Weddings Royal Recipes


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

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'the royal tables have showcased culinary excellence.

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'In celebration of royal food...'

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We know it's the Queen's recipe

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because we've got it in her own hand.

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

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That is proper regal.

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

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

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What a mess.

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

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-Oh, wow!

-That is what you want.

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'..and revisit the most extravagant times.'

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Pheasant, stag, turkey, salmon,

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oysters and turbot dressed in a lobster champagne sauce.

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Unbelievable!

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'This is Royal Recipes.'

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

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

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

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In the splendour of the gardens, halls,

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and kitchen of this grandest of country houses,

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

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And it all starts here,

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with this gem - a royal kitchen maid's cookbook -

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the only surviving recipe book of its kind in the Royal Archive.

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This is an exact copy of the original,

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which is kept at Windsor Castle.

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Inside, the recipes of Mildred Nicholls,

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who worked at Buckingham Palace in the early 1900s.

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And for the first time in over 100 years,

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we'll be bringing these recipes back to life.

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This time we're cooking for royal weddings,

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a day the royal family and all the nation can celebrate

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in the most glorious style.

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There's pomp, pageantry, tradition.

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An event that throughout history has produced

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some of the finest royal wedding banquets.

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'Today in the royal recipes kitchen...'

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You can imagine the royal footman coming in with that.

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-Look at that.

-Beautiful.

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'..Chef Anna Haugh takes inspiration from a Victorian wedding...'

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So, there you have it -

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stuffed crown of lamb with salsa verde.

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'..the moment baker Fiona Cairns

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'was asked to create a royal wedding cake...'

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It was the most amazing honour

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and I would say the beginning of sleepless nights for me.

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'..and Chef Paul Ainsworth showcases a royal wedding favourite.'

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I know that Princess Anne had lobster and partridge at her wedding.

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Very posh.

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In the kitchen wing of this glorious stately home,

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we start our celebration of wedding food

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with a dish created for Princess Beatrice,

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beloved youngest daughter of Queen Victoria.

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Hello and welcome to the kitchen wing of the great house,

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and with me is top London chef Anna Haugh.

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Royal weddings today.

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Everybody loves a wedding.

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But especially, I think, everybody goes mad for a royal wedding.

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Yeah, they're not just great dynastic occasions,

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but they're sometimes wild popular celebrations,

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and, as far as the royal family is concerned,

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something to be marked by an extra special banquet.

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I've got the menu card here for the wedding breakfast

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for Princess Beatrice, Queen Victoria's youngest daughter.

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Look at it. 14 courses.

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But the one that's interesting us today is this one -

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"Les cotelettes d'Agneau a l'Italienne,"

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which I suppose is Italian lamb chops.

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-Yeah.

-Now, are you going to do that,

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or something a bit modern twist to it?

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Well, I'm quite inspired by this,

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so I've got a few Italian flavours through this

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and I'm going to use lamb chops,

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but I'm going to do a stuffed crown of lamb with a salsa verde.

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Wow. What do you do first?

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So, the first thing I'm going to make is the stuffing.

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So, in a pan here, cooking kind of slowly, I have some onions

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and some garlic.

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And to this I'm going to add the Parma ham...

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So it's got a very Italian flavour right from the start.

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Right from the start, yeah.

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And I don't know if you can smell that, Michael...

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I certainly can.

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You need to crisp up your Parma ham,

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which just smells delicious as it's caramelising now,

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and I'm going to add in porcini mushrooms.

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-Everything Italian.

-Yeah.

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-Everything Italian.

-Give that a little bit of a stir.

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The Victorians were rather in love with the idea of Italy.

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I think you had to be rich in those days,

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but they'd take themselves off on a grand tour to Italy

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and they must have picked up some of these dishes

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and the love for some of these dishes on the tours.

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Absolutely. And the Italians are famous for a bit of romance,

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-so it's quite fitting...

-For a wedding breakfast.

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OK, so this is pretty much ready to go now.

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I would put it into a bowl to cool down,

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so that we can mix it with the breadcrumbs.

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Essentially, something like this is what you need.

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-Yeah.

-So, I'm going to take a little bit of cheese,

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Parmesan cheese to go in there.

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-Parmesan, of course.

-Yes.

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And then I'm going to slowly add some crumbs.

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-There's going to be bags of flavour in there.

-Oh, absolutely.

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Absolutely.

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And because this is stuffed in the centre of the crown,

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it's also going to absorb all those delicious lamb meat juices.

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I think Queen Victoria was in two minds about this wedding, you know?

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Because Princess Beatrice was her youngest daughter

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and she didn't want her to get married and leave,

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she wanted her to stay in the palace as her companion and, you know,

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when she got engaged, Princess Beatrice,

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Queen Victoria didn't speak to her for seven months.

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-Seven months?

-Yeah.

-Well, I guess when you live in a huge house,

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you can avoid each other easier.

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There might have been a few grinding of teeth at this wedding breakfast.

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I don't know. I think she may have forgiven her. She did wear her mother's wedding dress.

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Ah. Well, there you go.

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I'm going to add just a little bit of olive oil to this,

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just to bring it together.

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-What, to give it some sort of...?

-Just to bring it together

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because we want to be able to kind of squeeze it

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into the centre of the lamb.

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You want to be careful when you add things like that,

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any wet ingredients to stuffing, you know,

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-stuff your stuffing...

-MICHAEL LAUGHS

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-OK...

-We wouldn't want that.

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Next, I'm going to tie the lamb.

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I'm interested in how you do this

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-because you're going to make it into a crown, aren't you?

-I am.

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But, first of all, I'm going to season it.

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A little bit of salt goes a long way.

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Now, do you want a little help with this?

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-Shall I hold it in place while you string it up?

-Yes.

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I think I will, yes.

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-OK.

-So...

-What can I do?

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What we need to do is turn this around.

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I promise you, Michael, I know what I'm doing.

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You do, you do, you do.

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Just about.

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-Yeah.

-So if I hold it like that...

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-Yeah.

-Yeah.

-Perfect.

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And then I will...

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Because this is the tricky bit, isn't it?

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Yeah, this is the tricky bit.

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-Trussing.

-Yeah.

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The old crown of lamb.

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So you just need to kind of try to hook it underneath the bone,

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so that it kind of holds in place as it's cooking.

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It's quite easy, it's not too hard.

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I think even you could manage this, Michael.

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I'd be all fingers and thumbs.

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Just give it a little bit of a tie.

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Once it's cooked, will it stay in this position,

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or when you cut the string,

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will it all kind of fall apart?

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It will kind of hold its shape a little bit,

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but we have two racks of lamb that we're kind of connecting together,

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so it will kind of release a little bit,

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and then once you carve it, it will obviously...

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It's very grand, though, isn't it?

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-Yes.

-It makes a wonderful impression when you wheel it on.

