When “A Very British Cookbook” was published in early 2022, Queen Elizabeth II was still well and her son Charles the perpetual pretender to the throne. But now the date he has been preparing for for decades has been revealed. On May 6, 2023, King Charles III will be crowned at Westminster Abbey. According to all that one hears from the court, the coronation celebration is to be adapted to the economic situation of the country. So less pomp, but certainly committed to the traditions. It almost goes without saying that the menu for the coronation celebrations should be based on the recipes compiled by Tom Parker Bowles, son of the first marriage of the Queen Consort Camilla, who is to be crowned, for the traditional house Fortnum & Mason. In this cookbook we find the humble breakfast classic porridge as well as the sausage with orange marmalade or the traditional Victoria Sponge Cake. For all fans of Great Britain, the little stories that Parker Bowles gathers around the 111 recipes are as entertaining as an episode of Downton Abbey. Parker Bowles explains in the introduction how closely Fortnum & Mason has been linked to the royal house since its foundation in 1707. Willam Fortnum earned his starting capital as a servant to Queen Anne with royal candle stubs. The family ties of Tom Parker Bowles to the British royal family of 2022 are certainly anything but waxy.
Click here for the book review of A Very British Cookbook, recipes and stories from the house of Fortnum & Mason by Tom Parker Bowles and an explanation of how a delicatessen empire could grow from candle stubs.
