Foods Fit for an Influential Queen

The world collectively found out about the marmalade sandwich Queen Elizabeth II kept in her handbag in the delightful video aired to celebrate her Platinum Jubilee. 

How Queen Elizabeth Impacted What We Eat and Drink

Her affection for tea, scones, gin, and chocolate cake affected dining habits worldwide. 

The reign of Queen Elizabeth II spanned seven decades, and as people across the globe mourn her passing, it's a good time to examine how she impacted the food that shows up on dining tables around the world. Former Buckingham Palace chef Darren McGrady offers a peek behind the curtain and into the royal dining room in his book, Eating Royally: Recipes and Remembrances from a Palace Kitchen.

McGrady, who was Queen Elizabeth's personal cook for 15 years, shares in his book that she had simpler eating habits than what you might expect. Sure, menus from state dinners and other elegant celebrations fit the glamorous fantasies many people harbor. But in her day-to-day life, the Queen did not exactly snack on caviar. In fact, her diet at home was pretty quotidian, albeit prepared by trained chefs. She enjoyed a simple breakfast of toast with marmalade, and when not entertaining, stuck to light lunches and suppers. McGrady shares in his book that she abhorred dishes with garlic or too many onions. These slightly abstemious leanings made her diet sound austere, but she had other food and drink indulgences like poached salmon, delicate tea cookies, and scones with jam and clotted cream. Here are a few others:

Gin Cocktails

The queen's preference for gin was so strong that she released her own gins from Buckingham Palace and Sandringham House, made with ingredients from the gardens at each. She preferred to drink them in a good gin cocktail, either a gin martini or gin and Dubonnet.

Earl Grey Tea

The queen began every day with a pot of Early Grey, a traditional bergamot-scented black tea she drank with milk and no sugar. Her devotion to the flavor ensured its popularity throughout the world, making it the fifth most popular tea flavor globally, according to Fresh Tea. It is the tea most associated with royalty in general and Queen Elizabeth specifically, and there is no question that its popularity was enhanced by being her majesty's favorite.

Crustless Tea Sandwiches

Traditional British afternoon tea goes back to the 1840s, when the Duchess of Bedford called for a light meal to bridge the gap between lunch and dinner. Queen Elizabeth adhered to a daily teatime meal; her preference for delicate sandwiches with the crusts cut off was well-publicized. Her favorite version was reported to be smoked salmon with cream cheese.

Game Meats and Wild-Caught Fish Dinners

If the old adage is true, one should eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dine like a pauper. Queen Elizabeth seemed to have taken this to heart, eating lighter meals composed of simple proteins and vegetables at night. A longtime sportswoman, Queen Elizabeth frequently dined on venison, wild birds, or other game — often sourced on one of her properties — or salmon fished from the River Dee at Balmoral Castle. The queen's preference for game meats even extended to more casual meals; she was, reportedly, a big fan of hamburgers made with ground venison. She usually skipped any potatoes, pastas or grains at her evening repast, but almost always had room for dessert.

Chocolate Biscuit Cake

The queen had a legendary love of sweets, especially anything chocolate. She especially enjoyed a classic icebox-style cake using simple tea biscuits suspended in an egg-enriched ganache and then chilled before coated in a thin layer of chocolate. This was something she requested daily as long as it was around, according to the royal chefs. She even had her chef transport leftovers by train from Buckingham Palace to Windsor to ensure not a morsel was wasted. It was a dessert truly fit for royalty. — By Stacey Ballis, originally published on June 2, 2022

🍽Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia

Etiquette of the Napkin is Important

Ideally speaking, a napkin is used but once between trips never used to the laundry and hence napkin rings would be unnecessary. But practically a great many persons cannot afford to do this and so the napkin ring has a perfectly legitimate place on the dining table and its use is infinitely preferable to the practice of folding the napkins in fantastic shapes as a means of identification. 

“If it is not seemly, do it not.” —Marcus Aurelius

Some people seem to think that they have learned all there is to know about managing the napkin when they have learned not to tuck it in the collar or otherwise use it as a sort of chest protector while eating.