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-It's quite royal, isn't it?

-Yeah.

-A crown of lamb.

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Now you're going to sort that out.

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I am. And now I'm going to stuff the centre

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with this fabulous Italian stuffing.

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-That looks good. It smells wonderful, doesn't it?

-Yeah.

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And you don't want the stuffing to be too wet.

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You kind of want it to be fairly dry

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because you want it to be able to absorb,

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to have the spare kind of dryness

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to absorb all the meat juices from this.

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-Now this was a...

-Smells amazing.

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...19th-century wedding breakfast,

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but is this the sort of food that's served at posh weddings these days?

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Well, yes, actually.

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I would definitely say that these are similar flavours

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that you would see... springtime, summer weddings.

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So I'm going to give this to you,

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pop into the oven at 200 degrees for about 25 minutes.

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And when you go out to the oven, will you grab one there,

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I've already got it resting.

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OK. Right, chef.

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You can imagine the royal footman coming in with that.

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Look at that.

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-Shall I pop it here?

-Look at that. Beautiful.

-Terrific.

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So, that looks absolutely perfect.

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Perfect. So, next I'm going to make our salsa verde.

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So salsa verde means, essentially, green sauce.

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And it's got a selection of all sorts of different herbs

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that are chopped through that.

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In here, we have some chopped parsley, basil and mint.

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So, really quite aromatic summer, kind of, feeling herbs.

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So we're going to chop our anchovies and our capers to add in there.

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What a mixture of flavours it's going to be.

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Yeah. Anchovies, I always think,

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is like a little secret weapon that you can add to things.

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Well, because you don't really know it's there.

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Although it's a very strong flavour,

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just one or two little fillets of anchovy in nearly any sauce,

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even in your lamb sauce, like your lamb gravy, it would be beautiful.

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But they're little explosions of taste, aren't they?

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Absolutely. Absolutely, yeah.

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Terrific.

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And then I'm going to slice a little bit of garlic because, I mean,

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we can't have salsa verde without some nice little slivers of garlic.

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I didn't think Queen Victoria had travelled abroad much at all,

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but I think she went to Italy a couple of times. Florence, I think.

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Oh, I would imagine she went to Florence.

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-Yes.

-Beautiful Florence.

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And then last I'm going to add a little spoon of Dijon.

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-Anna, why?

-Dijon's got a nice little kind of kick to it, acidity,

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which I think is quite important here.

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But also a bit of pepperiness in there,

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you know, a little bit of bite.

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It doesn't overwhelm the delicate aromatic flavours?

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No, absolutely not.

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No. I think it really marries in well.

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And now all we need to do is place our lamb...

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-Oh, be careful.

-..onto its serving platter.

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-Well done.

-Here we are.

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Carefully does it, Anna.

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A crown for the crowned heads, I suppose.

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-Yeah.

-It is staying in position.

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It hasn't kind of...

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Don't speak too soon, Michael!

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Don't jinx me!

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And...

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Oh, yeah!

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OK, so I'm just going to put a little bit of the salsa verde

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-all around here.

-You're actually putting it on the...

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Well, because that means you get a bit of flavour

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on each kind of lamb chop,

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inspired by the Italian lamb chops that Beatrice had.

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Interesting, though, even though it was an Italian dish, of course,

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it had to be in French on a Victorian menu.

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They were obsessed with menus in French.

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Weren't they just?

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OK. So there you have it -

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stuffed crown of lamb with salsa verde.

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Wow! How do you attack this?

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Well, I'm going to carve it.

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-You're not just going to rip all of them out?

-No.

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Oh, look at that.

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Look at that! That looks beautiful.

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Now, do you want to grab yourself some tools there to be able to...

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-Oh, I will, I will.

-..cut into this.

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-There you go. I'm just going to pick it up.

-Go on.

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Oh, yes, please do.

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I'm going to mix it in the salsa verde,

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I'm going to make sure I've got some of that lovely stuffing.

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Mm! Oh.

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The meat's wonderful. The stuffing...

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And the salsa verde, I think that's...

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That's a real flavour of the Mediterranean, but...

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the lamb is terrific.

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Mm! You know, Princess Beatrice...

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Excuse me a second. ANNA LAUGHS

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Princess Beatrice had 14 dishes at her wedding breakfast...

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..but this must have been the winner of all of them.

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'Not just a winning dish, but a crowning glory.

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'The Victorians knew a thing or two about creating a real spectacle

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'at a wedding.'

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That's certainly true of the wedding cake.

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The tradition of the grand nuptial centrepiece

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owes a lot to the royal family,

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as historian Dr Annie Gray explains.

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It was Queen Victoria who helped to set us on the path

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towards wanting show stopper wedding cakes.

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So I've come here to rural Leicestershire to meet Fiona Cairns,

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who is perhaps the queen of royal wedding cakes,

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so that we can find out together

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exactly how influential Queen Victoria's cake

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and those of her children were in helping to create what today

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we would think of as a right royal masterpiece.

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Luxury cake maker Fiona Cairns made

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the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's wedding cake in 2011.

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-Hello, Annie.

-Fiona.

-Do come in.

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And she went back to the history books to begin her design.

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When Victoria and Albert married in 1840

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the world was fascinated,

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and pictures of the wedding circulated across the Empire.

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It must have been really interesting from a sort of public point of view

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because Queen Victoria was a character in whom

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there was so much public interest,

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so when she got married and there was this cake and there were

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illustrations of it...

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Here we have an illustration.

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It was huge, wasn't it?

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Three yards across.

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-Yeah.

-That's huge!

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-I don't think this really does it justice, does it?

-No, it doesn't.

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The cake reportedly weighed 300 pounds.

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And they made lots of them, so there were plenty to go round.

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Something like this would be mind-boggling for the average British person at that point,

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when two-thirds of people were living below the poverty line.

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While the public couldn't copy the size,

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the design help set trends that continue today.

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The use of white icing, or royal icing as it became known,

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was unusual at the time.

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You see a progression through the Victorian era.

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Trying to buy different grains of sugar is quite difficult still at this point.

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-And only for the rich.

-Yeah.

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Victoria's love of extravagant decoration

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included very specific flowers.

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Queen Victoria's chef, Francatelli,

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when he wrote his guide to confectionery

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said that the finest designs for wedding cakes

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were orange blossoms in white icing.

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And Kate Middleton continued the tradition set by Victoria

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by choosing 17 varieties of flowers,

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including orange blossom,

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which symbolises eternal love and marriage.

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Each flower was made by hand.

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It should come away... That's it.

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And then using your cocktail stick,

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thin the petals out.

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-That's it.

-Oops.

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In nature, they're always slightly different, so it's not an excuse,

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I just think that they actually look better.

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-Yeah.

-It's more natural.

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It's very fiddly, this, isn't it?

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-It really is.

