Coronation chicken

 

Coronation chicken

Aunt Kate knew I loved history so when she showed me how to make Coronation Chicken, she gave me a history lesson to go along with it. First off, it’s a cooked cold chicken dish covered in a creamy, spicy sauce with sultanas (Golden dried grapes) and apricots, this Coronation chicken is a British classic with a wonderful history to go along with it!

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If you’ve never heard of Coronation chicken, it’s a cold chicken dish that is either shredded or chopped and coated in a curry-spiced mayo-based sauce with mango or apricot chutney, sultanas and sliced apricots for sweetness, topped with slivers of almonds. It might not sound like it would be good but believe me it is.

The history behind it as Kate explained: Created for Queen Elizabeth II's coronation luncheon in 1953, coronation chicken is a delightful mix of diced chicken in a creamy curry sauce. Originating from Le Cordon Bleu London’s culinary school and was called “Poulet Reine Elizabeth” by its creators, Rosemary Hume and Constance Spry.

It is made by poaching the chicken in water and wine then taken out, chopped up and covered in a cold creamy sauce made up of mayonnaise, whipped cream, tomato puree, curry powder, lemon juice, pepper, red wine, and apricots, sultanas, and almond slivers and served over either lettuce with rice, green pea,s and pimentos.

Kate loved reading old historical cookbooks at the city library in New York and one that she came upon was that of Harriet Anne De Salis’s 1886 cookbook that was on loan from the British Museum. She learned on one visit to the library that the origin of the famous Coronation Chicken recipe was apparently shrouded in mystery and thought to be an ad6aptation from De Salis’s cookbook and modernized for the Jubilee Chicken dish for King George V’s Silver Jubilee in 1935. She could never connect the dots to that recipe but figured it was modernized for Queen Elizabeth II’s Coronation in 1953.

Seventy years after its introduction at Queen Elizabeth II’s Coronation, Coronation Chicken is still served across the United Kingdom, whereas here in America we serve chicken salad when we venture out to picnics or street parties. Aunt Kate made me wonder if Chicken salad was adapted from the Coronation Chicken dish.

 So let’s make Coronation Chicken:

Ingredients

Serves 2

Ingredients

1 smoked chicken breast, finely diced

2 spring onions, finely sliced

½ tsp mild curry powder

½ tsp ground turmeric

¾ cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup crème fraiche

1 tsp tomato ketchup

1/4 cup apricot sieved jam

2 Apricots. sliced

2 tablespoons of Apricot Marmalade 

juice of 1 lime

salt and pepper

½ cup snow peas

¼ head of lettuce

¼ cup Almons slivers

Directions:

Place prepared chicken breast and spring onions in a large bowl. Sprinkle over the curry powder and ground turmeric. Add the mayonnaise, crème fraiche, tomato ketchup, apricot marmalade, and lime juice and stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper.

Add to the chicken mixture and stir to coat in the sauce.

Remove the tops and tails from the Apricots and thinly slice at an angle.

Slice the lettuce lengthwise and set aside. Lay the pieces of lettuce on a plate as if they were a bowl. Then fill each with the chicken mixture and top with almond slivers.  Serve with warm fresh bread slices.

Elizabeth Kilbride is a Writer and Editor with forty years of experience in writing with 12 of those years in the online content sphere. Author of 5 books and a Graduate with an Associate of Arts from Phoenix University in Business Management, then a degree. Mass Communication and Cyber Analysis from Phoenix University, then on to Walden University for her master’s in criminology with emphasis on Cybercrime and Identity Theft, and is currently studying for her Ph.D. degree in Criminology. Her work portfolio includes coverage of politics, current affairs, elections, history, and true crime. Elizabeth is also a gourmet cook, life coach, and avid artist in her spare time, proficient in watercolor, acrylic, oil, pen and ink, Gouche, and pastels. As a political operative having worked on over 300 campaigns during her career, Elizabeth has turned many life events into books and movie scripts while using history to weave interesting storylines. She also runs 7 blogs that range from art to life coaching, to food, to writing, Gardening, and opinion or history pieces each week. 

British Fare, Potpourri of Frugality. Kilbride