0:00:02 > 0:00:03The Royal Family are steeped in tradition.
0:00:03 > 0:00:07Throughout history, the royal tables have showcased culinary excellence.
0:00:07 > 0:00:09In celebration of royal food...
0:00:09 > 0:00:11We know it's the Queen's recipe,
0:00:11 > 0:00:13because we've got it in her own hand.
0:00:13 > 0:00:15..from the present and the past...
0:00:15 > 0:00:17That is proper regal.
0:00:17 > 0:00:20..we recreate old family favourites.
0:00:20 > 0:00:25Now, the Queen Mother had this really wicked trick with these.
0:00:25 > 0:00:26What a mess!
0:00:26 > 0:00:28We sample royal eating alfresco...
0:00:28 > 0:00:30- Oh, wow!- That is what you want.
0:00:30 > 0:00:34..and revisit the most extravagant times.
0:00:34 > 0:00:36Pheasant, stag, turkey, salmon,
0:00:36 > 0:00:39oysters and turbot dressed in a lobster-champagne sauce.
0:00:39 > 0:00:41Unbelievable!
0:00:41 > 0:00:42This is...
0:00:46 > 0:00:51Hello. I'm Michael Buerk and welcome to Royal Recipes.
0:00:51 > 0:00:55This is Audley End, one of Britain's finest stately homes,
0:00:55 > 0:00:59built in the style of a royal palace and once owned by a king.
0:00:59 > 0:01:01In the splendour of the gardens,
0:01:01 > 0:01:05halls and kitchen of this grandest of country houses,
0:01:05 > 0:01:10we'll be recreating the food served at the highest royal tables.
0:01:10 > 0:01:13And it all starts here, with this gem -
0:01:13 > 0:01:16a royal kitchenmaid's cookbook.
0:01:16 > 0:01:20The only surviving recipe book of its kind in the Royal Archive.
0:01:20 > 0:01:22This is an exact copy of the original,
0:01:22 > 0:01:25which is kept at Windsor Castle.
0:01:25 > 0:01:28Inside - the recipes of Mildred Nicholls,
0:01:28 > 0:01:32who worked at Buckingham Palace in the early 1900s.
0:01:32 > 0:01:35And for the first time in over 100 years,
0:01:35 > 0:01:37we'll be bringing these recipes back to life.
0:01:41 > 0:01:45This time, we cook food served up by the Royal Family outdoors,
0:01:45 > 0:01:49at their picnics and garden parties.
0:01:49 > 0:01:51Since she came to the throne over 60 years ago,
0:01:51 > 0:01:53the Queen has welcomed two million people
0:01:53 > 0:01:55to the gardens of Buckingham Palace.
0:01:55 > 0:01:57And, more recently,
0:01:57 > 0:02:02Her Majesty threw a huge picnic in the Mall to mark her 90th birthday.
0:02:05 > 0:02:08Today on Royal Recipes, Paul Ainsworth finds out what's cooking
0:02:08 > 0:02:11when Prince Philip takes over the barbecue.
0:02:11 > 0:02:14It's a proper royal recipe and we're going to do Gaelic steak
0:02:14 > 0:02:17and a real royal favourite - whisky sauce.
0:02:17 > 0:02:19Historian Dr Annie Gray reveals
0:02:19 > 0:02:23how Queen Victoria made the picnic fashionable.
0:02:23 > 0:02:24It's to Queen Victoria herself,
0:02:25 > 0:02:28that we really owe the popularity of it going forward.
0:02:28 > 0:02:31For she was a fierce picnicker.
0:02:31 > 0:02:32She loved it.
0:02:37 > 0:02:41In the grounds of this stately home, we start with a royal barbecue.
0:02:44 > 0:02:46We're roughing it here today at Audley End.
0:02:46 > 0:02:48With me, Michelin-starred chef Paul Ainsworth.
0:02:48 > 0:02:51- Hello, Michael. How are you? - I'm very well in my jacket.
0:02:51 > 0:02:55Yes. Yeah, you look lovely and warm, Michael. Lovely and warm.
0:02:55 > 0:02:59They say nobody deters the Windsors from having a picnic
0:02:59 > 0:03:00in all weathers.
0:03:00 > 0:03:04- No.- It can get really, really wintry in Balmoral, even in August,
0:03:04 > 0:03:07- I think.- And they still will love to have a barbecue, won't they?
0:03:07 > 0:03:09- Yeah, yeah.- Why not?
0:03:09 > 0:03:12Have you seen those home movies of the royal families and picnics?
0:03:12 > 0:03:15- Yeah, yeah.- Everybody's pitching in, but Prince Philip is in charge.
0:03:15 > 0:03:17I bet he is. It's a manly thing. It's the barbecue.
0:03:17 > 0:03:19- It is a man thing.- It is. Do you feel manly right now?
0:03:19 > 0:03:21- I do.- Well...
0:03:21 > 0:03:22- Right, let's get cooking.- OK.
0:03:22 > 0:03:25OK, we're going to do a real favourite royal recipe,
0:03:25 > 0:03:27especially of Prince Philip's.
0:03:27 > 0:03:30- This is his signature picnic dish. - Yeah, signature picnic dish.
0:03:30 > 0:03:33- What does he cook?- We're going to do Gaelic steaks, potatoes in the bag,
0:03:33 > 0:03:36which is really, really nice. Everything on the barbecue.
0:03:36 > 0:03:39- Yeah.- And a real royal favourite - whisky sauce.
0:03:39 > 0:03:41OK? Would you like a tipple while we cook?
