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British supermarkets are brimming with packages of coronation cake, coronation hoppy beer and shrimp cocktail-flavored potato chips. There are even Jack Russell cakes in honor of the King and Queen’s rescue dogs, Bluebell and Beth.
The royal couple probably wouldn’t eat any of it. King Carlos III and Queen Camilla lean heavily towards fruits and vegetables, preferably organic and from their own gardens. She loves fish and salads. For breakfast, the king orders a selection of six types of honey and a special mixture of muesli, and to finish the meal a plate of local cheese. With the goal of reducing his carbon footprint, King goes vegan two days a week and gives up dairy another day.
However, can the UK’s first organic king convince a nation that loves roast beef, potato chips and traditional Sunday chicken tikka masala to adopt the green, organic and environmentally friendly diet he follows?
Carlos was an early adopter of organic farming practices, when they were so new that the press and even some members of his family criticized him. The fact that he was in favor of talking to plants and playing music so that the milking would be quieter for his cows didn’t help either. He even modified his blue 1970 Aston Martin, given to him for his 21st birthday, to run on bioethanol derived from surplus English white wine and whey from cheesemaking.
However, he was the one who laughed last. Carlos transformed 445 hectares next to Highgrove House, his West London home in Gloucestershire, into an organic farm that eventually supplied meat and produce for Duchy Originals, a company he founded in 1990. Duchy Originals has grown into a multi-billion dollar food brand, in a profitable partnership with Waitrose supermarket chain. Proceeds go to charity and the King’s eldest son Prince William will likely receive the change of mail.
Small British farmers look up to Carlos as a hero, and his views on climate change and regenerative agriculture have made him a hero among some members of the progressive farming class.
“When you shake his hand, you’ll understand what I mean when I say he has a farmer’s hand,” said chef and cookbook author Romy Gill, who lives about a 20-minute drive from Highgrove House.
Influencing farming practices is one thing. It’s one thing to win over dinner, as the current rage over a real pie recipe demonstrates. (More information below).
“As you can imagine, there are some slightly different views of the royal family here,” said Callum Franklin, chef at London’s Holborn Dining Room and British author best known as a maker of traditional, intricately designed savory pies. Lots of searching.
Franklin contributes his own dish to the coronation food craze. He worked for nearly a year developing a limited edition Crown Jewel Celebration Pork, a pork pie made in collaboration with producer Dickinson & Morris, who would hand-make 500 of these intricately designed pies with England-raised pork and pheasant breast. King’s favorite meat.
The royal family encourages Brits to cook in a series of street parties throughout the weekend. The main event, called the Grand Coronation Lunch, will take place on May 7, the day after the coronation of the new king.
Menus will include everyday dishes such as sausage rolls, buns and sandwich wraps, but Buckingham Palace has sent out recipe suggestions for home chefs, such as roast rack of lamb with an Asian-style dressing, shrimp tacos with pineapple salsa and grilled eggplant with a salsa of mango salsa, yogurt and curry powder.
But the most eye-catching is the coronation quiche, which is the official dish chosen by the King and Queen and will be prepared by Chef Mark Flanagan in the Buckingham Palace kitchen. (The last time a monarch was crowned, in 1953, the official dish was the coronation chicken.)
Dubbed Quiche Le Reign, the new dish features spinach, tarragon, beans, and cheddar cheese, a reference to the cheesy eggs the king sometimes loves for breakfast. The dough is made with lard (a bit of a debate), but royal chefs recommend using store-bought.
The news of the recipe instantly turned into a political struggle. The Reform Party called the dish “foreign crap” and said the pie would be a more patriotic choice. The PS asked if quiche would be available at food banks.
The recipe prompted some to argue with Carlos and Camila for suggesting an egg dish at a time when the country is experiencing an egg shortage due to bird flu.
Others simply pointed out that food prices are on the rise. “Get out on the streets guys,” one woman wrote on Twitter. “People no longer have enough for a weekly purchase.”
It remains to be seen if the king will continue to be a staunch advocate of progressive food and agricultural policies. His mother has maintained strict political neutrality, and Carlos knows he’ll have to moderate his impulses to be outspoken.
“I’m not that stupid. I realize being a king is something else,” he said in an interview with the BBC in 2018.
However, people who saw him as a champion for environmental issues believed that he would not remain silent on the royal night.
“He is in a unique position to change the way so many people eat in their daily lives,” said Alice Waters, a California agronomist and reformer who once taught her how to weave a hedge. “If you don’t talk about regenerative agriculture and the climate, I’d be surprised.”
Chef Callum Franklin, who spent nearly a year developing his signature pork pie, is filled with Madeira wine jelly and the king’s favorite game meat, pheasant, at his London home on April 23, 2023 (Joanna Yee/The New York Times)
A limited-edition Crown Jewel Celebration pork pie created by British chef Callum Franklin in collaboration with producer Dickinson & Morris in London on April 24, 2023. (Joanna Yee / The New York Times)
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