Eating Royally

by Darren McGrady

Meals and memories from Princess Diana's personal chef.

All families have their favorite foods?including the House of Windsor. Darren McGrady, personal chef to Princess Diana and chef to the royal family for fifteen years, has collected more than 100 recipes in Eating Royally and behind-the-scenes stories that offer insight into the royal family's lives.

From hearty cooking to gourmet eating, these dishes will impress even the most discerning palates. Recipes include traditional English fare, and, of course, royal favorites, such as:

Spring Asparagus Soup with Dill
Poached Eggs en Croute
Gleneagles Pate
Earl Grey Tea Cake
Gaelic Steaks
Royal Tea Scones
Eggs Drumkilbo
Summer Pudding
Iced Praline Souffles

McGrady witnessed the rich history and surprisingly normal family life of the Royals, all while preparing elegant food with classical French influences for their table.

Filled with touching photographs, mementos, and personal messages, Eating Royally chronicles one chef's extraordinary experiences within the walls of Buckingham Palace.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking, Nonfiction, Food, British Literature, Foodie, Memoir

224 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[Juliew. · Rating 3 out of 5]

So much dairy,eggs,meat and cheese I'd be sick but I'm a vegan so for someone who isn't and likes the royals this would be a fun book.Some nice stories from the author about his experience being a chef for the Queen and Princess Diana.Gorgeous photographs of Buckingham Palace,Windsor Castle,Balmoral,Sandringham and Kensington Palace.Also, included are the holiday traditions of the royals.

[Karen Witzler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Old style British to the Manor Born recipes. Updated to Post- WWII cooking techniques - reminds me of the early Julia Child and Better Homes and Gardens recipes I read and longed to try as a girl in the Sixties and Seventies.

McGrady was a palace chef to the Queen and to Princess Diana for fifteen years and he gives lots of details about life working on the Royal estates and in their kitchens. About half of the recipes involve salmon or raspberries.

I was going to buy a copy, but it is out of print and going for ridiculous prices used - if you see one at a book sale, snag it.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

The concept of the book is good. And despite the silly title and a few typos in the cookbook, I enjoyed it.

Darren McGrady was a cook and pastry chef for the British royal family, soon after Princess Di married Charles. Before her death, he was Princess Di's personal Chef. Besides recipes (of things I don't think I'd ever cook) of royal favorite dishes, there's a lot of ancedotal information pertaining to eating at different royal castles and homes. Those inset bits of information were chock-full of interesting details and a nice peek into the daily lives of the royals.

[Meghan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Of course some of these recipes are very fancy and require several unusual and unique ingredients. But, quite a few are simple enough you could make for a small party, etc. The ones I have made were all very tasty! I also love pd the little royal stories scattered throughout the book!

[Cyndi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would have liked more information about day-to-day life, cooking for and serving the royal family. I’m not looking for tales, but anecdotes, relationships between the staff...

[Rodica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Picked it up from my cookbook shelf to look for some recipes, ended up basically rereading the whole thing. Well presented, informative, beautifully put together book of memories, royal tidbits, recipes, and menus.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

Darren McGrady began working for the Royal Family as a pastry chef and quickly moved up the ranks to serve as Diana's personal chef until her death in 1997. Here he presents many of the recipes he served the Royals, and Diana in particular. Filled with artifacts, personal notes, photographs and never-before-seen memorabilia, this is much more than a cookbook. It is an opportunity to see how the Royals really live and to eat the exact recipes that graced the tables of Windsor, Balmoral, Kensington, and Buckingham Palaces.

The book is filled with entertaining anecdotes about the Royal Family as well as amazing facts about the royal residences. For instance, I think it is Windsor Castle where the kitchen is a 20 minute walk from the dining room, and the food still has to arrive hot and fresh. Aboard the royal yacht Britannia (now decommissioned), they were working in such small quarters, there was a special sailor whose sole job was to go up and down a ladder to get food from the pantry below decks. The fun and affectionate remembrances of the family were also great to read. I look forward to trying more recipes from this wonderful book.

[Amy Reade · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a gorgeous book, filled with recipes that Chef McGrady cooked for England's royal family over the years of his employment for them and with anecdotes of the royal family. He later became private chef for the late Princess Diana, so the latter part of the book mostly talks about her and what it was like to work for her.

The photography in the book is exquisite. Not just the food, but the castles and the areas surrounding the royal residences.

I'm eager to try many of the recipes, though some are not to my liking. There are plenty of dessert and main dish recipes.

I do wish the author had shared an anecdote for every recipe. He shares stories for many of them, so when he left out the stories for quite a few, I was disappointed. It's fun to know how the recipe came about, for whom he cooked it, and what people may have said about it at the time.

I highly recommend the book to avid cookbook collectors and fans of English food.

[ஐ Katya (Book Queen)ஐ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked this cookbook. His stories from the kitchens of the various palaces and castles that the royal family lived in is very interesting. I was surprised to learn they eat so much of what's grown on their own land from fruit, vegetables, to dairy and game meat.