But there is much more to the gentle art of using the napkin than that. Several hundred years ago, you know, it was the correct and altogether elegant thing to use the edge of the tablecloth for a napkin. At another period persons who knew what to do at the right time carried the napkin over the right arm when eating and, it is said, the custom among waiters of carrying a towel over the right arm dates from that time. 

At still another time in luxurious households a fresh napkin was served with each course and as the diners finished the course they let the used napkins slip to the floor so that at the end of a banquet a pile of damask lay on the floor at each place— the more bountiful the banquet the higher the pile of linen.

Now we find one napkin, simply folded at the right of our place of lying on the plate, as we sit down to dinner. We unfold it as deftly as possible and place it across our lap— “across the left knee” the strict authorities used to say. As need may require we wipe our fingers on the napkin beneath the table and occasionally raise it to our lips. 

When finger bowls are passed the fingers are dipped in the bowl, first one hand and then the other, and then wiped on the napkin. Never under any circumstances dip the napkin in the finger bowl. If we wish to wipe the lips with the water we should merely moisten the fingers, touch the lips, and then wipe the lips and fingers.

Ideally speaking, a napkin is used but once between trips never used to the laundry and hence napkin rings would be unnecessary. But practically a great many persons cannot afford to do this and so the napkin ring has a perfectly legitimate place on the dining table and its use is infinitely preferable to the practice of folding the napkins in fantastic shapes as a means of identification.

At a hotel or restaurant the napkin should never be folded after a meal but left at the right side of the place. When we take but a single meal at another person’s home we should do the same thing, but when taking more than one meal we should watch and see what others do. If they fold their napkins it would be rude for us not to do the same. When a napkin is folded do it unostentatiously as possible, never laying it out on the table and smoothing it into its original folds.

The question is sometimes asked whether or not it is in good form to serve paper napkins with refreshments at a social gathering. One would not find them at the homes of persons of means who could perfectly well afford to have damask napkins. However, since they are perfectly clean, inconspicious and conveniently answer the purpose for which napkins were invented, it would be absurd to say they were not in good form. 

Paper napkins would be in far better form at a an entertainment where the use of damask napkins would mean an extravagance on the part of the hostess. Where paper napkins are used for a supper it is best to have those that are perfectly white. — Morning Union, 1917

🍽Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipediag Etiquette Encyclopedia

An Interview with Stephen Hanson

The Best in Show Winner for the Amateur category in our 2nd Annual Etiquipedia Place Setting Competition is Stephen Hanson. He is shown above with his 

Christmas Dinner for Four table setting entry.

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When asked about himself, Stephen wrote, “ I am Australian by birth and nationality, but Japan has been my home for the last thirty years. I became enchanted with the place when I first came here as a high school exchange student in the mid-1980s. I am a translator by profession. For the past twenty-odd years, I have been lucky to live in a leafy area in the western outskirts of Tokyo. My passions are cooking, gardening, and reading.”

This formal Christmas Dinner setting was our Best in Show for the Amateur entries. Stephen’s inspired choices of his crystal, dinnerware and flatware impressed us. It is a mix of Australian, British and Irish elements which harmonize well together. We love the Art Deco, antique and vintage touches. They are a delightful complement to the menu and wines.  The non-traditional color scheme is perfect for celebrating Christmas, in a country where Christmas is not traditionally celebrated nation-wide. The table, which only needed to be set for 2 persons but was set for 4, is inviting and very well done. Congratulations!

🎄Christmas Dinner Menu🎄

Country-style terrine with assorted pickles and green salad

Crab bisque

Roast sirloin beef, with roast potatoes, peas and gravy

Assorted cheeses and dried persimmons

Christmas pudding, with custard, yuzu butter, and crème Chantilly

Champagne Taittinger Brut Reserve

Champagne Boizel Rosé Tradition

E. Guigal Condrieu 2017

Domaine Bertagna Vougeot Premier Cru Clos de la Perritère Monopole 2016

Château Pichon Longueville Comtesse de LalandePauillac 2015

Dow’s 10-year old Tawny Port

Stephen’s menu is imaginative in both the foods and wines chosen. Stephen has been able to cleverly meld the availability of traditional Christmastime foods in Japan with traditional Christmas family menus which he grew up with in Australia. Elizabeth and I would love to be invited to this dinner and to dine at Stephen’s table.

