Tradition with a taste of Empire at Palace picnic
practical side, they had to be served to 10,000 to 15,000 people, so they had to be cold. We also wanted dishes that are tied into the last 60 years — iconic British dishes — so that includes Coronation chicken.”
Mr Flanagan hinted that Blumenthal had to curb his more wacky ideas when developing the menu, even though the dishes retain “the Heston magic”.
“We would have all loved some smoke and bubbles, but [for] this number of people fundamentally it’s got to be practical,” said Mr Flanagan.
Vegetarians will be offered mushroom parfait instead of Diamond Jubilee Chicken. Waitrose said that the strawberries in its “crumble crunch” will be organic and picked from the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk. The Florence strawberries were harvested and frozen last year in anticipation of the picnic.
Mark Price, managing director of Waitrose, said that the supermarket is producing the food as a gift to the Queen.
Of the 13,000 picnickers, 10,000 will be chosen from a public ballot. The picnic will be followed by a rock concert in the Palace grounds, where Sir Paul Mccartney and Stevie Wonder will perform.
Waitrose has not taken any chances on the weather — each hamper will include a plastic poncho in case it rains. PICNIC guests at Buckingham Palace this summer will celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee with a menu of classic English dishes, washed down with a beer designed to be drunk with Indian food.
The 13,000 guests at the Queen’s Jubilee Picnic on June 4 will each be presented with a hamper containing a menu designed by Heston Blumenthal, the celebrity chef.
As well as being given traditional British dishes, such as country garden soup, salmon smoked in lapsang souchong tea, and “Sandringham strawberry crumble crunch”, guests can drink either Moet & Chandon Champagne or Cobra beer, a lager originally brewed in Bangalore for import to the British market.
Other items on the menu include Diamond Jubilee Chicken, a new version of the creamy dish created in 1953 to celebrate the Queen’s Coronation.
The hampers will be donated by Waitrose, which has worked with Blumenthal, who is known for eccentric dishes such as snail porridge, and Mark Flanagan, the royal chef, to create the picnic.
Blumenthal said: “The dishes were chosen for several reasons. There is a