0:03:41 > 0:03:43- Well, I might. Yeah. - If we get cracking straightaway...
0:03:43 > 0:03:47- OK.- We're going to take a little tinfoil bag here...
0:03:47 > 0:03:49And this I really recommend doing.
0:03:49 > 0:03:52It's delicious. So, I'm just going to put some oil over the potatoes.
0:03:52 > 0:03:54And you've got some butter in there as well?
0:03:54 > 0:03:56Yeah, some butter in there as well.
0:03:56 > 0:03:58Some seasoning.
0:03:58 > 0:03:59- Salt and pepper.- Yeah.
0:03:59 > 0:04:01Basically, the potatoes are going to steam themselves...
0:04:01 > 0:04:04- Just tip them in?- Just tip them in, like that.
0:04:04 > 0:04:06Give them a good ruffle around, so you get all of that seasoning.
0:04:06 > 0:04:10- Yeah.- And then just literally fold the bag...
0:04:11 > 0:04:13- ..like that.- It's pretty simple, isn't it?- Pretty simple.
0:04:13 > 0:04:16And straight on. The coals are going to get lovely and warm.
0:04:16 > 0:04:19All those potatoes are going to roast in that butter, the oil
0:04:19 > 0:04:21and seasoning, garlic. Beautiful. Next, the steaks.
0:04:21 > 0:04:24Let's get the steak on. We just put, lightly,
0:04:24 > 0:04:26a little bit of oil on that steak.
0:04:26 > 0:04:28Like that, OK?
0:04:28 > 0:04:30- Lightly season.- Yeah.
0:04:30 > 0:04:33Crush that right the way over the steak.
0:04:33 > 0:04:36The steaks we're using here, Michael, are sirloin.
0:04:36 > 0:04:39That middle, sort of, steak where you've got that lovely eye of meat,
0:04:39 > 0:04:40nice fat content going around.
0:04:40 > 0:04:41Beautiful. Straight on.
0:04:41 > 0:04:43Nice, hottest part of the barbecue.
0:04:43 > 0:04:45You need white heat. Like, proper good heat.
0:04:45 > 0:04:48- That's the secret, isn't it, to barbecuing?- That is the secret.
0:04:48 > 0:04:51The Royals often do this. They load up the Land Rover, don't they?
0:04:51 > 0:04:53And they're up on the moors above Balmoral.
0:04:53 > 0:04:55Yeah, yeah. Absolutely, yeah.
0:04:55 > 0:04:57Well, do you know what? Like you say,
0:04:57 > 0:05:00taking a barbecue on a picnic and stuff -
0:05:00 > 0:05:03- what better way to enjoy your day? Especially like this.- Yeah, yeah.
0:05:03 > 0:05:05So, we've got our steaks on, we've got our potatoes on
0:05:05 > 0:05:08and now we're going to make our whisky sauce.
0:05:08 > 0:05:11So, with our sauce, we just need not as much of a heavy heat
0:05:11 > 0:05:13as what we've got here with the steaks.
0:05:13 > 0:05:15We're just going to have...
0:05:15 > 0:05:18- our shallots. - Just diced shallots, those?
0:05:18 > 0:05:21Diced shallots. Right, we're going to have a little rearrange.
0:05:21 > 0:05:25- See, our sauce now.- Yeah.- We've got that lovely heat into the sauce.
0:05:25 > 0:05:26This is such a great way to cook.
0:05:26 > 0:05:29So, we move our... These are our potatoes that are ready.
0:05:29 > 0:05:31- Going to move those potatoes to the front.- Yeah.
0:05:31 > 0:05:34Right, for our whisky sauce - really, really simple.
0:05:34 > 0:05:38We've got some lovely mushrooms, sliced chestnut mushrooms.
0:05:38 > 0:05:41- They go in.- You're not going to cook those for long, I don't imagine.
0:05:41 > 0:05:44- No, they're going to... It's a very quick sauce.- Yeah.
0:05:44 > 0:05:46So, we're just going to get those nice and...
0:05:46 > 0:05:49Get them coated in that lovely shallot mixture.
0:05:49 > 0:05:52We can season all the way through, so we've got that lovely flavour
0:05:52 > 0:05:54coming up all the way through the dish.
0:05:54 > 0:05:57Now, you'll see with these steaks...
0:05:57 > 0:06:00Just have a look under here, Michael. Ready? When we turn over...
0:06:00 > 0:06:01- Look at that.- Oh, wow!
0:06:01 > 0:06:03And then again, we don't move it.
0:06:03 > 0:06:05We just leave it there and let it do its thing.
0:06:05 > 0:06:07- Yeah.- OK.
0:06:07 > 0:06:09Meanwhile, we've got this delicious sauce.
0:06:09 > 0:06:11So you can see juices start to come out the mushrooms
0:06:11 > 0:06:14and into the sauce. And we're going to reduce those down.
0:06:14 > 0:06:16Now, those mushrooms. If you just have a smell of that.
0:06:16 > 0:06:19- Yeah.- We've got the thyme, the garlic, the mushrooms, the shallots.
0:06:19 > 0:06:21- It's such a classic sauce. - Oh, it's lovely.
0:06:21 > 0:06:24We're kind of referencing sort of, like, a steak-Diane-type sauce.
0:06:24 > 0:06:26- Yeah.- Yeah, really nice.
0:06:26 > 0:06:27OK, next...
0:06:29 > 0:06:32- A dram of whisky.- Yeah. - Is that enough for you?
0:06:32 > 0:06:36No, a little more, if you wouldn't mind.