1. How did you choose the menu and various elements you used in your setting and why? Please explain each of the utensils at your setting… For which of the foods on your menu (or course) was each different item intended?

When I am in Japan at Christmas time, I serve roast beef and a Christmas pudding. (Interestingly, the Japanese idea of Christmas dinner is roast chicken and strawberry shortcake, served on Christmas Eve.)

The Christmas pudding has some Japanese touches. It has rum from Okinawa (the southernmost part of Japan)in it, and the juice and zest of a yuzu (Japanese citron). The latter has a great fragrance, which means it goes into the rum butter as well. Seafood is plentiful in this country, so it appears in this menu in the form of a crab bisque. Dried persimmons are available in Japan from the late autumn, and are a lovely accompaniment to cheese.

The Art Deco-style plates, produced by John Maddock & Sons, were part of my paternal grandmother’s wedding china. My grandmother married in January 1939 and built up a set for eight people. These plates were always brought out at Christmas time in Australia. The pattern, I believe, is called Sundown.

The dessert spoons and forks also belonged to my grandmother – the Josephine pattern produced in the 1960s by the Australian silverware firm Rodd.

The other cutlery is English sterling silver dating from the late 18th to the 20th centuries. The pattern is Old English. The faux-bone handled knives are also English, dating from the 1930s.

The champagne flutes are Stuart Crystal (Glengarry pattern), the wine glasses are Riedel, while the water goblets are Waterford Crystal (Lismore pattern).

The table linen is antique Irish damask linen sourced from eBay, where it can often be bought in mint condition for a song. The sterling silver hurricane lamps, produced by the US-based Preisner, were also acquired from eBay at a bargain-basement price.

The meal of roast beef and Christmas pudding is my own tradition, which I have developed since living in the northern hemisphere. (It took me years to get accustomed to spending Christmas and New Year in the middle of winter!)

Christmas fare in Australia usually consists of roast turkey, ham, and Christmas pudding, which are eaten at lunchtime. My late mother could never see the point of a heavy baked dinner in the middle of the day in the middle of an Australian summer. Our Christmas meal was at nighttime, and featured a roast leg of pork, an apple and celery salad, and a cucumber salad, with a fruit salad for dessert. My mother decorated the table with flowers and candles, a touch I have inherited from her.

2. Why did you choose this particular period in time to set your table? Please go into as much detail as you can.

There is no one particular period or style, as I prefer to mix them. Growing up with and subsequently inheriting a number of family heirlooms, I try to use them where possible. Why just look at them or stash them away in a cupboard? I am a great fan of Art Deco, so much of the silver is in that style and from that period.

3. How, if at all, did Covid-related social restrictions affect your choice of setting? Were you ready to celebrate? Feeling in the mood to do something different? Etc…

Covid hasn’t had any impact on this setting, except in one minor area. Salt mills have been used instead of the usual open salt cellars. The pandemic has unfortunately curtailed the amount of entertaining my partner and I do.

4. Have you always enjoyed a properly set table? Or, if not, was the table setting something you learned to enjoy through your social life and/or business later on in life?

Yes, I have. My late mother loved to entertain, and I learned the basics of setting a table from her. If nothing else, my mother felt there should be flowers on the table.

I also owe much to of an elderly lady of my acquaintance in the small country town where I grew up. She was part of that generation of women who set out a tablecloth at every meal.

There are, I believe, four key elements to any proper meal. Good cooking, of course, is paramount. Second is good wines (or other suitable beverages) to partner the food. Third is a properly set table and pleasant surroundings to complement the food and the wine. And fourth, family and friends to share it.

It grieves me to see so many people these days hunched over disposable containers of takeaway food, eyes glued to the smartphone screen, and oblivious to their surroundings and other people.

