Editor’s Note: I’m standing in for the Odinist Gourmet in this issue, but the choice of recipe was hers…
Originally, Coronation Chicken, or Poulet Reine Elizabeth, was made for the coronation banquet of Elizabeth II in 1953, but it is said to have been partly inspired by a similar and earlier recipe known as Jubilee Chicken, made for the Silver Jubilee of George V in 1935.
George V (right) and his cousin, Tsar Nicholas II in German military uniforms before the war…
The two Cordon Bleu chefs who prepared Poulet Reine Elizabeth for the banquet, Constance Spry and Rosemary Hume, were quite famous in their own right, especially Constance Spry, who managed a large flower arranging business as well, popularizing exotic arrangements with antique vases, and using unusual backgrounds such as pussy willow and ornamental kale.
Constance Spry and Eric Bedford, Chief Architect of the Ministry of Works, discuss the placement of six tubs of poppies arranged by disabled servicemen for the coronation route of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953
Constance Spry is also known for her activism in encouraging the people of the UK to grow their own food. She was so highly thought of in botanical circles that David Austin, who is justly famed for creating the most beautiful old rose hybrids of today, named his very first rose, the Constance Spry, after her. Nevertheless, the original concept for this particular recipe apparently came not from Constance Spry, but was the idea of Rosemary Hume.
One of the most beautiful of David Austin’s climbing roses, the Constance Spry.
I first had coronation chicken in Gloucester Green, Oxford, in a small but very fancy little sandwich shop and deli which backs onto the bus station. It is very popular just about everywhere in Oxford, usually served as a sandwich on a fresh baguette, but this shop did it better than any other, making its coronation chicken sandwiches on home made olive ciabatta bread, which was insanely delicious.
Of course one can serve this dish on a lettuce leaf as well, or on a bed of rice, and even make all its ingredients from scratch, but this recipe is intended to give an idea of how to make a quick and easy, yet glamorous and tasty, coronation chicken, ideal for outdoor Odinist sumbel feasts and the like. Here in Hawai`i, we sometimes serve our own unique Pacific Colonial version, and we shall tell you how to do that too in case you are inclined towards it, but for the most part we shall stick to our basic recipe.
There is an endless variety of ways to make gourmet coronation chicken sandwiches. Here Xanthe Clay uses small rolls, saffron, and a sprinkling of fresh pomegranate seeds. Photo: Christopher Jones
If one wishes to make this to a higher standard even than was made for the Queen, one fit for a true Odinist monarch, remember that real curry does not come in a jar or can and is not a powder, but a paste, made with fresh ingredients and a stone mortar and pestle. If one attends a Thai cooking school, as I have done, one can learn just how to make various curry pastes of different colors and temperatures, from yellow and red to the spiciest green. Any of these can be used for coronation chicken and normally would have been, but at the time this was made, due to the still present ravages of wartime, there were very few fresh ingredients available. The ladies who developed the recipe foresaw that it would be popular with the public, and so they made it with what was most readily available, curry powder, instead, and this is still the most popular method today.
Making red curry paste out of fresh ingredients with a stone mortar and pestle… There is nothing like the real thing…
The primary ingredient is a roasted chicken. The easiest way to obtain such a chicken is to buy one from a deli in a grocery store generally. For a large batch one will need to double or triple the ingredients. You will find that there is not much emphasis on precise amounts of ingredients in this recipe, and the reason is that, it being a salad, it is very much up to your personal preference.
Constance Spry’s flower arranging schools and businesses helped popularize the trend for small, delicate, wedding flowers and bridal orchid bouquets, no mean achievement for a woman who grew up in a house with no garden.
Ingredients:
- Roasted chicken
- Large onion, preferably organic
- Curry powder or paste
- Mayonnaise (or crème fraîche or Greek yogurt)
- A couple apples, Pink Lady, Fuji, or other preferred red apple.
- Nuts. Usually we use walnuts, but sliced almonds are also an excellent choice, as are pecans.
- Spinach, especially baby organic, and-or lettuce, such as Buttercrunch.
- Mango chutney
- Fresh ciabatta bread or baguette
- Virgin cold pressed organic olive oil
Tools:
- This is a dish that can easily be stored for a couple days in a glass container in one’s refrigerator. It will stay very fresh. If you intend to store it before using it, add the apples later, only when you are actually serving or eating it. Since, like apples, nuts are quite perishable, some may choose to add the nuts to the mixture only when actually using it as well.
- kitchen scissors
- large mixing bowl, pan, spoon, knives, etc. Only regular kitchen equipment needed.
Preparation:
- Heat olive oil very slowly and gently, pouring in enough to cover bottom of the pan at least.
- Slice onion into small pieces with knife and add to pan, adding more oil if necessary. Lightly cook onions at a low-medium heat, stirring occasionally, until soft and beginning to become golden coloured. This takes approximately ten minutes.
- While lightly sauteeing onion, take chicken breast from roasted chicken, and cut into small pieces, such as cubes, with kitchen scissors. When onions look lightly cooked, or caramelized, add chicken and allow to heat.
- Add curry powder, to taste. One heaped tablespoon of curry is sufficient for those who prefer medium spiciness. One can adjust accordingly.
- Allow to cook for several minutes, at least five minutes, at a low-medium heat, stirring occasionally, until well mixed.
- Remove from heat.
- Prepare bowl adding mayonnaise.. The amount of mayonnaise added varies considerably. If one prefers a drier mixture, add 3 or 4 tablespoons. If one prefers a more more cohesive and moist salad, one can add twice or three times as much.
- When chicken curry mixture is cooled, or slightly cooled, according to preference, add it to bowl and mix.
- Lastly, mix in apple chunks which have been cut into cubes, and nuts.
- Slice bread or rolls as desired and add spinach, coronation chicken, and mango chutney to taste, and any other desired seasonings, and assemble as sandwiches or serve as a chicken salad in the form of a circular scoop on a large curved Buttercrunch lettuce leaf.
For alternative Pacific Colonial version: Prepare as above, but substitute macadamia nuts for other nut options, and add sliced dried apricots and- or dried cranberries, and coconut flakes or pieces.
Just to be thorough, the original recipe is below.
Menu from Elizabeth II’s coronation banquet showing Poulet Reine Elizabeth.
|
Constance Spry roses climbing a wall…a good place to have a coronation chicken sandwich!