I have two problems with this cookbook. I have a first edition so possibly, hopefully, they are corrected in later editions. On page 64 is a recipe for Pommes Fondantes. Only half of the instructions are printed, they left half off. And on page 20 they say the fat-free copy of the recipe is available on page 199 when it's really printed on page 213. The first is a really major error.

[Ginnie Grant · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was visually stunning and so well written. what very pleasantly surprised me was, even though the dishes listed were the favorites of royalty, they were really simple dishes just made well with fresh Ingriedients. The remembrances made me smile. It was obvious By the way darren speaks of Princess Diana and by the notes she left for him often, that he was just not "the help" to her but a friend too. The mark of a great leader is how they treat their "Inferiors" and Diana treated everyone with love and respect.

[Pamela Foster · Rating 5 out of 5]

Who wouldn't want to know what the Queen eats? This is a great book written by a former Palace chef who started out peeling carrots for the Queen's horses and graduated to Princess Diana's personal chef before she died. Interesting anecdotes about the Royal Family, their palaces and their favorit recipes.
More of my review on my blog Downton Abbey Cooks: http://wp.me/p27trL-S3 and http://wp.me/p27trL-SM.

[Lena · Rating 3 out of 5]

I very much enjoyed reading this book. However, as good as the recipes sounded, this does not seem to be family fare for North America. And I would have liked a few more personal remembrances of royal events from the author. Still, I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys cooking or reading about chefs.

[Jackie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting book about the royals especially Princess Diana. Some of the recipes were too British for my taste. And of course the recipes I would be interesting in trying contain ingredients that would be hard to find in the US.

[Susan O'brien · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have been asked to make the Chocolate Biscuit Cake - Prince William's Groom Cake. The recipe looks easy, peasy. Hope it tastes as good as it looks. This is a beautiful cookbook with lots of nice stories of the royal family including Princess Diana.

[Ann Clay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Makes me glad I don't live like that. Interesting recipes that have been Americanized to make them easy to
recreate stateside. Too rich, most of them. Some totally disgusting liked Eggs Drumkilbo!

[Kelli Oliver George · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun book and a quick read. This was not a gossipy "tell-all" and instead, The author presented a simple, unique look into the Royal family's life without seeming like a cloying "hanger-on". He was the chef, that was all.

[Katherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pleasant stories about cooking for the royal family, and there are some recipes I want to try. Entertaining.

[Rubywolf · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this a little over a year ago. I loved the little stories and anecdotes, and two or three of my new favorite recipes came from here. (Seriously, make the Gaelic steak.)

[Alicia Chung · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book, I felt all cosy and warm reading about royal life, the history of certain dishes and events, and his funny experiences whilst working for the royal family and the late Princess Diana. I laughed and cried reading his stories. As a non-British person, I appreciate his explanation of English or Scottish customs, like how the Christmas Yule log came to be.

[Robin Young · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting stories about British food and the Royal family and what they eat. I wish I had a personal chef!

[Michael William · Rating 5 out of 5]

Got to know Chef Darren through many events and a culinary trip. Holidays would not be the same without at least one Darren recipe on the menu.

[Trudy Dowling · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had fun making some of these recipes. The pictures are amazing. Had me drooling

[Keri Murcray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really lovely photos and stories, some yummy looking recipes too. Quite enjoyed this one.

[Kimberly Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you want to know what the Queen eats or what Princess Diana ate this is the book for you. It was written by one of the royal chefs who then went to work as the private chef of Princess Diana.

The book is broken down into 7 chapters: The Royal Year, Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle, HMY Britannia, Balmoral Castle, Ssandringham House, & Kensington Palace.

Recipes include, but are not limited to: earl Grey Tea Cake, Herbed Crepes w/ Goat Cheese & Honeyed Salmon, Raspberry Tartlets, Beef Wellington, Choux a'la Cherbourg, Cheese Souffle, Isle of Wight Pudding, Old English Apple Pie, Chicken & Leek Pie, and Iced Coffee.

Wonderful recipes, easy to follow combined with mementos, invitations, & personal photographs.

This is a keeper.

[Elaine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Since I'm not really a cook--although I do see some recipes I might be able to made--I'm really enjoyed the stories of the goings on behind the scenes of royal life.

[Deni Johansson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVED this book! If you love reading about the Royals, this book is a great read; the chef tells of his life cooking for them (while Princess Diana was alive), and as a bonus, you get recipes!

[E · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hilarious stories of Lady Di in the Royal Kitchen (and recipies.) Mom - thanks for giving me this one yr. ago - perfect for the upcoming Royal Wedding Party!

[Annie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I always love Princess Di. Love the pictures and looking forward to try out some recipes!

[Beret Brenckman · Rating 3 out of 5]

too much Princess Diana name dropping

[Ron · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun way to learn about how rich people eat - it all becomes an art form.