5. Did you do any research on table setting etiquette before setting your elements at the table?

Not really. It just seems to have developed organically. Having said that, all of the years spent in Japan have undoubtedly been a major influence. Japanese cuisine puts emphasis on using the ingredients of each season, and ideally a Japanese meal should feature a range of different flavours, colours, and textures. Presentation is all important – the food and the dishes in which it is served should be pleasing to the eye.

6. Do you plan on entering again next year?

Yes, if there is an Art Deco category. 

Elizabeth Soos and I would both like to congratulate Stephen on his award winning setting. We are honored that he entered our contest and love meeting others who are so willing to share their talents, enthusiasm for etiquette, and their wealth of knowledge. Bravo!

 

🍽Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia

Etiquette for Eating Chicken

It is never correct or even permissible to take up any sort of bone in the fingers. It is quite permissible to get the meat from the bone by means of the knife and fork and it is really impossible to take any bone in the right hand without causing the fingers to become greasy or sticky. 

Q. “I read somewhere that it was all right to take up a chicken bone in the fingers, if you did it with your left hand, but I can't remember where I read it. Will you tell me the correct form in this regard.”

A. It is never correct or even permissible to take up any sort of bone in the fingers. It is quite permissible to get the meat from the bone by means of the knife and fork and it is really impossible to take any bone in the right hand without causing the fingers to become greasy or sticky. 

Some persons seem to think that the reason sometimes paper frills are put on drumsticks and rib chops is to facilitate the task of picking up the bone, but this is not so. — By Mary Marshall Duffee, 1918

🍽Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia

Etiquette of Placing the Furniture

“During the palmy days of the French Bourbon Kings, when court etiquette reached a point of greater complexity than it has ever reached before or since, there was quite a lot that the well bred— that is to say courtly man or woman— had to know about managing himself with respect to furniture.” — The table at which Marie Antoinette ate at Versailles

“Habit is a second nature.”— Montaigne

During the palmy days of the French Bourbon Kings, when court etiquette reached a point of greater complexity than it has ever reached before or since, there was quite a lot that the well bred— that is to say courtly man or woman— had to know about managing himself with respect to furniture. And more time was spent in teaching the future grandee of France how to wave a person to a chair, how to take his own seat in the presence of the king, and otherwise how to manipulate the furniture than unfortunately was spent on teaching him the principles of good government.

Though we don't worry much about how we manage the furniture now, still there are some things that every person who wants to appear at ease in his own or other people’s houses should remember. Children should be very early reminded and impressed with the fact that chairs were meant to sit on, and not to be used as rocking horses, for sometimes your children in other people’s houses forget this and the furniture that someone else values highly is put out of commission as a result.

It is in really bad form to tip back on two legs of a chair, save possibly among men in their club or in their offices. One very good reason for this is that most fine furniture will not stand such rough treatment. At dinner table it is in bad form to turn your chair out of its straight position before the table to facilitate conversation with a person at one side or the other or for the purpose of taking a more comfortable position in the chair. 

When the custom is for women to leave the dining room after dessert, the men, left to their smokes and their own conversation, may, however, place their chairs to suit themselves, even leaving their given places at table to go talk to someone in some other position at the table. But this would never be done save after the women of the party had left the room.

It is not customary to change the position of a chair in another person’s house. If you wish to change your positon take another chair. However, the considerate hostess often makes rearrangements of smaller chairs to suit the convenience of guests or asks some man present to do this for her. For instance, in order that a guest might get a better light for a bit of needle work or might better see some pictures that were being shown.

A house guest would hardly move any piece of furniture, save possibly a small chair, in her room unless it were for some very good reason and then she should consult her hostess about it. — By Mary Marshall Duffee, 1918

🪑Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia

Comparing Etiquette Accorded VIPs

The official reception of the President of France was warmly cordial, but, being ruled by etiquette, did not exceed that of Emperor William. The Czar, toasting President Faure at a banquet at the Palace to-night, recalled his own reception in France and said: “We delight to hope your stay among us and the sincerity of the sentiments it awakens will draw yet tighter the bonds of friendship and sympathy uniting France and Russia.” — Public domain image of Emperor William II

The Czar Embraces Faure:

The Reception More Cordial Than That Accorded Emperor William

ST. PETERSBURG, August 23.— President Faure of France arrived at Petrhof at 11:30 this morning. He was met by the Czar who greeted him with the utmost cordiality and embraced him. President Faure was the recipient of an enthusiastic ovation from the populace on his way to the palace.

