King Charles reportedly presented South African President Cyril Ramaphosa with a menu of stuffed pheasants during the leader’s state visit.
The monarch hosted a dinner at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday evening (22.11.22) after Ramaphosa was welcomed on his visit to the UK by more than 1,000 troops, 230 horses, seven military bands and two state cars.
A menu revealed by the Daily Mail shows the leader had the honor of sampling two main courses: a grilled turbot with porcini mushrooms, truffles and sorrel sauce or a Windsor pheasant ballotine stuffed with artichokes, with quince compote and port wine sauce.
The paper stressed that this was a “change” from the banquets of Queen Elizabeth, Charles’ late mother, as the monarch was known to favor venison or lamb from the House of Balmoral, one of the other royal domains, when receiving foreign personalities.
Side dishes for Charles’ first banquet as monarch included a selection of assorted Chantenay carrots, as well as collard greens with roasted squash, braised fondant potatoes and salad.
For dessert, a vanilla parfait with caramelized apples or coffee and sweets was offered, according to the menu presented by the Mail.
Wines to accompany the dishes include a Chateau Feytit-Clinet, Pomerol 2000 and a Ridgeview Blanc de Blancs 2016 English sparkling wine at £50 a bottle.
The outlet specified that a Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru at £77, a Morgeot, Clos de la Chapelle, Domaine Duc de Magenta 2014 at £61 and the Château Rieussec 1er Grand Cru Classé Sauternes 2007, costing £55 a bottle, were i other options.
Videos posted on the royal family’s official Instagram showed the painstaking preparations in the kitchen ahead of the banquet.
In particular, we saw chefs create South Africa’s national flower, the Protea, from sugar and edible dyes.
The Mail also reported that the banquet settings were measured exactly 18 inches apart, with more than a thousand glasses typically used at such an event.