-You've just got to be very precise.

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That's beautiful. Your first orange blossom.

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-It looks like a flower.

-Very beautiful.

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-Well done.

-Thank you.

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Altogether, Fiona made 900 flowers,

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each variety adding symbolism.

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Myrtle, which was carried in all the royal bouquets

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since Queen Victoria.

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Lily of the valley, which was so prominent for

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Kate and William's wedding,

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and was on the top of the wedding cake.

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And then we surrounded the entire base of the cake

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with the ivy leaves,

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which mean fidelity, friendship, marriage.

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Gosh, so it really just told enormous amounts of stories

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and said so much.

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-Yes.

-I wonder how many people realised quite

0:15:300:15:33

the level of intricacy and meaning within it.

0:15:330:15:37

Fiona has been creating bespoke cakes for over 25 years,

0:15:370:15:41

along with design director Rachel Eardley.

0:15:410:15:44

But a royal cake commission is something rather special.

0:15:440:15:48

I've got to ask,

0:15:480:15:50

what happened when you got the call to make William and Catherine's wedding cake?

0:15:500:15:54

Sends shivers down my spine now, I must say.

0:15:540:15:57

-Yes, it was...

-It was the most amazing honour

0:15:570:16:00

and I would say the beginning of sleepless nights for me,

0:16:000:16:04

right up until the wedding day.

0:16:040:16:06

We were briefed by Catherine, weren't we?

0:16:060:16:08

-Yeah.

-She had a very, very...

0:16:080:16:10

-Strong idea.

-..strong idea.

0:16:100:16:11

Not just for our cake, but for the wedding itself,

0:16:110:16:15

-for everything to work together as a whole....

-Yes.

0:16:150:16:17

-..as a story.

-She wanted something quite romantic.

0:16:170:16:21

Flowers were very important.

0:16:210:16:23

She didn't want it to be ostentatious at all

0:16:230:16:26

or straight up and down.

0:16:260:16:28

Catherine said, "Could you please go into Buckingham Palace to see where

0:16:280:16:32

"the cake will actually sit,

0:16:320:16:34

"to look at the architectural detail

0:16:340:16:36

"and try to incorporate that?"

0:16:360:16:39

So do you see the garlands on the ceiling,

0:16:390:16:42

which actually we did incorporate onto the cake.

0:16:420:16:46

I think that's brilliant.

0:16:460:16:47

She really did put a lot of thought into exactly

0:16:470:16:49

what she wanted to say with this.

0:16:490:16:51

When they showed us around,

0:16:510:16:52

they thought it would be nice on a Queen Anne table,

0:16:520:16:55

and we had to explain that it would be

0:16:550:16:59

the weight of a good man, really.

0:16:590:17:02

And the royal couple cut the eight-tiered cake

0:17:030:17:06

at the wedding lunch,

0:17:060:17:07

where guests drank champagne

0:17:070:17:09

and enjoyed another royal favourite - canapes.

0:17:090:17:14

What you really need at a wedding buffet are canapes...

0:17:140:17:18

-Yep.

-..of course.

0:17:180:17:20

What's the rule of thumb?

0:17:200:17:21

Minimum of probably seven per person, for a reception.

0:17:210:17:24

Gosh! Well, at the royal wedding breakfast

0:17:240:17:27

they have a lot more than that.

0:17:270:17:29

17,000 canapes at Charles and Camilla's...

0:17:290:17:32

I heard that it was 10,000 at Will and Kate's.

0:17:320:17:35

Exactly. I mean, some of them...

0:17:350:17:37

You know, eggs and cress sandwiches?

0:17:370:17:39

That isn't very imaginative, is it?

0:17:390:17:40

-I know. But who doesn't love egg and cress sandwiches?

-All right, all right.

0:17:400:17:43

What they did have was miniature Cornish pasties.

0:17:430:17:46

He's the Duke of Cornwall, of course.

0:17:460:17:47

Miniature Cornish pasties.

0:17:470:17:49

Mm. What are these other two?

0:17:490:17:50

Well, I believe these are from Will and Kate's wedding.

0:17:500:17:53

So we have duck liver pate here with cornichons,

0:17:530:17:56

and honey and wholegrain mustard glazed sausages.

0:17:560:17:59

Why do they put sausages in goo?

0:17:590:18:00

-Oh, everybody loves a bit of honey and mustard.

-Oh, OK.

0:18:000:18:03

Now what are you going to do?

0:18:030:18:04

You're going to do one from Kate and William's wedding.

0:18:040:18:06

Yes, I am. I'm going to do asparagus and watercress mini tartlets.

0:18:060:18:11

So these are like mini little quiches.

0:18:110:18:13

So the first thing that I'm going to do is make the custard.

0:18:130:18:16

So, I take the watercress and put it into a blender with the cream.

0:18:160:18:22

-Got to be cream.

-Yes.

0:18:230:18:26

And then we're just going to pulse that.

0:18:260:18:28

Good British ingredient.

0:18:280:18:29

Yeah, that was the thing, isn't it?

0:18:310:18:32

All of these royal things these days,

0:18:320:18:35

they've got to be British ingredients.

0:18:350:18:37

And watercress is quintessentially British, isn't it?

0:18:370:18:40

It is, yeah. But that's what people want to see.

0:18:400:18:42

That's what people want to eat.

0:18:420:18:44

-Yeah.

-OK, so I'm going to take this off and pour this into our bowl.

0:18:440:18:48

Add the blade, you know, for extra flavour.

0:18:490:18:51

Yeah, yeah. A bit of iron.

0:18:510:18:52

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

-Scrape this down.

0:18:520:18:55

You don't really want to waste any of this

0:18:550:18:57

cos there's a lot of flavour in here.

0:18:570:18:59

-Yeah.

-The delicious pepperiness that you get from watercress.

0:18:590:19:03

OK.

0:19:030:19:05

Let's scrape this down.

0:19:050:19:07

-Yeah.

-So, next what I'm going to do is add my eggs.

0:19:070:19:10

-How many eggs?

-It's one whole egg and one yolk.

0:19:100:19:13

Then I'm going to add Gruyere cheese.

0:19:130:19:16

That's Gruyere for the flavour, for the bite.

0:19:160:19:18

Yes. There's a lovely kind of a saltiness off the cheese,

0:19:180:19:22

which is, I think, quite important.

0:19:220:19:23

-A pinch of salt.

-Yeah.

0:19:230:19:25

I'm going to give that a little mix.

0:19:250:19:27

And then just what I'm going to add to this really quickly is some sliced asparagus.

0:19:280:19:31

So I'm going to add it in with this mix.

0:19:310:19:33

So as opposed to me having to add it in bit by bit in stages,

0:19:330:19:37

you can just do it in one go.

0:19:370:19:38

-OK.

-So I'm just going to slice some asparagus now.

