How Queen Mother was partial to haddock, but not Spanish strawberries

SHE lived to the grand old age of 101, despite her fondness for a daily tipple of gin and Dubbonet, the occasional Martini and a Veuve Clicquot champagne with dinner.

But a new recipe book, dedicated to the memory of the Queen Mother and her beloved Castle of Mey in Caithness, has revealed that, when it came to food, the Queen Mum’s tastes veered towards simple and traditional fare – with a distinct aversion to Spanish strawberries.

William Shawcross, the author of the official biography of the Queen Mother, discloses in one of a series of anecdotes accompanying the recipes in the book, that the Queen Mother had more than her fair share of food foibles and was no royal gastronome.

He claims that her taste for simple food probably derived from the meals she enjoyed as a child at Glamis Castle in Angus.

Mr Shawcross reveals: “Her Majesty loved haddock and other simple fish like sole. Her chef served her monkfish once and never again. She insisted that fruit and vegetables be in season and preferably English. She thought that Spanish strawberries tasted like turnips.”

The Queen Mother also loved omelettes. But she disliked “smoked salmon, oysters, coconuts and capers”.

Mr Shawcross continues: “In Scotland nothing gave her more pleasure than picnics, and they happened almost every day, rain, snow or shine. Again the food was simple, but fun. Indeed, fun was encouraged at all meals, as in other parts of her life.

“And to create the right atmosphere, a glass of something was always welcome – gin and Dubbonet on picnics, champagne on many other occasions.”

The insight into the Queen Mother’s foodie favourites is only one of a series of anecdotes contained in A Taste of Mey, published by the Queen Elizabeth Castle of Mey Trust to help support the costs of running the historic castle she owned near Thurso.

The book has been compiled and edited by Christina Murray the wife of the Castle of Mey’s administrator, James Murray. And the recipes range from Oeufs Drumkilbo – a dish chosen by Prince Charles – to roast saddle of Mey Selections Lamb, served at the recent wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, to one of the Queen Mother’s picnic favourites – jam puffs.

Also in the book are recipes by Michael Sealey, who was the Queen Mother’s head chef for more than 30 years and commis chef to the Queen for 18 years

Mrs Murray said yesterday: “It took about 18 months to do. I asked friends of the Castle of Mey to send in their recipes and their memories and their photographs and we have some lovely old photographs of the Queen Mother on picnics.”