The dinner served for Queen Victoria's Household staff during her 80th birthday celebrations was typical of royal menus in the 19th century, and shows how basic and how varied Victorian food could be for the upper classes.
The Royal Menu
Victoria was a lavish entertainer and had a passion for serving large banquets, and the dinner served for her staff during her 80th Birthday party at Windsor Castle on the 24th May 1899, spared no expense. The menu, which was always in French, was divided into seven different courses for the Queen's Household:
- Potages -The word potage means 'potted dish' - which was generally a soup or stew in which meat and vegetables may be boiled together until they formed a thick mixture. Two difference choices were provided - Consomme d'Orge a la Princesse - chicken cut into squares and mixed with green peas into a chicken flavoured stock with added salt and pepper, and Lohengrin - which was a barley flavoured soup.
- Poissons - The fish course included Whitebait - which were small yet tender and edible fresh young herrings, the fish was eaten whole, head and tail, Filets de Truite a la Reine - trout filets were the second variety of the fish course.
- Entrees - The entree had various definitions, it was either the main dish, or served immediately before the main meal, or it could have been served between two principal courses. Victoria served Zephirs de Volaille a la Renaissance and Ris de Veau a la Grande Duchesse. The former being strips of chicken, and the Ris de Veau was the thymus gland of a calf.
- Releve - This was a slightly spicey - or seasoned dish. Victoria served Selle de Mouton rotie and Timbale de Chouxfleurs a la Stanley. The former option was a saddle of mutton, and the latter were seasoned cauliflowers.
- Rot - This was usually a plate meal and Victoria provided Cailles - pheasant.
- Entremets - Two side dishes were offered including Asperges - asparagus, Sauce Mousseline - a thick lemon flavoured cream which was provided for the asparagus and Parfaits Glaces a la Victoria - iced-cream.
- Releves - A second course of seasoned dishes included Souffles a la Sax Weimer - a seasoned souffle dish, and Oeufs de Pluviers en Aspic - which were plover's eggs in a gelatin made from meat stock.
The Queen's own menus for her private dinner were just as lavish, but the Household's menu was typical of any upper-class dinner in the latter half of the 19th Century, and her 80th Birthday was celebrated across the Empire. The dishes served show the variation in royal nutrition and the queen adored her gold crockery - she always ate from gold plates.
When in private she regularly had luncheon with her youngest daughter and companion - Princess Beatrice, whom she referred to as Baby all of her life.
Sources:
Life at the Court of Queen Victoria by Barry St-John Nevill, Webb & Bower Publishers, 1984
Karl Leon Ciccone - Karl was born in Sunderland, United Kingdom in 1981. His ancestry which is mostly English, is mixed Scottish, Irish, Italian, French, ...
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