0:06:36 > 0:06:38- Well, it burns off. - Yeah, absolutely.
0:06:38 > 0:06:40So we're just going to reduce that whisky out.
0:06:40 > 0:06:43- Yeah.- And what we want is that pure whisky flavour and just burning off
0:06:43 > 0:06:46- some of that alcohol.- You can smell it, actually.- Lovely, isn't it?
0:06:46 > 0:06:49- Absolutely lovely.- Come this way. - Yeah. Right, we're ready.
0:06:49 > 0:06:52Steaks off. We're just going to rest those now, Michael.
0:06:52 > 0:06:54- That's important, this resting business?- Absolutely.
0:06:54 > 0:06:57- Really, really important. - It's what we amateurs don't do.
0:06:57 > 0:06:59Stock in.
0:06:59 > 0:07:01- That's beef stock, yeah? - That's beef stock going in.
0:07:01 > 0:07:04So now that's going to come to the boil.
0:07:04 > 0:07:06We're going to add a little bit of cream. Not much,
0:07:06 > 0:07:08cos we don't want it to be too rich and heavy,
0:07:08 > 0:07:11and we want that lovely, lovely colour.
0:07:11 > 0:07:13Oh, look at that! Lovely colour, isn't it?
0:07:13 > 0:07:17And it's just literally about getting that nice...
0:07:17 > 0:07:21- Not too thick, but, like, a nice body to the sauce.- Mm.
0:07:21 > 0:07:23- And I mean, to do that outside... Potatoes are done.- Yeah.
0:07:23 > 0:07:27Steaks are resting. The sauce is coming to a lovely simmer.
0:07:27 > 0:07:29Yeah. And, actually, it's only a few minutes.
0:07:29 > 0:07:30- It's only a few minutes.- Yeah.
0:07:30 > 0:07:34- Just a little waiting game now and we can eat.- Mm!
0:07:34 > 0:07:36- Right, I'm going to grab my plate. - Yeah. "MY plate"?
0:07:36 > 0:07:38Yeah, my plate. You're not having any!
0:07:38 > 0:07:40All right?
0:07:40 > 0:07:42- Look at this.- Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
0:07:42 > 0:07:45Beautifully... That is going to be so lovely and tender and pink.
0:07:46 > 0:07:49Sauce... This is the bit that's fun, as well.
0:07:49 > 0:07:51- Ready?- Yeah, yeah. - Grab the potatoes.
0:07:51 > 0:07:53Stab them with the tinfoil.
0:07:53 > 0:07:55Straight in like that. And look at those.
0:07:55 > 0:07:58- Oh, they're terrific, aren't they? - Look at those.
0:07:58 > 0:08:01Yeah, little beautiful mini roast potatoes, just cooked in that butter.
0:08:01 > 0:08:04- Yeah.- Absolutely delicious.
0:08:04 > 0:08:07Just going to put some of those on the side.
0:08:07 > 0:08:10- Grab our sauce.- I love the way you do that so carefully, you know.
0:08:10 > 0:08:12You take a lot of care of these things.
0:08:12 > 0:08:15Just a little. Just on the top. I don't want to go all over the steak,
0:08:15 > 0:08:17I want to put more on the plate as well, cos I don't want to
0:08:17 > 0:08:20lose that lovely caramelisation that we've got.
0:08:20 > 0:08:23- We'll move those...- Out of the way. - ..over there, out of the way.
0:08:23 > 0:08:25And there we go. Right, Michael.
0:08:25 > 0:08:28- Get stuck in! - I will, I will, I will!
0:08:28 > 0:08:31Ah, look at that!
0:08:31 > 0:08:33Oh, beautiful. Red on the inside.
0:08:33 > 0:08:35- Yeah.- Caramelised on the outside.
0:08:37 > 0:08:39- Mm-mm-mm!- Is that good?- Mm-mm-mm!
0:08:39 > 0:08:42Look, nice and fluffy, roasted.
0:08:42 > 0:08:44- Beautiful!- Mm!
0:08:45 > 0:08:48You forget how cold it is with food that good, don't you?
0:08:48 > 0:08:51- You do, yeah. Oh, it's great. Go on, have a go.- Fantastic!
0:08:54 > 0:08:57- Oh, yeah. I'm going to have some of the fat.- That sauce.
0:08:57 > 0:09:00The mushrooms, the richness. Amazing!
0:09:00 > 0:09:03Oh, yeah. Right, you can do the washing up.
0:09:03 > 0:09:05- You just need a...- Before... - Need a stream.
0:09:05 > 0:09:08Before I do the washing up, I'm going for a run!
0:09:08 > 0:09:10Because I am freezing!
0:09:10 > 0:09:13- Great. Well done, Paul. This is brilliant.- Pleasure.
0:09:16 > 0:09:20Barbecue steak, Prince Philip-style.
0:09:20 > 0:09:24A picnic dish to suit all-weather alfresco dining.
0:09:29 > 0:09:33The passion for picnicking has been around for hundreds of years.
0:09:33 > 0:09:36But it was that royal trendsetter, Queen Victoria,
0:09:36 > 0:09:38who made it fashionable.
0:09:45 > 0:09:49Historian Dr Annie Gray is at Chiswick House in West London.
0:09:49 > 0:09:52It was built by the Duke of Devonshire,
0:09:52 > 0:09:55and has vast, landscaped gardens.
0:09:55 > 0:09:59This love of the outdoors by the Georgians, then by the Victorians,
0:09:59 > 0:10:01laid the path for the picnics we know today.
0:10:03 > 0:10:06Gardens like this were really popular in the 18th century.