0:19:380:19:41

This is, for me, so simple.

0:19:410:19:44

There's nothing complicated here.

0:19:440:19:46

I mean, the hardest thing is just cutting a bit of asparagus.

0:19:460:19:48

Everything else is just...

0:19:480:19:50

Yeah, but it wouldn't be a bit of asparagus.

0:19:500:19:52

I mean, if you were doing,

0:19:520:19:53

even with some other chefs, 17,000...

0:19:530:19:56

-(I know.)

-How long does that take?

0:19:560:19:59

It takes a long time, and it's all about logistics.

0:19:590:20:02

It's all about organisation.

0:20:020:20:04

Because you've got...

0:20:040:20:05

If you're the chef in charge of a canape party like that,

0:20:050:20:07

you've got to have eyes in the back of your head.

0:20:070:20:09

In what sense? It must be like a kind of industrial production line, isn't it?

0:20:090:20:12

Well, yes, but you've got lots of different leaders in charge of

0:20:120:20:16

lots of different things, so that all the canapes go out in one swoop,

0:20:160:20:19

at the same time, because nobody wants a little trickle of them.

0:20:190:20:22

It has to be like this lovely wave

0:20:220:20:23

of canapes flying out of your kitchen.

0:20:230:20:26

So, you know, you need to be on your A game.

0:20:260:20:28

So, we're going to spoon these into our tartlets now.

0:20:280:20:31

So this is just a nice, crisp short pastry that I've made,

0:20:310:20:35

rolled out very thin and then baked in between two little metal moulds.

0:20:350:20:41

Just spooning a nice amount of your mix in here.

0:20:410:20:44

I mean, all the work is just done.

0:20:440:20:46

It's just so easy.

0:20:460:20:48

We're going to pop it into the oven now

0:20:480:20:49

for probably about 12 minutes.

0:20:490:20:51

And is there an optimum size for a canape,

0:20:510:20:54

in terms of how they're handled, how they're eaten?

0:20:540:20:57

Really, I think a canape should be one or two bites. That's ideal.

0:20:570:21:00

Because you want to be able to, you know,

0:21:000:21:04

have your drink in your hand, chat to people.

0:21:040:21:06

And the bigger the canape is, the more of a meal it is,

0:21:060:21:09

and it makes it more difficult to kind of just effortlessly

0:21:090:21:12

-swan around and have a nice evening.

-MICHAEL LAUGHS

0:21:120:21:15

I think it's two, isn't it?

0:21:150:21:17

I mean, all those etiquette people say it should be two bites,

0:21:170:21:22

so that you haven't got your mouth full if somebody important comes along

0:21:220:21:25

at the wedding reception and you need to speak to them...

0:21:250:21:27

-HE MUMBLES Like that.

-This is true. This is very true.

0:21:270:21:30

That looks really nice, doesn't it?

0:21:300:21:32

Now, I'm going to finish these off

0:21:320:21:34

with a little bit of asparagus tips to go on top,

0:21:340:21:37

just like that.

0:21:370:21:39

That looks nice, doesn't it?

0:21:390:21:41

So, you'd bake these in the oven,

0:21:410:21:43

150 degrees for about 12 minutes.

0:21:430:21:46

-So, not too long.

-Not too long.

0:21:460:21:47

No, super-quick. They don't take any length of time.

0:21:470:21:50

But we already have these ready to go...

0:21:500:21:52

-Ah!

-..for the final stage.

0:21:520:21:53

-I'm rather glad about that. Final stage? Aren't they finished?

-Final stage. No.

0:21:530:21:56

So, on top I'm just going to crumble

0:21:560:21:59

just a little bit of feta on top,

0:21:590:22:01

and it gives it this kind of nice fresh zinginess.

0:22:010:22:04

-Feta's quite sharp, isn't it?

-Mm.

0:22:040:22:06

-Yeah.

-There's a nice acidity to a feta.

0:22:060:22:09

And I think it just goes really well with asparagus and watercress.

0:22:090:22:12

Now, are these designed to be eaten hot or cold?

0:22:120:22:15

Both. That's a very good question, actually.

0:22:150:22:17

You can totally eat them hot or cold.

0:22:170:22:19

-And there you have it.

-Are you just putting them out for me, or...?

0:22:210:22:23

Yes, they're just for you, Michael.

0:22:230:22:25

-That looks rather nice.

-Yeah.

0:22:250:22:27

Oh, yes. Very nice.

0:22:270:22:28

HE CLEARS THROAT

0:22:280:22:30

Seven, come on.

0:22:300:22:32

-You said seven.

-There's your daily allowance of canapes.

0:22:320:22:35

MICHAEL LAUGHS OK. Right.

0:22:350:22:37

I should've eaten it in two, shouldn't I?

0:22:420:22:44

But irresistible.

0:22:440:22:46

Go on, have one. Have one. Come on.

0:22:460:22:47

Mm!

0:22:490:22:50

-You did it the proper way.

-Mm.

0:22:510:22:52

-Delicious.

-Really good.

0:22:530:22:55

Perfect for a picnic, perfect for a wedding.

0:22:550:22:58

Absolutely. What a winner.

0:22:580:22:59

Dainty delights for a lunchtime wedding buffet.

0:23:010:23:04

And these ingredients really are Britain on a plate -

0:23:050:23:09

asparagus and watercress and...

0:23:090:23:11

British lobster is another popular choice for a royal wedding breakfast.

0:23:130:23:17

Delicious, versatile and what's more,

0:23:170:23:19

they're amongst the tastiest in the world,

0:23:190:23:22

as Paul Ainsworth has been finding out.

0:23:220:23:24

Padstow in Cornwall has a long tradition of lobster potting.

0:23:280:23:32

It's home to a small fleet of fishing boats

0:23:320:23:35

and to chef Paul.

0:23:350:23:36

British lobster is world-class and it tastes delicious.

0:23:380:23:42

And I am so lucky in Cornwall I've got it right here on my doorstep.

0:23:420:23:46

Local fisherman Johnny Murt has been working these waters

0:23:480:23:50

his whole life...

0:23:500:23:53

-All right, Johnny?

-All right, Paul.

0:23:530:23:54

-How are you, mate?

-Very good. Yourself?

-Yeah, very good.

0:23:540:23:56

..and he knows just how to source the very best Cornish crustaceans.

0:23:560:24:01

So, Johnny, I can see straightaway

0:24:050:24:06

they're exactly how I'd love to buy lobsters, that sort of size.

0:24:060:24:09

-They are crackers.

-There you go.

0:24:090:24:11

Absolutely beautiful.

0:24:110:24:13

It wasn't always this prestigious ingredient that it is now, was it?

0:24:130:24:18

Yeah. Certainly on the other side of the Atlantic,

0:24:180:24:20

the American lobster,

0:24:200:24:22

100 years ago, they were rioting in prisons for being fed lobster

0:24:220:24:25

three times in one week. Absolute trash food.

