Did Elvis really fly to England for posh poached egg and asparagus?
Elvis lives! And if you believe chef Michel Roux, the King isn’t down on lonely street at the Heartbreak Hotel — he’s tucking into asparagus and poached egg at the Waterside inn.
Dropping in by boat at the triple Michelin-starred Thames-side restaurant opened in 1972 by his father and uncle, Michel was making some grand claims, on Roux Down The River (Food Network).
‘There was no fine dining outside london,’ he declared, ‘so it was quite a gamble — but it was a risk that paid off, as over the years diners from Elvis Presley to Jackie Onassis and Robert Redford have eaten here.’
Most fans believe that a young Prez made only the briefest stopover in Britain and never returned. By the 1970s, though, he was known to travel 1,000 miles by private jet from Memphis in search of his favourite peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
Could he really have crossed the Atlantic for a poached egg in the trademark Roux hollandaise sauce? Uh-huh-huh . . . i suspect Michel has been fooled by an Elvis impersonator. These are easy to spot: if he offers you a cut-price wedding in las vegas, it’s not the real Elvis.
A pop chronicler he isn’t, but Michel makes an engaging guide
on a gentle journey up the river from Cookham to Bray in Berkshire. As well as whipping up dishes on his boat, he was leaping out to operate the lock gates, combining the knowledge of a Rick stein culinary excursion with the whimsy of Tim West and Prunella scales on their canal barge.
The segment on his family restaurant, now run by cousin Alain Roux, threatened to become an extended advert. But he balanced this with a visit to the neighbouring Hind’s Head, run by rival Heston Blumenthal, to tuck into an oxtail and kidney pudding in a suet crust.
Michel’s demonstration of the techniques and critiques of the flavours are precise explanations, much better than the vague noises of appreciation we get from most food shows.
His history, though, keeps veering towards the inventive. Prince Philip, he said, staged a secret second stag do at the Hind’s Head. And downstream at the Bounty pub, Bourne End, he said: ‘in the 1930s, story has it that Edward viii and Mrs simpson secretly met with German Nazi sympathisers here, landing their planes in the field behind the pub.’
Who was their pilot — Elvis? Alan Titchmarsh’s tales were less racy as he took us on a seaside tour in Isle Of Wight: Jewel Of The South (Ch5). The closest we came to adventure was a picnic in a replica of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, with a couple and their grandchildren. it’s a faithful copy of the car, built by grandad Nick for his wife because she’s always had a soft spot for Dick van Dyke. Nick can count himself lucky that she doesn’t expect him to go dancing on rooftops dressed as a chimney sweep, a la Mary Poppins.
We also met farmers Neil and Michelle, who breed alpacas near Yarmouth. Tourists can hire the animals for countryside walks, leading them on reins. Originally the couple intended to own three, and now they have more than 100.
Alan didn’t explain the economics behind this but alpaca holidays must pay well, because a stud male called luca had arrived all the way from New Zealand. Within seconds, the preliminaries were out of the way and a compliant female called Flossie was looking surprised but pleased by his attentions.
‘ luca’s down here on his holidays,’ explained Neil. ‘Coming to the isle of Wight is a bit like ibiza for alpacas.’