0:10:06 > 0:10:08They were spaces of sociability,
0:10:08 > 0:10:11they were places where the aristocracy and their friends
0:10:11 > 0:10:14could come together, undisturbed by the hoi polloi.
0:10:14 > 0:10:19Where they could play games, paint, read books and eat.
0:10:19 > 0:10:23Mealtimes were changing at the end of the Georgian period.
0:10:23 > 0:10:27The fashion for luncheon was taking off, and this new midday meal
0:10:27 > 0:10:31was well suited to the appetite for alfresco dining.
0:10:31 > 0:10:32Unlike today's picnics,
0:10:32 > 0:10:35you wouldn't sit on the ground and get dirty.
0:10:35 > 0:10:37No, you would have a table with a gorgeous cloth,
0:10:37 > 0:10:42servants bringing you baskets full of food, both hot and cold.
0:10:42 > 0:10:45Champagne virtually on tap. And it would be a marvellous,
0:10:45 > 0:10:48wonderful occasion where you could look at your garden
0:10:48 > 0:10:53and think to yourself, "I own this. Isn't it just amazing?"
0:10:55 > 0:10:59It's to Queen Victoria herself that we really owe the popularity of it
0:10:59 > 0:11:03going forward, for she was a fierce picnicker.
0:11:03 > 0:11:04She loved it.
0:11:04 > 0:11:06From Balmoral Castle,
0:11:06 > 0:11:10she would go off into the Highlands and perhaps fry up a fish that she'd
0:11:10 > 0:11:12caught that morning from the lake.
0:11:12 > 0:11:14The newspapers then, as now,
0:11:14 > 0:11:18reported on the doings of the Royal Family all the time,
0:11:18 > 0:11:21and so pictures and reports of Queen Victoria's activities
0:11:21 > 0:11:25circulated, making picnicking truly the thing to do.
0:11:26 > 0:11:27It became so much a part of life
0:11:27 > 0:11:31that the doyenne of the Victorian establishment, Mrs Beeton,
0:11:31 > 0:11:34thought it necessary to include a section on picnicking
0:11:34 > 0:11:36in her bestselling cookery book.
0:11:37 > 0:11:41She said, "One of the pleasantest forms of entertainment
0:11:41 > 0:11:45"is a well-arranged picnic, if only a fine day be selected,
0:11:45 > 0:11:48"while nothing is calculated to give greater dissatisfaction
0:11:48 > 0:11:51"than a badly managed one. To have chosen the wrong people,
0:11:51 > 0:11:55"even one or two who are not likely to make themselves agreeable,
0:11:55 > 0:11:58"to have given people wrong seats in the various vehicles,
0:11:58 > 0:12:03"or to have too many ladies in the party are all often fatal errors."
0:12:05 > 0:12:08As well as giving warnings about the guest list,
0:12:08 > 0:12:12she even created a sample menu for a picnic for 40 people.
0:12:12 > 0:12:16It included two racks of lamb, four roast fowl,
0:12:16 > 0:12:18six lobsters and four dozen cheesecakes.
0:12:20 > 0:12:23Then we come to that perennial picnic favourite today -
0:12:23 > 0:12:24the Scotch egg.
0:12:24 > 0:12:28Fortnum & Mason claim they invented it in the 1730s,
0:12:28 > 0:12:30and while they may not have done,
0:12:30 > 0:12:34it certainly seems that that was around the time they came into being.
0:12:34 > 0:12:37One of my favourites is sausage rolls.
0:12:37 > 0:12:40The Victorians would simply take bread dough and stuff the sausage meat
0:12:40 > 0:12:43right within it, before sealing it up and cooking it.
0:12:43 > 0:12:46So, again, you could just pop it in a pocket
0:12:46 > 0:12:48and off you go to the countryside!
0:12:54 > 0:12:58Royal picnics weren't always outdoor affairs.
0:12:58 > 0:13:01King Edward VII in particular loved to take
0:13:01 > 0:13:05an absolutely whopping picnic along to the theatre, or to the opera.
0:13:05 > 0:13:0712 courses.
0:13:07 > 0:13:10He was particularly keen, Paul, I think, on cold meats.
0:13:10 > 0:13:13- Cold meats. Yes.- And particularly keen on...
0:13:13 > 0:13:14PAUL CHUCKLES
0:13:14 > 0:13:17- Tongue. Not a fan. - Now, don't be put off.
0:13:17 > 0:13:18No, it's lovely.
0:13:18 > 0:13:21- We're not talking about 12 courses here, though, are we?- No, no.
0:13:21 > 0:13:24- We're talking about tongue for a modern picnic.- We are.
0:13:24 > 0:13:28And we're going to do a proper, hearty, roasted tongue sandwich.
0:13:28 > 0:13:31So, the first thing we do, we're going to put our pan onto the heat.
0:13:31 > 0:13:33We're going to add a little bit of oil.
0:13:34 > 0:13:37And when that oil gets hot, we're going to add a little bit of butter.
0:13:37 > 0:13:39What we've got here is an ox tongue.
0:13:39 > 0:13:42- It's huge!- It is huge. And it's been brined.
0:13:42 > 0:13:45By "brining", I mean we've put it in a salt solution,
0:13:45 > 0:13:46so, actually, it's firmed up a bit
0:13:46 > 0:13:48and got that lovely, wonderful flavour,
0:13:48 > 0:13:50the salt running through it.
0:13:50 > 0:13:52We've then just cooked it in a bouillon of vegetables.
0:13:52 > 0:13:54And cooked that for about two hours.