The popularity of the reception accorded Emperor William on his recent visit to Russia was completely eclipsed by the welcome to President Faure. Peter is en fete. The palace is a bower of decorations and the tri-color is every where in evidence. Men and women wear it and children carry the French flag.

The din of the “Marseillaise,” which is being performed everywhere by inexperienced persons, is deafening. Wherever there is a piano nothing else is played or sung. All the bands are practicing the air.

The official reception of the President of France was warmly cordial, but, being ruled by etiquette, did not exceed that of Emperor William. The Czar, toasting President Faure at a banquet at the Palace to-night, recalled his own reception in France and said: “We delight to hope your stay among us and the sincerity of the sentiments it awakens will draw yet tighter the bonds of friendship and sympathy uniting France and Russia.”

President Faure thanked the Czar in be half of France, and added: “I have come to Russia to affirm and strengthen further the powerful ties already binding Russia and France.” — San Jose Mercury News, 1897

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia

Strange 1954 Etiquette Advice

This “man’s meal” pictured above is from the 1940’s. One would think that advice for what to prepare to win a man’s heart would improve in tens years’ time. We were shockingly incorrect! We at Etiquipedia cannot guarantee the advice of this particular maitre d'hotel below. It’s possible he knew quite a bit about the dining habits of gents, but this seems very questionable. It was a sad day in 1954 when a can of beans and bottle of wine served by candlelight was considered a meal.

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The New Etiquette (from a wire service interview with a New York maitre d'hotel): 

“A can of beans, served with candles and the proper wine, will win the heart of any real gentleman.” – Press Democrat, 1954

This “Man’s Meal” above is brought to you courtesy of American women of the mid-1940's. Made up of a Swiss Steak, Baked or Mashed Potatoes, Cabbage Slaw, Baking Powder Biscuits, and Apricot Pie a la Mode. (Why this is not also a “Woman's Meal” is anybody’s guess.)

To eat this meal, a young man would benefit from the following dining etiquette rules from a 1940’s Fraternity Pledge Manual –

• Place knife and fork on plate when not in use.
• Turn the blade of the knife in. 
• Break a slice of bread into at least four pieces, no less, and butter a bite at a time. 
• Chew slowly and thoroughly.
• Use a napkin frequently. 
• Sit erect. 
• Take small mouthfuls. 
• Hold elbows close to body. 
• Place spoon in proper saucer. 
• Stir liquids briefly and quietly. 
• Place your prongs up on plate. 
• Hold fork in left hand when cutting foods with knife.
• Eat salads and vegetables with fork. 
• Take soup from side of spoon, scooping thitherwardly.
• Converse quietly and not volubly.
• Be natural and at ease. 
• Place napkins at left of plate when rising.

🍽Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia

Spain’s Victoria’s Etiquette at Home

Victoria found the company at her husband’s dinner table somewhat mixed at first. The exuberant young King would sit anywhere and invite almost any one. But his bride soon changed the etiquette and abolished indiscriminate gatherings – Queen Victoria Eugenia of Spain by Kaulak – Public domain image of Queen Victoria of Spain

Quite tactfully and skillfully, the young Queen is playing her part. Like her famous Royal grandmother, she is a very early riser, and her English breakfast of ham, roast beef and poached eggs, alone with the King, is one of the pleasantest functions of the day. After his cigarette, with which Alphonso concludes even this early meal, he must need repair to his state duties; and in the ordinary way, they do not meet again until lunch time.  

Victoria found the company at her husband’s dinner table somewhat mixed at first. The exuberant young King would sit anywhere and invite almost any one. But his bride soon changed the etiquette and abolished indiscriminate gatherings – not forgetting, however, that certain high functionaries and prelates have the right of access to the royal table. – Harper’s Bazar, 1908

 🍽Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia