Darren McGrady, who cooked for the royal family for 15 years, has revealed exactly how they have their roast dinner – and it’s not quite as fancy as you’d expect
The royal family have strict rules about roasts(Image: Getty Images)
The age-old debate about what constitutes a traditional roast dinner may have been settled by the Royals.
Everyone has their own take on a Sunday roast, from whether to include mashed potatoes alongside roast ones, to the choice of vegetables and the number of Yorkshire puddings. However, Darren McGrady, who served as a chef for the Royals for 15 years, has revealed how they prefer their roast during an interview with Heart Bingo Online.
According to McGrady, the Royals keep it simple and stick to “the traditional bits”. There’s no fancy additions or attempts to make the meal more extravagant when it comes to the Royal’s roast, and they do indeed enjoy both mashed and roast potatoes.
McGrady said: “They would just have normal food. You would think the Queen would have Yorkshire pudding with foie gras in there, but that never happened. The Queen could have anything she wanted, but for her to be able to tell the guests around the table that the carrots were grown in the gardens meant more to her.”
They were served vegetables grown from their estate(Image: Angela Weiss via Getty Images)
The only difference between the Royal’s roast and the average Brit’s is that theirs is “cooked to perfection”. For instance, the chef explains that the mashed potatoes had no lumps or bits of skin, with the perfect balance of butter and cream – attention to detail was always paramount for him.
Like many Britons, the Royals enjoy a substantial Yorkshire pudding. The chef revealed: “The Yorkshires were so big we had to take the oven door off to get them out.” They would consistently choose to serve them with beef, though crucially they would never pair Yorkshire pudding with other meats on their roast.
Regarding vegetables, they would invariably be offered a delicious variety, all sourced from whatever was in season on the estate. For instance, if the carrots were ripe for harvesting, they would feature on the menu, whilst the applesauce was prepared using apples from Highgrove.
They wouldn’t have Yorkshire Puddings with any meat, bar one(Image: Catherine Falls Commercial via Getty Images)
However, another contentious element that frequently features in the traditional roast dinner discussion is which condiments complement your meal. For the Royals, there are several considerations to this; according to the chef, they favour horseradish.
He explains: “When it came to roast beef, they would have horseradish, as it’s the natural pairing with it. But they would have horseradish cream. It’s lighter, it’s creamer and it’s not as strong. “.
The key technique for achieving this refined flavour involves whipping cream and incorporating the horseradish into it. Generally, the kitchen staff would use a ratio of 2:1, meaning two parts horseradish and one part whipped cream, to make it lighter.