0:13:54 > 0:13:55Right, so let's go straight in.
0:13:55 > 0:13:57So we're going to take a nice slice.
0:13:57 > 0:13:59And we take this end piece off here.
0:13:59 > 0:14:02If you see in there, Michael, it's...
0:14:02 > 0:14:04really meaty.
0:14:04 > 0:14:05Butter.
0:14:08 > 0:14:10- Oh, wow.- Now, no need to season it.
0:14:10 > 0:14:13Now just sit both slices, just like that.
0:14:14 > 0:14:18Back onto the heat. We're going to turn that heat down a little bit.
0:14:18 > 0:14:21Meanwhile, we're going to move over here, and make our own mayonnaise.
0:14:21 > 0:14:23- From scratch.- Ever made mayonnaise before?- No, no.- From scratch.
0:14:23 > 0:14:26Get it out of a bottle, I do.
0:14:26 > 0:14:29Two egg yolks. Spoonful of Dijon mustard.
0:14:29 > 0:14:33English is also nice, but I know the Royals like things from France,
0:14:33 > 0:14:34don't they?
0:14:34 > 0:14:36Little bit of white wine vinegar.
0:14:40 > 0:14:42And this is what we call here...
0:14:42 > 0:14:44We're just basically making almost like a zabaione base, OK?
0:14:44 > 0:14:49We're just emulsifying the egg yolks, the vinegar and the mustard.
0:14:49 > 0:14:51So, just here, Michael.
0:14:51 > 0:14:53- Yeah.- We're adding in our oil.
0:14:53 > 0:14:55And we're adding it in nice and slowly.
0:14:55 > 0:14:57Not too quickly. Can you see it starting to thicken?
0:14:57 > 0:15:00- Yeah.- You can hear the sound of the blades going round,
0:15:00 > 0:15:02and you can just hear the sound changing.
0:15:02 > 0:15:05- Right. We're just going to stop. - Just as a matter of interest,
0:15:05 > 0:15:08- why are you actually roasting, frying the thing?- Come and look.
0:15:08 > 0:15:10Because, I mean, you've brined it, you've boiled it.
0:15:10 > 0:15:12Why are you cooking it twice?
0:15:12 > 0:15:13Because you... Flavour.
0:15:13 > 0:15:15- Now we're going to build our sandwich.- OK.
0:15:15 > 0:15:18So we've got some wonderful sourdough bread.
0:15:18 > 0:15:20Use your favourite bread. Rye bread, brown bread, white bread -
0:15:20 > 0:15:24whatever you want. Now, rather than just buttering it,
0:15:24 > 0:15:26our fat is going to be our mayonnaise.
0:15:26 > 0:15:29So we're going to put this wonderful, lovely mayonnaise,
0:15:29 > 0:15:30just smear it all over.
0:15:30 > 0:15:33It's a nicer colour than the stuff you get out of the bottle.
0:15:33 > 0:15:34Both sides, like that.
0:15:34 > 0:15:36Even if it doesn't taste as good, it looks nice.
0:15:36 > 0:15:38It looks nice. Yeah, it looks nice.
0:15:38 > 0:15:41Trust me, it tastes a lot better.
0:15:41 > 0:15:43Right, we're going to have... Move our mayonnaise.
0:15:43 > 0:15:44Going to take our tongue...
0:15:44 > 0:15:47- Yep.- ..straight out, OK?
0:15:47 > 0:15:49And lie that in our sandwich, like so.
0:15:49 > 0:15:52For me now, I think people like...
0:15:52 > 0:15:54To me, it looks like a bacon sandwich.
0:15:54 > 0:15:57- Delicious.- It fits, it fits!
0:15:57 > 0:15:59- It does.- Cinders.- Absolutely.
0:15:59 > 0:16:02Little bit of that lovely roasting butter over the top.
0:16:02 > 0:16:05I mean, already, just like that, you'd want to put that in...
0:16:05 > 0:16:08- Certainly would.- Hammer it in half. - In my mouth, yeah.
0:16:08 > 0:16:09Yeah!
0:16:09 > 0:16:11Right, Stilton.
0:16:11 > 0:16:13Wonderful British cheese.
0:16:13 > 0:16:15We're just going to take some of that Stilton.
0:16:15 > 0:16:17- Just...- Crumble it. - Just crumble it like that.
0:16:17 > 0:16:20And with that hot tongue, it'll just start to warm that.
0:16:20 > 0:16:24I don't want it melted, cos I want the Stilton for texture.
0:16:24 > 0:16:26- OK?- Yeah.- And over the top.
0:16:28 > 0:16:30- It's rich, though, isn't it? - Oh, it's gorgeous.
0:16:30 > 0:16:31Absolutely gorgeous.
0:16:31 > 0:16:33Next, some gherkins.
0:16:33 > 0:16:36And exactly what you just said there - it's rich.
0:16:36 > 0:16:40So we're just going to cut through with some lovely acidity from these
0:16:40 > 0:16:41lovely pickled gherkins.
0:16:41 > 0:16:44All right? On with our gherkins.
0:16:44 > 0:16:46They really make a sandwich, don't they?
0:16:46 > 0:16:48They do. Absolutely delicious.
0:16:48 > 0:16:51Look at this! Watercress.
0:16:51 > 0:16:53- Nice and peppery.- Yeah.- Like that.
0:16:53 > 0:16:56We're just going to go with a little bit of cracked pepper
0:16:56 > 0:16:59- over the top of this sandwich. - OK, stop fiddling - let's eat it.
0:16:59 > 0:17:01That like that.