0:24:250:24:28

Our British native lobsters,

0:24:280:24:29

especially beautiful Cornish lobsters,

0:24:290:24:32

they are far superior, for me,

0:24:320:24:34

than the Canadian and the American lobster.

0:24:340:24:36

We've got a fantastic resource in this country, all around the coast.

0:24:360:24:40

I don't think we should be importing an inferior product.

0:24:400:24:44

No.

0:24:440:24:45

The modern royal family are all about protecting

0:24:450:24:47

as well as showcasing the best of British.

0:24:470:24:49

Prince Philip is a huge supporter of the shellfish industry,

0:24:490:24:52

and met Johnny in 2014.

0:24:520:24:55

So, Johnny, what was Prince Philip like?

0:24:550:24:57

He's a lovely chap.

0:24:570:24:58

Yeah, he was really amusing, very friendly.

0:24:580:25:01

And the thing that myself and the other fishermen got out of it was

0:25:010:25:04

he knew so much about sustainable fishing.

0:25:040:25:07

Yeah, he really, really knew his stuff.

0:25:070:25:09

He had a tour of the hatchery...

0:25:090:25:10

Yeah.

0:25:100:25:11

I hear he adopted a baby lobster for Prince George.

0:25:110:25:14

-Really?

-Yeah.

0:25:140:25:16

So there is a Cornish lobster then

0:25:160:25:18

maybe in the sea right now with royal credentials.

0:25:180:25:22

Possibly, yeah.

0:25:220:25:24

Yeah, it would be a valuable lobster to catch if we could identify it.

0:25:240:25:26

-PAUL LAUGHS

-Yeah, definitely.

0:25:260:25:28

Paul knows Prince Charles, Prince Andrew and Princess Anne.

0:25:290:25:33

Each chose an exquisite lobster dish for their weddings.

0:25:330:25:37

But he's got a slightly simpler recipe.

0:25:370:25:39

Today, we're going to cook Cornish lobster on top of

0:25:390:25:42

a toasted English muffin,

0:25:420:25:43

caper butter, delicious poached egg,

0:25:430:25:46

and some beautiful dressed watercress.

0:25:460:25:49

Right, let's get cracking.

0:25:490:25:50

Now, our lobster is out the shell,

0:25:500:25:52

I've got a pan on warming.

0:25:520:25:54

Meanwhile, I'm just quickly going to make this delicious butter,

0:25:540:25:57

and in it we're going to add some capers, some gherkin...

0:25:570:26:00

..some shallot,

0:26:030:26:05

a spoonful of mustard.

0:26:050:26:06

We're just going to take some parsley..

0:26:080:26:10

..seasoning..

0:26:130:26:15

..and now very gently

0:26:170:26:18

we're just going to mix all those ingredients together.

0:26:180:26:21

Absolutely delicious.

0:26:220:26:24

We've made our butter, now we're going to roast our lobster.

0:26:270:26:29

Butter in the pan...

0:26:290:26:31

..straight in...like that.

0:26:320:26:34

We're just going to baste that lovely nut-brown butter

0:26:340:26:37

and just cook nice and slowly, not too fast.

0:26:370:26:41

Now, lobster in the royal household is very popular

0:26:410:26:44

and in a lot of recipes

0:26:440:26:45

and been served at a lot of banquets and weddings.

0:26:450:26:48

In particular in 1973,

0:26:480:26:50

I know that Princess Anne had lobster and partridge at her wedding.

0:26:500:26:53

Very posh.

0:26:530:26:55

We're just going to pull that off to the side now

0:26:550:26:57

and just let it rest in the pan.

0:26:570:26:59

So, poached eggs.

0:26:590:27:00

We've got our eggs ready in the bowl.

0:27:000:27:01

Beautiful. Good stir.

0:27:010:27:03

Paul poaches the eggs and toasts an English muffin.

0:27:040:27:09

OK, we're moments away from plating up.

0:27:090:27:11

Muffins are lovely and crispy out the toaster.

0:27:110:27:14

Our shallot butter that we made earlier,

0:27:140:27:16

just over those lovely hot crispy muffins.

0:27:160:27:19

Let it melt right in.

0:27:190:27:21

Now our lobster.

0:27:210:27:23

Claw, just in half,

0:27:230:27:25

this lovely tail.

0:27:250:27:26

And you can see in the middle it's just slightly transparent,

0:27:280:27:33

which means it's beautifully cooked, resting it on the muffin...

0:27:330:27:37

just like that.

0:27:370:27:39

Out with our eggs,

0:27:390:27:40

just on top of that lovely lobster.

0:27:400:27:42

Next, add more of the lobster.

0:27:430:27:45

Watercress.

0:27:470:27:48

Just look at this.

0:27:480:27:50

We just finish it with this lovely butter.

0:27:500:27:53

And that right there...

0:27:530:27:55

that's what Great Britain is all about -

0:27:550:27:57

English watercress, Cornish lobster, Cornish eggs,

0:27:570:28:00

a beautiful English toasted muffin with some lovely caper butter.

0:28:000:28:04

It doesn't get any better than that.

0:28:040:28:05

For me, what a fitting way to treat such a prestigious ingredient

0:28:050:28:10

such as lobster.

0:28:100:28:11

Only the very best will do for a royal wedding,

0:28:140:28:17

and for the team of 20 royal chefs behind the scenes

0:28:170:28:19

at the royal palaces,

0:28:190:28:21

it's one of the most challenging of regal occasions.

0:28:210:28:24

This is Darren McGrady,

0:28:260:28:27

who worked as a chef in the royal kitchens from 1982 until 1997.

0:28:270:28:32

Chef for the Queen, Prince Philip,

0:28:320:28:34

and later for Princess Diana.

0:28:340:28:35

The period when there were two royal weddings, I think,

0:28:350:28:37

but you were outside Princess Diana's, weren't you?

0:28:370:28:40

You were part of the crowd.

0:28:400:28:41

But for Prince Andrew, you were cheffing then.

0:28:410:28:45

-I was.

-How big an operation was it for the royal kitchens?

0:28:450:28:48

It was a huge operation.

0:28:480:28:50

You know, people think it's just preparing that wedding breakfast,

0:28:500:28:53

but it's not. You have everyone that's staying at the palace,

0:28:530:28:56

all of the staff need feeding, so you have 300 staff to feed,

0:28:560:28:59

as well as preparing the wedding breakfast

0:28:590:29:02

and the cake ceremony and everything.

0:29:020:29:04

Andrew and Sarah's wedding, how did the day go?

0:29:040:29:08

What were you and the other chefs cooking

0:29:080:29:10

and who for at different times of the day?

0:29:100:29:13

Well, the day starts at six o'clock in the morning,

0:29:130:29:15

and for the chefs you've got staff to look after.

