned us into a nation of gin drinkers.

It might look like a drab, anonymous warehouse,

but through those doors, that's where the magic happens.

-Welcome.

-Hi, Jared. How's it going?

-Good.

-How are you?

-I'm very well. This is...extraordinary.

So, talk me through it.

I mean, it's the hissing that strikes you first, isn't it?

That's the steam heating these stills.

-OK.

-Warming them.

Sipsmith is the first copper-pot distillery

to open within London's city limits in nearly two centuries.

-These are the botanicals that we use in the gin.

-OK.

-The star of the show, of course, is the juniper.

-The juniper.

But by volume, the next ingredient is Russian coriander.

This is cinnamon,

and then we use orris root liquorice,

which gives the perception of sweetness on the palate.

-So, all of these, without fail, will be in every single gin?

-Yes.

That's amazing.

London dry gin as we know it evolved from a simple,

juniper-flavoured grain spirit produced in Holland -

the home of William of Orange,

who was soon to become William III of England.

At that time, it wasn't even called gin.

It was called genever.

I've got some genever here.

-Wow.

-It's still made in the Netherlands.

-Mm-hm.

-And first, note the colour.

-It looks like whisky.

-Yeah, exactly.

When William married the British Queen Mary II in 1689,

he began to encourage gin production here,

but it wasn't just because he liked the taste.

He had some very pragmatic reasons.

They were at war with France

and he saw an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone

of ending the imports of French brandy

and using up the grain surplus by promoting distilling in England.

Did he say, "I'm going to pass a law to make it easy

"for anyone to open a distillery"?

He threw the door open and if you wanted to be a gin distiller,

you put a sign up

and in ten days, that was a legal distilling premise.

What King William did with that simple act

was he made gin, or genever, cheaper than beer.

It exploded. In 1721, there was a working gin still

in one out of every four buildings in London.

Genever, at this point, was abbreviated to gin,

and fast became a blight,

as documented in Hogarth's cartoon of 1751, Gin Lane,

a copy of which Jared keeps behind the bar.

This is anti-gin propaganda in action

that was paid for by the brewing industry,

who was losing so much money at the time,

because gin was cheaper than beer.

Such was the anti-gin outcry,

Parliament finally succeeded in regulating gin production.

The Gin Act of 1751 brought long overdue quality control

and helped refine and transform gin

from the scourge of a nation to its national drink.

America, they have whisky. Mexico has their agave spirits.

France has their brandies.

For England, it's gin.

Most of us love our gin with tonic and a slice of lemon,

but the Queen Mother had her own particular recipe.

From what I've heard,

she would stop off at the American Bar at The Savoy

and have a gin and it...

-OK, what does that mean?

-..which is gin with Italian.

The "it" is short for Italian vermouth.

-OK.

-And when you refer to it as Italian vermouth,

that generally means the sweet or rosso vermouth.

Three parts gin and one part Italian vermouth,

the gin and it had floated across the Atlantic

during Prohibition in the 1920s and was a big hit in London,

where the bright young things had gone cocktail mad.

Harry Craddock, who would have possibly

also served drinks to the Queen Mum,

he said a cocktail should be drunk while it's still laughing at you.

-MATT LAUGHS

-Well, on that note, cheers.

-Cheers.

-Ooh, that is delicious.

-Isn't that gorgeous?

-Ooh, that is.

-That really is.

-Yeah.

-I might have to have another sip.

200 years ago,

people would eat gingerbread as they sipped their gin.

It was a natural food and drink pairing.

Well, in a kind of homage to that classic,

that royal combination of gin and ginger,

we're going to turn to the recipe book

of the kitchen maid in Buckingham Palace

in the early years of the 20th century, Mildred Nicholls.

Now, she would probably have been discouraged from drinking gin,

-don't you think?

-I'm sure.

-Probably couldn't afford it, actually.

-Yeah.

-But she was keen on ginger nuts,

and she's got a recipe for ginger nuts.

-You've done it, haven't you?

-We have. We've done them here.

Get your teeth into it.

Mm. Ooh!

-They're a bit odd, aren't they?

-Yeah, they're a bit hard.

Oh, there we are. I broke it.

-But they don't taste of ginger.

-No. No.

On the other page of this wonderful recipe book

-is a recipe for lemon cheesecake.

-Lemon cheesecake.

So, are you doing Mildred's actual recipe?

Not exactly. We're doing a homage to Mildred.

Mildred did, basically, little tartlets

that she would then fill with this lovely lemon mixture,

which, back then, was called cheesecake,

which we now know as curd.

So, what we're doing is essentially a big cheesecake

with that lovely base as we know it

and then Mildred's wonderful lemon curd mixture on top.

Right, we've got some ginger nut biscuits, not Mildred's.

-So, these are...

-These are going to taste of ginger.

These have got a bit of a ginger tang to them. Absolutely.

-And we're just going to add in the butter.

-Yeah.

-OK?

-Just melted butter.

-You've probably seen this before -

your sort of...kind of cheesecake base.

-And if you could just...

-Yeah, I've seen my cook doing this.

Yeah, yeah. BOTH LAUGH

-Yeah.

-Oh, dear. And what we're doing,

we just want to make a bind, basically.

So, just give that a bit more of a mix.