0:17:01 > 0:17:03Yeah.
0:17:06 > 0:17:08Yes! And here it is.
0:17:08 > 0:17:10- Look at that! - Don't put it TOO far away.
0:17:10 > 0:17:13Ooh! Get stuck in, Michael.
0:17:15 > 0:17:16Right!
0:17:16 > 0:17:18MICHAEL CLEARS HIS THROAT Here we go.
0:17:18 > 0:17:20There's no elegant way to do this, is there, Paul?
0:17:20 > 0:17:23- There isn't. Let's go.- Hang on. I don't think my mouth's big enough!
0:17:28 > 0:17:30Mm!
0:17:30 > 0:17:32Mm-mm!
0:17:32 > 0:17:33Converted to tongue?
0:17:33 > 0:17:36- I am actually, yeah. - That's beautiful, isn't it?
0:17:36 > 0:17:40The texture's great. And the sourdough is quite a contrast,
0:17:40 > 0:17:44isn't it? I think this works particularly well with sourdough.
0:17:44 > 0:17:46- But...- And that blue cheese. - ..your mayonnaise is lovely,
0:17:46 > 0:17:48and the blue cheese lifts it.
0:17:48 > 0:17:51And the gherkins cut through it.
0:17:51 > 0:17:53I think King Edward would have liked this.
0:17:53 > 0:17:56This is what he needed on his picnic.
0:17:56 > 0:17:58A tasty sandwich for a modern picnic.
0:17:58 > 0:18:00Nowadays, the grandest of picnics
0:18:00 > 0:18:03are held by the Queen in the gardens of Buckingham Palace,
0:18:03 > 0:18:06where she hosts three garden parties every year.
0:18:09 > 0:18:12Grant Harrold here, who's been butler to Prince Charles,
0:18:12 > 0:18:16Prince William, Prince Harry, has not only worked at garden parties,
0:18:16 > 0:18:19but been a guest often. How have they changed over the years?
0:18:19 > 0:18:22Obviously, originally, they were more the kind of...
0:18:22 > 0:18:25Queen Victoria's garden parties, you had diplomats, you had earls, you had dukes.
0:18:25 > 0:18:27Today you have people from all walks of life,
0:18:27 > 0:18:30people that have given or done something for the country.
0:18:30 > 0:18:32You've got military, you've got charity organisations,
0:18:32 > 0:18:36so it's kind of changed to how it was, say, over 100 years ago.
0:18:36 > 0:18:37What goes on, then? What goes on?
0:18:37 > 0:18:41So, you arrive at three o'clock.
0:18:41 > 0:18:43The Royal Family arrive about four.
0:18:43 > 0:18:44The Queen arrives on the West Terrace.
0:18:44 > 0:18:47They play the national anthem so you know that she's about to walk down.
0:18:47 > 0:18:50You'll suddenly see these lines form, these two kind of lines,
0:18:50 > 0:18:53of where she's going to walk from the West Terrace down to the royal tea tent.
0:18:53 > 0:18:55And you can actually stand there.
0:18:55 > 0:18:58And if you're lucky, you might actually get to meet her -
0:18:58 > 0:19:00but hopefully without holding out a tea and a sandwich.
0:19:00 > 0:19:01The idea is to have that quickly.
0:19:01 > 0:19:04And the food is tea, sandwiches, cakes.
0:19:04 > 0:19:06- Just that.- That's kind of how...
0:19:06 > 0:19:08You can have... Some people might have the cakes first and then
0:19:08 > 0:19:12the sandwiches, but I'm kind of always saying, "Have the sandwiches first and then the cakes."
0:19:12 > 0:19:14But do that before you meet the Queen,
0:19:14 > 0:19:19cos otherwise you might not actually get to meet the Queen - you might miss the opportunity.
0:19:19 > 0:19:23And are all these garden parties exactly the same?
0:19:23 > 0:19:25I mean, the thing is, the kind of basis,
0:19:25 > 0:19:27the way it's set up, is the same. You've got the large tea tent,
0:19:27 > 0:19:31you've got the diplomatic tent, you've got the royal tea tent,
0:19:31 > 0:19:34you've got two military bands, you've got the gentlemen ushers.
0:19:34 > 0:19:37Logistically speaking, these must be pretty big affairs?
0:19:37 > 0:19:40They are. You're talking about 27,000 cups of tea,
0:19:40 > 0:19:4320,000 sandwiches, 20,000 cakes.
0:19:43 > 0:19:46So there's quite a bit actually done for these events,
0:19:46 > 0:19:49and a lot of planning. The planning's six months in advance,
0:19:49 > 0:19:50so they are quite big events.
0:19:50 > 0:19:52Does the Queen have tea herself
0:19:52 > 0:19:55or does she just mingle with her guests?
0:19:55 > 0:19:57Once she's, obviously, met some of the guests for about 30 minutes,
0:19:57 > 0:19:59she has tea in the royal tea tent,
0:19:59 > 0:20:01and that's obviously looked after by her own staff.
0:20:01 > 0:20:04But the actual garden party itself - these days it's catering.
0:20:04 > 0:20:08Since George V, we've had catering come in to do those kind of things.
0:20:08 > 0:20:11In the days of Queen Victoria, it was actually done by her chefs.
0:20:11 > 0:20:13But, again, it was very different -
0:20:13 > 0:20:16as we said, there would be the diplomats, the earls, the dukes,
0:20:16 > 0:20:18and it was a much more, again, lavish affair.
0:20:18 > 0:20:22- Now it's the outside caterers? - Now it's the outside caterers.