0:29:150:29:18

So there's breakfast, lunch, and dinner for 300 people,

0:29:180:29:21

just to begin with.

0:29:210:29:23

And then you have all of the guests,

0:29:230:29:25

or a lot of the guests staying with Her Majesty,

0:29:250:29:27

so they need breakfast trays,

0:29:270:29:29

the ladies' trays in their room,

0:29:290:29:31

the gentleman all come down for breakfast.

0:29:310:29:33

So all that needs serving and preparing.

0:29:330:29:35

And then, of course, there's the canapes

0:29:350:29:37

and the appetisers, and then the wedding breakfast.

0:29:370:29:40

And then to sort of end that,

0:29:400:29:42

there's actually the cutting of the cake ceremony.

0:29:420:29:44

You must have been working at absolute full throttle.

0:29:440:29:47

It was a long day.

0:29:470:29:49

It was a really busy day,

0:29:490:29:50

but everyone sort of felt part of the royal wedding.

0:29:500:29:52

You felt part of it

0:29:520:29:54

and just wanted to be there.

0:29:540:29:55

The centrepiece of any wedding is the cake, isn't it?

0:29:550:29:58

And particularly for royal weddings because in the past at least,

0:29:580:30:01

the size of the cake was meant to indicate

0:30:010:30:03

the importance of the occasion.

0:30:030:30:05

It was. I mean, they used to be nine-foot high

0:30:050:30:08

and weighing 800 pounds.

0:30:080:30:10

But Prince Andrew's was only five tiers.

0:30:100:30:13

And we didn't make those cakes,

0:30:130:30:15

we didn't make the royal cakes.

0:30:150:30:16

Tradition was the sort of army, the navy, the air force,

0:30:160:30:19

would make them.

0:30:190:30:20

And Prince Andrew's wedding cake was actually delivered to the palace,

0:30:200:30:25

each individual tier, in a separate track,

0:30:250:30:27

just in case there was an accident.

0:30:270:30:29

So the whole cake wasn't wiped out.

0:30:310:30:32

So they didn't have to make the whole cake all over again. Yes.

0:30:320:30:36

But at the end of it, you must be been knackered.

0:30:360:30:38

You're absolutely tired out and you can't wait for them to go off on honeymoon.

0:30:380:30:41

And when Andrew and Sarah got married,

0:30:410:30:43

we were actually invited out into the forecourt

0:30:430:30:45

to wave them off and it was, "Good, go, we need a break."

0:30:450:30:48

Darren McGrady, thanks very much.

0:30:500:30:52

My pleasure.

0:30:520:30:53

When it came to the cake ceremony at the most recent royal wedding,

0:30:540:30:57

there were two to choose from.

0:30:570:30:59

Not only the official cake,

0:31:000:31:01

but an alternative chosen by Prince William

0:31:010:31:03

because it brought back such happy childhood memories.

0:31:030:31:06

It was the chocolate biscuit cake.

0:31:070:31:10

And the woman who knows how to make the cake is former chef

0:31:150:31:18

to Charles and Diana, Carolyn Robb.

0:31:180:31:20

Prince William was seven and his brother Harry four

0:31:220:31:24

when Carolyn started working for the royal family.

0:31:240:31:28

The biscuit cake was such a hit with the young princes,

0:31:280:31:31

William decided he had to have it at his wedding.

0:31:310:31:34

Today, I'm going to make chocolate biscuit cake,

0:31:340:31:38

which is a real favourite of mine.

0:31:380:31:40

I loved making it with my mum when I was little,

0:31:400:31:42

and when I cooked for Prince William and Prince Harry

0:31:420:31:44

when they were small,

0:31:440:31:45

I really enjoyed making it with them.

0:31:450:31:47

And today, I'm going to have fun doing it with Mandy, my daughter.

0:31:470:31:50

This version isn't quite on the scale of the one made for William's wedding.

0:31:520:31:57

The first step is melting butter, chocolate drops, cocoa powder,

0:31:570:32:00

golden syrup and vanilla.

0:32:000:32:03

Now comes the fun bit.

0:32:030:32:04

This is the bit Mandy's been waiting for, isn't it?

0:32:040:32:06

You get to help me break the biscuits.

0:32:060:32:08

Really simple, we have some big chunky bits,

0:32:080:32:10

you can have some broken quite finely.

0:32:100:32:12

It'll work however you do it.

0:32:120:32:14

The royal wedding version contained a staggering 1,700 biscuits.

0:32:140:32:19

Just a bit larger than the one William liked to help make.

0:32:190:32:22

When Prince William and Prince Harry were small,

0:32:220:32:24

they used to enjoy coming into the kitchen and we'd bake things together.

0:32:240:32:27

They loved breaking the biscuits and we always used to think of

0:32:270:32:29

different things we could mix into the biscuits as well.

0:32:290:32:32

One more biscuit to go.

0:32:320:32:34

Just give this a good mix.

0:32:340:32:35

Quite good to get the biscuits mixed in first,

0:32:360:32:38

that cools the chocolate down.

0:32:380:32:40

Next, Carolyn adds chopped apricots,

0:32:400:32:43

marshmallows and chocolate chunks.

0:32:430:32:45

Right, I think that's mixed now.

0:32:450:32:46

Now we're going to spoon it into here.

0:32:460:32:49

As you can see, it's still quite chunky, which is absolutely fine,

0:32:490:32:52

and you just want to press it down really well.

0:32:520:32:54

This recipe is so simple,

0:32:540:32:57

anyone and everyone really can make it.

0:32:570:33:00

All I'm going to do is neatly cover over the top like that,

0:33:000:33:03

and that now goes in the fridge.

0:33:030:33:04

As the cake is left to set, Carolyn starts the glaze,

0:33:100:33:13

which is made of chocolate and butter.

0:33:130:33:16

All I have done here is melt some dark chocolate

0:33:170:33:20

and I have some softened butter here,

0:33:200:33:22

which I'm going to pop in with the chocolate

0:33:220:33:25

and just mix the two together.

0:33:250:33:27

When Prince William and Harry were small,

0:33:290:33:31

there were quite a few regular treats that we made together.

0:33:310:33:34

Little individual cupcakes were always a favourite,

0:33:340:33:36

special little meringue animals.

0:33:360:33:38

These little tiny treacle tarts we have here,

0:33:380:33:41

they were Prince Harry's favourites,

0:33:410:33:43

so I used to make little tiny ones,

0:33:430:33:45

just this size, the size of a 50p piece, and on one occasion,

0:33:450:33:49

he came into the kitchen to ask me for one,

0:33:490:33:51

so I suggested that he should go and ask his mother and he scampered off

0:33:510:33:54

and came back a few minutes later

0:33:540:33:56

with a wonderful little piece of paper

0:33:560:33:58

on which Princess Diana had written, "Mummy says it's OK."

