See Queen Elizabeth’s coronation chicken recipe – 05/06/2023 – Food

No matter what your opinion of King Charles III and Queen Camilla’s quiche, it seems unlikely that it will overshadow the most famous of coronation dishes: coronation chicken.

Created for the ceremony of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953, the dish, elegant and delicate in taste, has changed a little since then, as has the United Kingdom.

Originally an aristocratic example of classic French cuisine, the dish has been democratized in the form of an easy-to-prepare chicken salad for a home dinner.

Despite being extremely popular in the UK as a sandwich filling and topping for roast potatoes, this yellowish, raisin-laden dish would be unrecognizable to any of the 350 dignitaries who consumed its monarchical predecessor.

The original, developed at Le Cordon Bleu cooking school in London, was called “poulet Reine Elizabeth” (in translation, chicken Elizabeth). The cold dish consisted of poached chicken in a pink red wine sauce, mayonnaise, whipped cream, apricot purée and a light touch of curry powder, and was served with a rice and pea salad to the guests of honor at the queen at the coronation feast (although she probably ate something else herself).

Sejal Sukhadwala, a London-based food journalist and author of “The Philosophy of Curry”, describes the dish as being shaped by French cuisine but with a nod to colonial India, inspired by the jubilee chicken created in 1935 for King George V. —who, like her grandmother Queen Victoria, had a soft spot for curry.

“The curry powder in the coronation chicken was probably an acknowledgment of the empire’s influence and a tribute to the two previous monarchs who both enjoyed curry,” Sukhadwala said via email.

Over the years, the recipe has become more accessible to British home cooks. Red wine reduction, whipped cream, homemade mayonnaise and apricot puree were excluded, and store-bought mayonnaise, golden raisins, sliced ​​almonds and mango chutney, pantry staples that can be quickly mixed together in a bowl, were added. .

And the dash of curry powder from the original has been expanded to a dose of several tablespoons, which gives the mixture a vivid – and some say overdone – shade of yellow.

In the 1980s, chicken coronation salad was ubiquitous in the UK, and was available on sandwiches served in Marks & Spencer stores and on menus at home parties.

This dizzying rise was fueled by what the British food journalist Gurdeep Loyal, author of “Mother Tongue: Flavors of a Second Generation”, defines as a revival of nostalgia for the Raj (the period of British rule over India) that came with the arrival from Margaret Thatcher to the post of prime minister.

The coronation chicken “is meant to evoke the peacocks and rubies, the grandeur and spice of Indian monarchical dynasties, but without really offering strong flavors,” Loyal said.

He’s a fan of the dish, though. His version, which uses a complex Punjabi masala with black and green cardamom, ajwain, fennel and tamarind, alludes to the beloved version of his childhood in the 1980s, while celebrating Loyal’s identity as a British of Indian origin in the second generation.

“I’m reaffirming the Indian side of the recipe,” he said.

Still, the 1980s version is delicious and easy to make. The secret is to choose the ingredients carefully. Start with cooked chicken that already has a lot of flavor, whether prepared at home or purchased roasted.

Find a brand of mango chutney that is complex and not too sweet. Use a good, spicy mayonnaise, preferably homemade. And — if you can find it — add curry paste in a glass, not powder, which, depending on the brand, can taste more pronounced and raw.

The result is a dish that is popular but fit for a king. Something that would be hard to say about quiche.

CORONATION CHICKEN SALAD

Performance: four to six servings
Total time: 90 minutes

Ingredients for the chicken

• 1.6 to 1.8 kg bone-in chicken (breast only or a mix of other cuts)
• A tablespoon of fine sea or table salt, or more to taste
• A teaspoon of black peppercorns
• a bay leaf
• an onion
• A stick of cinnamon

Ingredients for the salad

• Half a cup of mayonnaise, preferably homemade, and more if needed
• Half a cup of plain Greek yogurt, sour cream or crème fraîche
• Three tablespoons of mango chutney, plus more to taste
• One tablespoon of curry paste or powder (e.g. Madras curry) plus more to taste
• 1/3 cup (tea) diced dried apricots, or golden raisins
• 3 tablespoons lemon or lemon juice, or more to taste
• ½ cup sliced ​​almonds, toasted
• ¼ cup chopped cilantro, using tender leaves and stems, or chives
• Fine sea or table salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Way of doing

• In a large pot or soup pot, combine the chicken, salt, peppercorns, bay leaf, onion, and cinnamon.
• Add enough water to cover everything by 1 inch and bring to a boil over medium-low heat.
• Simmer until the chicken is cooked through, about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Let the chicken cool in the broth.
• Transfer the cooled chicken to a cutting board, reserving the broth for another use.
• Remove the meat from the bones, discarding the skin, and shred or cut the meat into small pieces.
• In a large bowl, combine the mayonnaise, yogurt, chutney, curry powder or paste, dried apricots or raisins, and lemon or lemon juice, mixing well.
• Stir in the chicken, almonds, cilantro or chives, and a little more mayonnaise if the mixture looks dry.
• Taste and add more curry paste or powder (the amount can even be doubled; curry paste and powder flavors vary greatly). Add more chutney, lemon juice, salt and pepper as needed.
• For the best flavor, let the mixture stand for at least 30 minutes before serving. The dish lasts up to three days in the fridge.

The New York Times, translated by Paulo Migliacci