What do you imagine the Royal Family tucking into at meal times? Roasted pheasant, caviar or lavish banquets within the grandeur of Buckingham Palace perhaps?
Tom Parker Bowles suggests that’s not always the case. His new book ‘Cooking and The Crown’, released last week, shares over a hundred recipes enjoyed from Queen Victoria’s reign to King Charles III.
While there are some luxurious meals like ‘Pommes Elizabeth’ and ‘Pudding au Pain et aux Cerises’, there’s definitely some recipes that are easy enough to try at home. So, I thought, why not give one a whirl?
The recipe that particularly caught my attention was ‘Fresh Pappardelle’, served with toasted mushrooms in a simple white wine sauce. The book reveals that mushrooms are ‘somewhat of an obsession’ for both Queen Camilla and King Charles, who are both ‘deeply competitive’ about collecting them.
“In the late summer, porcinis (also known as penny buns or ceps) are particularly abundant in Scotland, as are the apricot-scented chanterelles, birch bolete and wood hedgehog,” Tom penned, according to the Mirror. “The wild harvest is either cooked fresh, preserved in butter or dried for use throughout the year.”
Popping into my local Asda, I picked up eight key ingredients for the recipe. Fresh pappardelle (£3.25), fresh parsley (60p), olive oil (£3.75), mushrooms (80p), parmesan cheese (£3.60), butter (£1.89), garlic (75p) and a mini bottle of white wine (£2.75).
Granted, the mushrooms I used weren’t the porcini variety as recommended by the Royal, but I was pretty convinced it wouldn’t make much difference. Ground pepper and salt are also required for the recipe, but I already had some at home.
Overall, these ingredients set me back £17.39 for four servings, which works out to £4.30 per person – quite affordable.
Just a disclaimer before I start – I’m no Gordon Ramsey. Back in my university days, my flatmates dubbed me the ‘serial burner’ after I managed to incinerate two frozen pizzas in a single day – not my proudest moment.
Yet, even with my limited culinary abilities, this recipe was easy to follow, while still leaving room for a bit of personal flair. The Royal’s method starts by boiling 400g of the pasta in ‘plenty of salted water’. Simultaneously, I heated a ‘big lump of butter’ and a ‘big glug’ of olive oil over the hob on high heat, as instructed.
My boyfriend and I had differing views on what constitutes a ‘big lump’ and a ‘big glug’, so I ended up adding what seemed reasonable. The recipe calls for 600g of vertically sliced porcini mushrooms, but we decided on 200g.
After that, I turned down the heat and added some chopped garlic – one clove is sufficient. This was left to simmer for a couple of minutes before I switched up the heat again and poured in half a glass of wine.
Tom recommends allowing it to evaporate before adding a sprinkle of salt, pepper and parsley to taste, along with a dollop of pasta water. Once it all seemed cooked, I then drained it and served it with a generous heap of parmesan cheese (and a bit extra on the side).
As my boyfriend, friends, and I dug in, we realised three things: it was easy, ideal for a quick work night meal, and had an intense parmesan flavour (my doing). However, it felt like it was lacking something, maybe more wine, or perhaps chicken or bacon next time for that extra kick.
Nonetheless, I was pleased by how budget-friendly it was and how the flexible measurements allow each cook to tailor it to their liking.
Moreover, mushrooms are dubbed a ‘superfood’ owing to their high vitamin load.
Nutritional scientist Professor Tim Spector has said: “Mushrooms are also the leading dietary source of an amino acid called ergothioneine (ET), which appears to have important anti-inflammatory mechanisms for humans.”
Mushrooms are especially rich in vitamin D – which is vital for staving off dementia, according to Professor Spector. The NHS encourages people to take vitamin D during the winter months, and Professor Spector even claimed there is a hack to make mushrooms have more of it when you come to eat them.
He said: “Like humans, mushrooms can synthesise vitamin D through sunshine and produce it in their skin. If you’ve got mushrooms at home, stick yours in the sun for around 20 minutes to maximise this benefit.”