King Charles reportedly presented South African President Cyril Ramaphosa with a stuffed pheasant menu during the leader’s state visit.
The monarch hosted dinner at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday evening (22.11.22) following Mr Ramaphosa was greeted during his visit to the UK by more than 1,000 soldiers, 230 horses, seven military bands and two state cars.
A menu revealed by the Daily Mail shows that the leader had the honor of tasting two main courses: a grilled brill with wild mushrooms, truffles and a sorrel sauce or a ballotine of Windsor pheasant stuffed with artichokes, with quince compote and port wine sauce.
The newspaper pointed out that this was a “change” from the banquets of Queen Elizabeth, Charles’s late mother, as the monarch was known to favor game or lamb from the House of Balmoral, one of the other royal domains, when it received foreign personalities.
Side dishes for Charles’ first banquet as monarch included a selection of assorted Chantenay carrots, as well as kale with roasted butternut squash, braised fondant potatoes and salad.
For dessert, a vanilla parfait with caramelized apples or coffee and small sweets were offered, according to the menu presented by the Mail.
Wines to accompany the dishes include a Chateau Feytit-Clinet, Pomerol 2000 and an English Ridgeview Blanc de Blancs 2016 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, which costs £55 a bottle, were the 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 the creation by the chefs of the national flowers of South Africa, the Protea, from sugar and edible dyes.
The Mail also reported that the banquet place settings were measured at exactly 45 centimeters apart, with more than a thousand glasses typically used at such an event.