0:20:22 > 0:20:26The Royal Family enjoy growing and serving their own produce.
0:20:26 > 0:20:29At garden parties, the apple juice comes from the Sandringham orchards.
0:20:29 > 0:20:32Prince Charles is continuing that tradition,
0:20:32 > 0:20:35but sometimes he needs a little bit of help -
0:20:35 > 0:20:39as a farmer from Wales discovered, rather to his surprise.
0:20:42 > 0:20:45John Morris and his wife Margaret
0:20:45 > 0:20:48run a family farm in Crickhowell in Powys.
0:20:48 > 0:20:51For the last nine years, they've been producing
0:20:51 > 0:20:54an award-winning apple juice from their historic orchard.
0:20:55 > 0:21:00Most farms in this area have orchards and they have old orchards.
0:21:00 > 0:21:06But very few farms have orchards of this size with such old trees in it.
0:21:06 > 0:21:08The reason for that is, when my grandfather moved here,
0:21:08 > 0:21:10he saw it as potential,
0:21:10 > 0:21:13so that he could sell apples rather than perhaps
0:21:13 > 0:21:17scrubbing out trees and just growing grass for animals.
0:21:17 > 0:21:2030 varieties of British apples are grown here -
0:21:20 > 0:21:24some are very rare indeed.
0:21:24 > 0:21:27John and his wife specialise in making apple juice
0:21:27 > 0:21:29from single varieties.
0:21:29 > 0:21:32Their expertise is known throughout the area.
0:21:33 > 0:21:36So much so that Prince Charles contacted John
0:21:36 > 0:21:40for help with the apples grown at his neighbouring orchard in Wales.
0:21:41 > 0:21:43About eight years ago now, we had a phone call saying,
0:21:43 > 0:21:48"Would you come and identify some apples in an orchard near Llandovery?"
0:21:48 > 0:21:51We didn't know it was his orchard at the time.
0:21:51 > 0:21:55We went down and identified some of the apples in there.
0:21:55 > 0:21:58Some were more difficult to identify.
0:21:58 > 0:22:01And following on, he asked us to press the apples for him.
0:22:01 > 0:22:02He obviously liked the apple juice
0:22:02 > 0:22:05because we've been doing it ever since,
0:22:05 > 0:22:07and now the pear juice for him as well.
0:22:07 > 0:22:09What we have here, actually,
0:22:09 > 0:22:11are pears from the Prince of Wales's home in Highgrove
0:22:11 > 0:22:13and also pears from his farm in Wales
0:22:13 > 0:22:15that were picked yesterday evening.
0:22:15 > 0:22:19The fruit is picked and brought to the farm, where it's washed...
0:22:21 > 0:22:24..broken into smaller pieces
0:22:24 > 0:22:26and then put into the press.
0:22:26 > 0:22:29And now we have to press the juice out of them.
0:22:29 > 0:22:31When we put it under this 19-tonne press,
0:22:31 > 0:22:34you're surprised how much comes out. I'll switch it on now.
0:22:36 > 0:22:39Once pressed, the juice is stored overnight in tanks,
0:22:39 > 0:22:42so that the sediment settles before bottling.
0:22:42 > 0:22:45Then it's pasteurised in warm water.
0:22:45 > 0:22:48This kills the yeast and prevents alcohol production.
0:22:52 > 0:22:55Prince Charles came to John and Margaret's farm to see for himself
0:22:55 > 0:22:57how production was going.
0:22:58 > 0:23:02The Prince came July 2014.
0:23:02 > 0:23:06It was very exciting, very strange, and he was lovely -
0:23:06 > 0:23:09very ordinary, made you feel at ease.
0:23:09 > 0:23:13And he was genuinely interested, and you could see
0:23:13 > 0:23:16that he just wasn't there for the sake of being there,
0:23:16 > 0:23:18that he was interested because we are a small farm,
0:23:18 > 0:23:20trying to make a living.
0:23:20 > 0:23:23It was just an honour for him to support us
0:23:23 > 0:23:25and to support local businesses around here,
0:23:25 > 0:23:30because there are a lot of food and drink places in the locality.
0:23:30 > 0:23:33The following year, their juice was awarded the Royal Warrant -
0:23:33 > 0:23:36the first producers in Wales to achieve this distinction.
0:23:38 > 0:23:42Mildred Nicholls' recipe book from the early 1900s
0:23:42 > 0:23:45features recipes for several apple puddings.
0:23:45 > 0:23:49They include the perfectly portable, picnic-friendly apple tart, or...
0:23:52 > 0:23:54A lot of those picnics, you know,
0:23:54 > 0:23:57must've been prepared by Mildred Nicholls, who was a kitchenmaid
0:23:57 > 0:23:59in Buckingham Palace in the early years of the last century,
0:23:59 > 0:24:02and whose fabulous old recipe book
0:24:02 > 0:24:05is an absolute treasure trove of royal recipes.
0:24:05 > 0:24:08- It's incredible.- Not surprisingly, quite a lot of them apple recipes.
0:24:08 > 0:24:12There's one here, tarte de pommes a la Russe.
0:24:12 > 0:24:16- What's your take on this?- My take on this is, I'm doing it exactly how
0:24:16 > 0:24:19Mildred did it, cos when I read the recipe, I loved it,
0:24:19 > 0:24:21and I think that her techniques
0:24:21 > 0:24:24and what she was doing was really current now.
0:24:24 > 0:24:25Starting with these apples...
0:24:25 > 0:24:28What we've got here, Michael, is the Bramley apple,
0:24:28 > 0:24:31so we've got hundreds of variety in Great Britain but the Bramley,
0:24:31 > 0:24:33everyone knows it and it's a great apple.
