PARIS, March 26 — For over a century France’s controversial national delicacy, foie gras, has occupied pride of place on the banqueting table for visiting British monarchs.
But with King Charles III banning the pate obtained by force-feeding ducks or geese from his own household, French President Emmanuel Macron’s chefs will have to get creative.
AFP looks at how previous British sovereigns were feted in the land where food is king:
Victoria: loved the soups
French food found favour with Queen Victoria, who was the first British monarch to visit France in over 400 years when she paid a state visit in 1855.
French Emperor Napoleon III wooed her with a sumptuous supper for 400 people in the Opera House of the former royal palace in Versailles.
The portly sovereign, who reportedly at home feasted on mutton chops and potatoes for breakfast, lavished praise on French poultry and soups.
“The fowl and bouillon are quite delicious and the cuisine generally is simple and good, but with less variety than ours,” she wrote in her journal on August 25, 1855.
Entente culinaire
Victoria’s gourmet son Edward VII was treated to a 16-course feast by President Emile Loubet in 1903, two years after becoming king.
The menu reflected the decadence of pre-war “Belle Epoque” Paris: Royal Mans fattened chicken, quail with ortolans (a sparrow-like bird now banned from the dinner table), glazed Rouen ducks...
And not forgetting: foie gras.
The royal visit feast reached its apotheosis with the 17 courses — including turtle soup, grouse, and of course foie gras (this time in jelly form) — served to George V and Queen Mary when they visited in 1914, months before the outbreak of World War 1.
The war marked a turning point: Never again would the courses run into double figures.
Queen Elizabeth II: foie gras fiend
For Queen Elizabeth II’s five state visits, the feasts ran to just four or five courses.
“Her Majesty has a small appetite but will eat just about anything, except caviar, oysters and shellfish in general. She prefers simple food,” according to a memo from Buckingham Palace to the Elysee Palace.
On her first state visit in 1957, the young queen was alarmed to see hedgehog on the menu but was quickly informed that the fictitious creature was in fact a ball of foie gras studded with truffles.
Over her 70-year reign, she was hosted by Presidents Rene Coty (1957), Georges Pompidou (1972), Francois Mitterrand (1992), Jacques Chirac (2004) and Francois Hollande (2014).
She insisted each time on foie gras, washed down with a top bottle of Chateau d’Yquem, a Sauternes, the famous dessert wine of southwestern France that has long been a favourite of British royals.
In 2014, the Elysee also served her a Pol Roger champagne, cuvee Winston Churchill, in honour of the British wartime leader, to whom she was close and who was a famous patron of the brand. — AFP