the queen

The Queen loves this decadent Victorian breakfast dish

The monarch is a fan of this classic meal

Parenting Editor
April 9, 2021

It's known that the Queen enjoys a good breakfast at the palace – from tea and biscuits to cereal, toast and occasionally a plate of kippers.

Now her former royal chef, Darren McGrady, has revealed another of the monarch's favourite breakfast dishes, which sounds rather tasty indeed.

In a new video on his YouTube channel, Darren shows viewers how to cook smoked haddock kedgeree that he served to Her Majesty at Buckingham Palace. The chef describes the meal as: "The ultimate Victorian culinary decadence."

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WATCH: The Queen's favourite foods!

Darren says in the video: "One of the most popular breakfast dishes that I cooked for the royal family - one of their favourites and mine too - is a dish called kedgeree. It's the ultimate comfort food dish that was brought over to the Victorians in the era of the Raj by the returning British colonials."

The Queen likes to eat a healthy, balanced diet

He adds: "The original dish was made of beans and rice and lentils and by the 19th century in the UK, it became a more sophisticated classy dish for breakfast and brunch entertaining with the addition of smoked haddock and boiled egg."

So why haddock in particular? Darren explains: "In 1800s London salmon was rare. It just wouldn't survive the stagecoach journey south from Scotland. Haddock however was cured and smoked and arrived perfect, thus becoming the fish for the dish."

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Darren McGrady shared the recipe on his YouTube channel

To make the dish, Darren used 1lb smoked haddock fillet which he cuts into pieces and poaches in milk. Other ingredients include three cups of basmati rice, four hard-boiled eggs, curry powder, milk, cream and fresh parsley.

In the comments section, one fan told Darren: "That looks so, so good, and I absolutely love eggs. No wonder the Queen has lived so long and seems so healthy, even at 94: She has eaten the best foods."

It's a good point. We're so eating kedgeree from now on…

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