0:33:580:34:01

She was such a wonderful mother and had such an amazing sense of humour

0:34:010:34:05

and it was very clear that they absolutely adored her,

0:34:050:34:08

so that's a note that I've always kept and treasured.

0:34:080:34:11

Carolyn spent 13 years working for the royal household,

0:34:110:34:15

preparing plenty of traditional home-cooked dishes.

0:34:150:34:18

But it's the chocolate treats that children remember.

0:34:180:34:21

Right, try not to leave any gaps.

0:34:210:34:23

And once you've done that, really, the world's your oyster

0:34:230:34:25

as to what you do next.

0:34:250:34:27

Mandy and I are going to do this together.

0:34:270:34:29

Mum, are we doing a castle?

0:34:290:34:32

It's a bit like a castle, isn't it?

0:34:320:34:34

And this is where children can let their imaginations run free as well.

0:34:340:34:38

I think that's enough.

0:34:390:34:41

Next I'm going to get my chocolate piping bag.

0:34:410:34:44

This is all very informal.

0:34:440:34:46

I'm not going to do anything fancy,

0:34:460:34:47

just some lines, back and forth.

0:34:470:34:50

Then it's time for a few finishing touches.

0:34:500:34:53

I think that's about enough decoration for one cake.

0:34:530:34:56

This is a real chocolate extravaganza.

0:34:560:34:58

Chocolate has always been a royal favourite,

0:35:070:35:10

and many recipes were recorded over 100 years ago

0:35:100:35:12

by Buckingham Palace kitchen maid Mildred Nicholls in her recipe book.

0:35:120:35:16

There are puddings for weddings and even wedding anniversaries,

0:35:180:35:20

including...

0:35:200:35:22

Hey, Anna, look at this. This is Mildred Nicholls' recipe book.

0:35:250:35:28

She was a kitchen maid, pastry chef,

0:35:280:35:31

in Buckingham Palace in the early years of the 1900s.

0:35:310:35:34

But this recipe is a particularly poignant one.

0:35:340:35:38

It goes back to the days of Queen Victoria,

0:35:380:35:40

who you will remember was married to Prince Albert.

0:35:400:35:43

Yeah, and they were very much in love.

0:35:430:35:45

Very much in love, but he died at the age of 42, very early.

0:35:450:35:49

But every year after that,

0:35:490:35:51

Queen Victoria insisted on marking their wedding anniversary

0:35:510:35:55

with a big dinner.

0:35:550:35:56

And this recipe in Mildred's book comes from

0:35:560:35:59

the 57th anniversary dinner of their wedding.

0:35:590:36:03

He'd been dead a long time.

0:36:030:36:04

And it's called Pouding Sax Weimar.

0:36:040:36:08

And you are going to do...

0:36:080:36:10

-I'm going to do...

-Mildred's...

0:36:100:36:12

-Recipe.

-..recipe out of the book.

-Exactly.

0:36:120:36:13

I've never seen a pudding like this before.

0:36:130:36:16

It's kind of like a mix between a kind of souffle

0:36:160:36:19

and a sponge and even an odd kind of nod to tiramisu.

0:36:190:36:22

Like, if I put a little bit of coffee in this now,

0:36:220:36:24

you'd feel like it would be a tiramisuey flavour.

0:36:240:36:26

So, first of all,

0:36:260:36:28

what I'm going to do is the first step

0:36:280:36:29

is going to be to whisk my egg whites.

0:36:290:36:31

I'm going to put in my sugar and bring them to

0:36:310:36:34

nice kind of stiff peaks.

0:36:340:36:36

Right.

0:36:360:36:37

OK.

0:36:380:36:40

Stiff peaks is what you're looking for, is it?

0:36:400:36:42

-That's it.

-So, this is ahead of its time, you reckon, this dish?

0:36:420:36:45

Well, yeah, I think it is really quite unique.

0:36:450:36:48

It's the idea that we don't have flour in this,

0:36:480:36:51

that we've actually got these finger biscuits

0:36:510:36:54

that have been put into a food processor.

0:36:540:36:56

Even if you give them a little smell...

0:36:560:36:58

-Yes, please.

-..you'll see, you can imagine

0:36:580:37:00

the difference between that and just flour.

0:37:000:37:02

-Oh, yeah.

-There's no comparison.

-Yep.

0:37:020:37:03

It's like an extra, extra flavour in it.

0:37:030:37:06

That's where that kind of tiramisu feeling comes from.

0:37:060:37:09

So, these are almost done.

0:37:090:37:11

It's rather like the start of a souffle, isn't it?

0:37:110:37:13

Well, exactly, that's it. It is quite similar to a souffle.

0:37:130:37:16

So this is just some butter and sugar creamed together.

0:37:160:37:20

-Yeah.

-And into this I'm going to add...

0:37:200:37:23

And I think this is another thing that makes the recipe quite unique,

0:37:230:37:26

I'm going to add the grated chocolate into it.

0:37:260:37:28

But it never kind of breaks down and it stays like whole little kind of

0:37:280:37:33

pockets of chocolate deliciousness, once it's cooked.

0:37:330:37:37

-So...

-So it doesn't completely lose itself in the sauce?

0:37:370:37:39

No. So it stays kind of separate.

0:37:390:37:41

You'll know what I'm talking about when you get to try it.

0:37:410:37:44

I will, I will, I will.

0:37:440:37:45

OK, so I'm going to add the chocolate in...

0:37:450:37:47

..then my eggs.

0:37:500:37:51

And actually, could you crack me one whole egg there?

0:37:510:37:54

-I can do that.

-Thank you.

0:37:540:37:56

-Here we go.

-Very helpful.

0:37:560:37:57

There we go. What am I doing?

0:37:580:38:00

-And then straight in.

-In here?

-Yeah.

0:38:000:38:02

-Lovely. Perfect.

-I did that rather well, don't you think? You're a natural. Yeah.

0:38:020:38:06

This is a really rich pudding...

0:38:060:38:08

-Yeah.

-..and when you think what else they had at that dinner.

0:38:080:38:12

"Potage a la cressy, potage..."

0:38:120:38:16

There's two soups.

0:38:160:38:17

"Quenelles, le saumon en tranches sauce persil."

0:38:170:38:22

So, they had salmon and sole and ham and lamb...

0:38:220:38:26

-Unbelievable!

-..and artichokes.

0:38:260:38:29

All these things.

0:38:290:38:30

And on the side, just in case they were a bit peckish,

0:38:300:38:33

they had hot and cold roast fowls, cold beef and salad on the side...

0:38:330:38:36

-They must have...

-..before they got to the puddings.

0:38:360:38:38

They must have starved themselves for a week before it.

0:38:380:38:40

I think not, somehow.