0:24:33 > 0:24:35It's great because it cooks down
0:24:35 > 0:24:38- and she's cooked it with muscovado sugar, some butter.- Muscovado sugar?
0:24:38 > 0:24:41- And some lemon.- It looks like Demerara, it looks like brown sugar.
0:24:41 > 0:24:43No, it's muscovado, so it's darker brown.
0:24:43 > 0:24:45- Demerara's a bit lighter.- Yeah.
0:24:45 > 0:24:47Again, Mildred's pastry - just a lovely, simple,
0:24:47 > 0:24:51sweet pastry that we've just blind baked, all right?
0:24:51 > 0:24:54We're just going to smear that in. Now, what was really interesting -
0:24:54 > 0:24:57I've never seen this before - is Mildred then did...
0:24:57 > 0:24:59Like a lemon curd, but it's got so much lemon in
0:24:59 > 0:25:02as what we would know as a lemon curd.
0:25:02 > 0:25:05So we're going to start with the butter in the pan.
0:25:05 > 0:25:07We're going to take one lemon.
0:25:07 > 0:25:11OK. And we're just going to do the juice of one lemon...
0:25:12 > 0:25:14..eggs and sugar.
0:25:14 > 0:25:17Then going to add into there, as well, Michael, our cornflour.
0:25:17 > 0:25:20That just stabilises it.
0:25:20 > 0:25:22In here we've got our lemon juice and our butter.
0:25:22 > 0:25:24Now we're going to add in our eggs.
0:25:26 > 0:25:27So we've got three egg yolks.
0:25:29 > 0:25:31- Royal brown eggs, are they? - Royal brown eggs!
0:25:33 > 0:25:35And one egg. OK.
0:25:35 > 0:25:36Cornflour in.
0:25:40 > 0:25:42And our sugar.
0:25:42 > 0:25:45- Plenty of sugar.- Plenty of sugar. Plenty of butter, plenty of sugar.
0:25:45 > 0:25:49It wouldn't be a Mildred recipe if it didn't have plenty of sugar and plenty of butter!
0:25:49 > 0:25:51And just over a low heat,
0:25:51 > 0:25:53you basically just cook all these ingredients together.
0:25:53 > 0:25:57What happens is the lemon juice then just starts to thicken.
0:25:57 > 0:26:00- It's kind of like a custard curd. - Yeah.
0:26:00 > 0:26:05- Can you see our mixture's just starting to thicken?- Yeah.
0:26:05 > 0:26:08- Basically, we're going to pour it all over the top.- You just pour it on the top?
0:26:08 > 0:26:12It's such a great... It's such a fascinating recipe.
0:26:12 > 0:26:17- Then we just literally just smooth it into the corners.- Make sure it's all covered?- Absolutely, like that.
0:26:19 > 0:26:20Oh, yeah.
0:26:21 > 0:26:23And that is why you blind bake it,
0:26:23 > 0:26:25because that won't be that long in the oven.
0:26:25 > 0:26:27So that pastry would still be raw.
0:26:27 > 0:26:29- Yeah.- So, if you could just take that to the oven for me...
0:26:29 > 0:26:31- Yeah, put Mildred down. - Put Mildred down.
0:26:31 > 0:26:34And out there you should find one that's already done.
0:26:34 > 0:26:36OK, I'll pop this in the oven and bring the other one back.
0:26:36 > 0:26:40- Thank you, I'll have a tidy up. - OK, see you in a minute, Chef.
0:26:43 > 0:26:45Oh, look at this - symphony in gold, isn't it?
0:26:45 > 0:26:48And the top has gone beautifully crinkly.
0:26:48 > 0:26:51- You can see the apples.- The apples are starting to poke through.
0:26:51 > 0:26:54- Beautiful.- We're just going to
0:26:54 > 0:26:56literally finish it with some icing sugar,
0:26:56 > 0:27:00just over the top, just for a little bit more Mildred sweetness.
0:27:00 > 0:27:01Oh, yeah.
0:27:02 > 0:27:05Snowing icing sugar!
0:27:05 > 0:27:09Mildred's looking down at you, you know, and smiling, I think.
0:27:09 > 0:27:13I hope so, cos it's been an absolute pleasure to cook these old recipes.
0:27:13 > 0:27:16- It really has.- Well, here's to Mildred and here's to us! Come on!
0:27:16 > 0:27:19- Would you like a slice?- Absolutely.
0:27:19 > 0:27:21- Oh!- OK...- Yep...
0:27:24 > 0:27:26- Oh, look at that!- Look at that!
0:27:26 > 0:27:29- No, after you.- No, go on. - Oh, all right.
0:27:31 > 0:27:34Mm! Mm-mm-mm!
0:27:34 > 0:27:36Ooh, the pastry is good, too.
0:27:36 > 0:27:37Ooh!
0:27:38 > 0:27:40Ooh, that's really good.
0:27:44 > 0:27:46It really bursts in your mouth, doesn't it?
0:27:46 > 0:27:49- I love that recipe so much. - Well done, Mildred.
0:27:49 > 0:27:50It was Mildred, not you, wasn't it?
0:27:50 > 0:27:54It was all Mildred! I just merely showcased it.
0:27:54 > 0:27:57OK. Well, it's time to wrap up that picnic rug,
0:27:57 > 0:27:59put everything back in the hamper.
0:27:59 > 0:28:02Our royal picnics are over, aren't they?
0:28:02 > 0:28:04See you next time.