Queen Elizabeth’s former chef, Darren McGrady, is opening up about his experience cooking for the royal family, and uh, we’ll have what they’re having.
In a recent interview with Delish, the former royal chef discussed the queen’s culinary preferences—like her favorite dish Gaelic steak, which he prepared with venison that was usually hunted near the monarch’s country homes, Sandringham and Balmoral.
Perhaps the juiciest detail that McGrady revealed is that Queen Elizabeth didn’t have many food restrictions, particularly when it came to calories.
“One of the things I soon learned working for the queen, was that all of the dishes were rich in cream and butter and fat,” he said. “Calories didn’t really matter. We could use as much cream and butter in the dishes as we wanted to, and it just made them taste amazing. It really was traditional French cuisine.”