TOM PARKER BOWLES cherishes memories of coronation banquets as he serves up a king’s dish

It promised to be the banquet to end them all, a legendary feast to celebrate the coronation of King Edward VII. Fourteen exquisite courses would be served to 250 of Europe’s ruling elite. The menu, created by royal chef Monsieur Menager, was approved by the king, one of history’s greatest trenches.

Two and a half thousand fat quails were ordered, together with 300 legs of mutton, 80 chickens and large boxes filled with partridge, sturgeon, sole, foie gras, caviar and asparagus.

There was consommé de faisan aux quenelles (pheasant consommé). And sole poached in chablis, topped with oysters, prawns and mussels.

For pudding, liqueur jellies made with port and brandy, and Caisses de fraises Miramare, a strawberry dish that chef Gabriel Tschumi, who worked in the kitchens, said “took three days to prepare.”

The most delicious were the Cotelettes de becassines a la Souvaroff (snipe cutlets filled with foie gras and minced meat, formed into small cutlets, grilled in a pork intestine, before being topped with black truffles and covered in a rich Madeira sauce). These were the king’s favorites and every wader piece, which Tschumi said “melted in the guests’ mouths.”

After weeks of hard work, the banquet for Thursday, June 26, 1902 was ready to begin. But then disaster struck.

The night before, while the last of the sauces were simmering, word came from the king’s physician, Sir Frederick Treves, that the sovereign had fallen very ill with appendicitis. The banquet had to be postponed. Tschumi said, “The staff listened in silence. What was to be done with the banquet of 250 guests?’

The jellies were melted down and stored in magnum champagne bottles. The caviar was kept on ice and the quail were preserved. However, the rest of the food was put in baskets and distributed to the poor around London’s East End.

God only knows what the recipients of those ornate and elaborate fancies thought, but the coronation was rescheduled a few weeks later.

Such coronation banquets have been a tradition since Richard the Lionheart first gave a banquet in Westminster Hall in 1189. .

Up to 3,000 guests would enjoy and feast as the king’s minstrels wandered through the merry hordes with lutes, flutes and violins. To make sure things didn’t get out of hand, the Earl Marshal rode around on his horse and knocked down all the troublemakers. The amount of food consumed was epic.

Henry V’s coronation feast in 1413 featured pike, crayfish, conger eels, lampreys and salmon. Between courses, a huge heraldic image carved from marzipan was placed on each table. Roasted herons and peacocks were served at Henry VI’s banquet, while James II and Queen Mary had an entrée of 145 dishes arranged around towering pyramids of desserts in 1685.

By the 17th century, the bacchanals were such that bleachers were built for spectators to watch.

TOM PARKER BOWLES: At the coronation banquet of George VI and Queen Elizabeth, in May 1937, there were ten courses

This excess culminated with George IV’s coronation banquet in 1821. The king sat on a throne on a raised platform flanked by dukes.

The menu featured 20 entrees, including Potage de Tortue a l’anglaise (turtle soup) that required 200 pounds of freshly sliced ​​turtle meat, fillets of sole in champagne, lamb chops, and warm quail pâté. These were taken to the king’s table by a procession of 47 people, many on horseback. The second course contained 22 dishes and there were 31 puddings.

Eight chandeliers, burning with candles, hung overhead – which meant that not only did the room get uncomfortably hot, but burning wax fell on the partygoers.

The most expensive coronation in history (costing around £27 million in today’s money), it hardly endeared George to his subjects.

From then on, banquets moved to Buckingham Place and were relatively more modest, although the dishes were no less elaborate.

At the May 1937 coronation banquet of George VI and Queen Elizabeth, there were ten courses, including a Quiche Lorraine, a clear chicken soup, poached salmon and cured Sandringham ham, and Cailles rôties sur Canapé à la Royale (a cold dish of boned quail , filled with pâté de foie gras, coated in a brown chaud-froid sauce, garnished with truffle slices and topped with wild aspic jelly. They were served on a bed of crushed pineapple flavored ice. While Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation banquet was taking place when rationing of strength, the menu reflected reality, with only six courses.

The lamb should be a ruddy pink when served alongside potatoes, asparagus and green beans

Pictured: Tom Parker Bowles’ recipe for Carré d’Agneau à la Windsor

TOM PARKER BOWLES: As for next weekend’s banquet, King Charles will be the first sovereign to do things in a more modest way, no doubt considering the cost of living faced by so many families

As for coronation chicken, the dish created by Constance Spry and Rosemary Hume in coronation year 1953, the less said the better about this puffy abomination.

It may have started out as a half-decent dish, but it’s become little more than a gaudy, over-sweetened disgrace. It should be banished to the Tower and languish there forever.

As for next weekend’s banquet, King Charles will be the first sovereign to do things in a more modest way, no doubt considering the cost of living faced by so many families.

As a Buckingham Place spokesperson told me, “While the coronation will have many elements of pomp and historical tradition, it was felt that a formal banquet would not be an appropriate way to celebrate the occasion this time around.”

Instead, heads of state and other dignitaries have been invited to an evening reception on the night before the coronation, while the royal family will have a more informal luncheon on the day.

He added: ‘Their Majesties hope The Big Lunch event on Sunday 7 May will allow communities across Britain to celebrate in their own way with food, friendship – and perhaps a few slices of coronation quiche.’