Buckingham Palace is looking to hire a new sous chef and there's one detail in the job description that reveals just exactly what the Queen likes to eat – French food! One part of the description about the suitable candidate noted: "You'll have a thorough knowledge of the food industry and are trained in classical French cuisine."
Judging by the advert, the Queen and members of the royal family are big fans of food from across the Channel. Her Majesty's former chef Darren McGrady, who worked at Buckingham Palace for 11 years, has previously revealed what kind of food they prepared for the royals. "We used a repertoire of dishes, mainly British and French food," Darren told HELLO! "We cooked a lot of traditional French food like halibut on a bed of spinach with a Morney sauce.
"But the Queen never was a foodie. She always ate to live rather than live to eat. Prince Philip was the foodie. He'd want to try any new dishes all the time and got excited about new ingredients whereas the Queen, if we had a new recipe, she'd have to look at the whole recipe before saying, 'Yes ok let's try it'. But for the most part she stuck to the same dishes week in week out."
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A red leather-bound book of menus, written in French, would be sent up to the Queen each week, containing a wide variety of recipes. "We prepared the menus three days ahead so we could get the food in," said Darren. "The chefs would pick the menus and she would put a line through the ones she didn't want. Sometimes she'd put a line through it all and put something different, like if she was having dinner with Prince Andrew, his favourite was crème brulee with Sandringham oranges. It's like any mum with a son or grandson coming home. If Prince William was coming for tea it would be a chocolate biscuit cake. He loved those."
The Queen is a known chocoholic
Applicants for the sous chef job must apply on the Royal Household's official website before 10 April. The palace is offering a permanent five-day-a-week job, with a competitive package including a 15 per cent employer contribution pension scheme. The option to live-in at Buckingham Palace is also available, for which there would be a salary adjustment.
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The job description reads: "Joining an accomplished team, you'll work hands-on with your colleagues to deliver food to the highest standards. You'll plan and develop menu items for a wide range of events, as well as helping to manage stock levels. Alongside the Head Chef you'll lead and motivate the Kitchen team, playing an integral part in the day-to-day running of our operations. And in an environment where development and training is commonplace, you'll be supported to grow within your role, developing both your managerial and technical cookery skills."
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