0:38:400:38:42

Oh, yes. You can see the bits of chocolate in there.

0:38:430:38:45

You can see the bits of chocolate.

0:38:450:38:46

And then very similar to when you would be making a souffle,

0:38:460:38:49

I'm just going to take a spoon of the egg white

0:38:490:38:51

and I'm just going to kind of beat that in to kind of

0:38:510:38:54

lighten up this mix, because it is kind of heavyish.

0:38:540:38:58

And then you finish with the biggest dollop at the end.

0:38:580:39:01

-OK.

-Now, this is a professional technique, is it?

0:39:010:39:04

So this creates a lovely, light, light, moist pudding.

0:39:040:39:08

And the fact that we cook it in a tray with some water

0:39:080:39:11

and it's kind of like semi-steamed in the oven...

0:39:110:39:14

-Yeah.

-..creates a really moist, delicious, special, unique cake.

0:39:140:39:19

Because it's been folded gently and then it gets cooked gently.

0:39:190:39:22

Yep. Exactly.

0:39:220:39:24

It was a big dinner, this.

0:39:240:39:25

All those courses, and indeed all the royal family were there

0:39:250:39:28

at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight.

0:39:280:39:30

All the family except, of course, her eldest son,

0:39:300:39:34

who was to become Edward VII,

0:39:340:39:36

who, needless to say, was at the theatre,

0:39:360:39:38

ANNA GASPS possibly with one of his ladies,

0:39:380:39:41

-but I don't know.

-Scandalous.

0:39:410:39:42

I'm going to pop this into a piping bag

0:39:420:39:45

so that I can pipe it evenly into each one of the pots.

0:39:450:39:49

-Fill it all up.

-That's it,

0:39:490:39:50

-all of it.

-It looks rich, it looks gooey,

0:39:500:39:52

it's wonderfully speckled with chocolate.

0:39:520:39:54

That's it.

0:39:540:39:55

And then with a little snip of the scissors...

0:39:550:39:58

Yeah.

0:39:580:39:59

-Then to pipe in.

-Yeah.

0:40:000:40:02

So, you don't want to fill it up all the way,

0:40:020:40:04

you just want to kind of leave just a quarter of it free.

0:40:040:40:08

-Why?

-This way it's got space to rise up.

0:40:080:40:11

-Right.

-And it will rise above the mould as well.

0:40:110:40:13

Oh, will it? Oh, right.

0:40:130:40:14

-That's going to look really impressive, isn't it?

-Yeah.

0:40:140:40:17

Overlaps it.

0:40:170:40:18

Yeah. So you can service pudding cold or warm.

0:40:180:40:21

I do think it is particularly nice warm.

0:40:210:40:24

Yeah, those little pots are lined with something, aren't they?

0:40:240:40:26

Yes, they're buttered.

0:40:260:40:28

Well spotted there, Michael.

0:40:280:40:29

-No flies on you.

-Nothing gets past me. No.

0:40:290:40:31

They're brushed with some butter and then some sugar is rolled around them as well.

0:40:310:40:35

Cook these in a tray with some hot water in it,

0:40:350:40:39

at 180 degrees for 25 minutes.

0:40:390:40:42

Now, you are going to take this to the oven...

0:40:420:40:45

-I shall.

-..and you will find some that I've already made

0:40:450:40:48

from earlier on and bring them back. Thanks.

0:40:480:40:50

-They're safe with me.

-OK.

-Here we go.

0:40:500:40:52

Ho-ho-ho-ho!

0:40:560:40:58

Oh, Anna, look at these little babies.

0:41:000:41:03

-They have risen the way you said they would.

-Yes.

0:41:030:41:06

-There we go.

-They look perfect.

0:41:060:41:08

-There we go.

-OK, so, I'm going to make the chocolate sauce.

0:41:080:41:11

Now, this chocolate sauce is foolproof.

0:41:110:41:13

It's so easy. You have your water,

0:41:130:41:16

put it onto a nice high heat and all you add is your sugar...

0:41:160:41:20

Yeah.

0:41:200:41:21

..your cocoa powder...

0:41:230:41:24

Yeah.

0:41:250:41:27

..and the trickiest bit of all, add your chocolate...

0:41:270:41:29

MICHAEL LAUGHS

0:41:290:41:31

..and then you just bring it up to the boil,

0:41:310:41:33

and then you have a lovely glossy chocolate sauce.

0:41:330:41:35

As simple as that?

0:41:350:41:37

Simple as that.

0:41:370:41:38

Instant. Well, almost instant.

0:41:400:41:42

-Almost instant.

-Yeah.

-OK.

0:41:420:41:44

OK.

0:41:460:41:48

Just pour some of our chocolate sauce in there.

0:41:480:41:50

-That chocolate sauce was really quick and easy, wasn't it?

-Mm.

0:41:500:41:53

Shiny and glossy and...

0:41:530:41:55

-Let's have a sniff.

-..chocolaty.

0:41:550:41:57

-OK, come on.

-Let's see what they look like.

0:41:570:41:59

This is the part that us chefs often get very nervous about.

0:41:590:42:02

I bet. But it's not going to stick, is it?

0:42:020:42:05

You've put butter on the inside.

0:42:050:42:07

-Isn't that going to make sure...?

-Hopefully not, Michael.

-OK.

0:42:070:42:13

-Oh, wow!

-Beautiful.

0:42:130:42:15

Look at that.

0:42:150:42:16

A bit of chocolate on the top.

0:42:160:42:18

Oh! Take a look at that.

0:42:210:42:24

-So...

-Here we have it -

0:42:240:42:27

-Pouding Sax Weimar.

-Oh, Yes.

0:42:270:42:30

Now, you do it first,

0:42:300:42:31

I don't want to ruin the confection.

0:42:310:42:33

OK.

0:42:330:42:34

-Is it done, is it just right?

-Yes, it looks beautiful.

0:42:360:42:39

-Excellent.

-Mm!

0:42:410:42:43

Get some of that lovely chocolate sauce...

0:42:440:42:46

I seem to have got a bigger piece than yours.

0:42:460:42:48

It really is... I've never tasted anything like it.

0:42:480:42:51

-It is very unique.

-Mm!

0:42:510:42:53

Oh!

0:42:550:42:58

Oh, yeah...

0:42:580:43:00

It's light, though, isn't it?

0:43:000:43:02

It's light, the lovely little secret pockets of chocolate in there,

0:43:020:43:06

finished with the chocolate sauce.

0:43:060:43:08

Yeah, it's nice to remember Prince Albert, I suppose.

0:43:080:43:10

Oh, that pulls on your heartstrings.

0:43:100:43:12

It does a bit, yeah.

0:43:120:43:14

A pudding with a story of love and loss

0:43:140:43:17

to end this programme about the food for royal weddings.

0:43:170:43:20

See you next time.

0:43:200:43:22

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