Recipe
Our resident chef Vinnie, is sharing a very special recipe. The original Coronation Chicken.
Coronation chicken was created in 1953, when renowned florist Constance Spry and cordon bleu chef Rosemary Hume catered for a banquet to celebrate the coronation of HM The Queen ‘Poulet Reine Elizabeth’, more commonly known as coronation chicken, is believed to have been inspired by the ‘Jubilee Chicken’ created for King George V’s silver jubilee in 1935.
Ingredients
- 4 Chicken Breasts
- 1 Carrot
- 1 Bouquet Garni
- 1tbsp White Wine
- Seasoning
- Bay Leaf
- Lemon / Lemon Juice
- 1 Onion Chopped
- 2tsp Curry Powder
- 1tsb Tomato Puree
- 100ml Red Wine
- 3tbsp Apricot Jam
- 300ml Mayonnaise
- 3tbsp Cream
- Olive Oil
- Sugar
Method
- Fry the onion in oil for 3-4 minutes, then add curry powder. Fry for a further 1–2 minutes.
- Add tomato puree, wine, water, and bay leaf. Bring to boil, add lemon slices and juice, pinch of salt, pepper and sugar. Simmer uncovered for 5–10 minutes. Strain and cool.
- Add mayonnaise and apricot jam in stages. Season, and add more lemon juice if necessary. Mix in the cream.
- Coat the chicken in the sauce and mix in a little extra cream and seasoning. Serve with salad and a little extra sauce.
Chefs Tips
The coronation chicken recipe was widely published at the time so that it could be enjoyed at street parties across Britain. But, with postwar rationing still in place, the ingredients would have been hard to come by.
The original version has many more subtle wine and herb-infused flavours than the bright yellow, sultana-laden, modern sandwich filler!