OK? And then, when you've mixed that,

pour it all in there, and then, just with your spoon,

crush it down so you make a nice, thin base,

-like you would for a cheesecake.

-OK.

Over here, Michael, I'm going to now make the lemon curd.

-I've got the unskilled job here, have I?

-Every job, there's a skill.

Right, that's fine. Now put that into there

-and then, with your spoon, pat it down.

-OK.

Meanwhile, I'm going to add two egg yolks to four eggs.

We're going to get our butter in the pan.

And that's the nice thing about curd -

that lovely richness that comes from the butter.

-So, did you say two egg yolks to four eggs?

-Two egg yolks.

-So, it's yolk heavy?

-Yeah, for richness.

-Yeah.

-Sugar. OK?

-Yeah.

We're just going to stir that in.

And what you don't want to do, you don't want to let it catch.

You want it to be like that lovely, rich,

deep yellow that you have with lemon curd.

-Do you like lemon curd?

-I do. I do, I do, I do.

-You can't leave it, then?

-No.

-Leave it for a second?

Leave it for a second, just watch the heat.

-You can turn it down a little bit.

-Do I really press this down?

That's it. Press. This is the real trick to it.

And when you get into the corners, just use this smaller spoon...

-Oh, I'm with you.

-..just like that, OK?

But really press it down. That's really important.

Otherwise, when you take that slice, it's just going to crumble.

-So, the success of this is all down to me, really, isn't it?

-Naturally.

-Yeah.

-Skilled job. Skilled job.

-Cos spooning that biscuit like that

-is the essence of this dish.

-I was always good at spooning.

Right, as you can see, Michael,

I'm just putting lemon zest into here.

And what that does, that really gives it a lovely fragrance.

-Gives a real buzz, doesn't it, lemon?

-Oh, I love it.

OK, so, we've got those in.

Now cut those two lemons,

and we're just going to take that juice.

Now, best way to get juice from a lemon and extract all the juice

is just put your spoon in there like that and go all the way round.

So, you don't use one of those things that you...?

-A lemon squeezer?

-Well, YOU probably do.

-I just use a spoon.

-Oh, right.

So, all the way round like that,

so we're getting all of that, extracting all of that juice.

-OK? That is looking fantastic, Michael.

-It's not bad, is it?

Right, I'm just going to pass our lemon juice...

Not everybody could do this, you know.

-Not as well as that.

-No, you're right.

-Cornflour.

-And that cornflour is basically just going to stabilise the mix.

-Mm-hm.

OK.

So, it's a really easy recipe, really,

because it's just everything's going into the one pan.

Some curd, you would fold the butter in at the end,

but Mildred's recipe, it's just all into the one pan,

turn up the heat,

and we're just going to cook it till it's nice and thick.

Little tip - add the eggs at the end,

because now we've got all the liquid in there

and the eggs aren't going to be right at the bottom

-where they could...

-They could catch.

..they could catch and scramble. Absolutely.

So, we just take that out there now,

just cook that gently until it goes nice and thick.

Can you see how it's starting to...?

You see that rich colour of that kind of curd?

-It's really kind of sticky.

-Absolutely.

Right, can you just see, Mike, it's just starting to now thicken.

It's very clever, because you've got the lemon reacting with the butter,

-you've got that fat...

-What do you mean reacting?

You've got that fat and then you've got all that lemon cutting through,

so they're just made for each other.

Right, now we're getting nice and thick, like that, OK?

-Yeah.

-OK. And just pour that in like that.

-Oh, wow.

-And that is it.

-Just the smell of it coming across.

-Absolutely.

-The lemon and the butter.

And it is literally as simple as that.

And if you could now take that to the fridge for me

and there should be...

-..one I made earlier.

-One you prepared earlier.

-One I prepared earlier!

-Right, here we go.

I'd better not drop it.

-HE HUMS

-Look at that.

-What do you think?

-Beautiful, no?

-Yeah.

-Yeah?

-Looks lovely.

-Do you want to try some?

-Probably tastes horrible.

I doubt that very much.

-Come on, come on!

-I doubt that very much.

-Come on. Slice it, slice it.

-Hang on, be patient.

-All right.

Best things come to those who wait. Right.

The thing to remember with this -

the base is going to be quite solid, cos that butter's set.

So, just make sure you've gone all the way through.

-There we go. Right down.

-Ah. Give me sunshine, isn't it?

-Ready?

-Yeah.

-OK.

-There you have it.

-Wow.

Lemon cheesecake, Mildred's way.

-BOTH LAUGH A la Mildred.

-A la Mildred.

-Can I have some?

-Go for it.

-OK.

-Get stuck in.

I'm going to do it with my fingers. Ooh!

Mm. Well, I have to say, the top is a real disappointment,

but the base is... HE LAUGHS

-It's really delicious.

-I was going to say the opposite, actually.

-Oh, were you?

-Do you know what, though?

-I absolutely adore things like that.

-It's lovely.

-Cup of tea...

-Yeah.

You can imagine it. You know, afternoon tea, walled garden...

-You'd never get up again, would you?

-No. That is stunning. I love it.

-It's the lemon and the butter, the eggs. Delicious.

-Mm!

Well, that's it from our celebration of food on the move

with the royals both at home and overseas.

Time for us to go on the move now. See you next time.