A new documentary about Queen Elizabeth is revealing some interesting details about her life (and palate.) In Queen of the World, a highly-anticipated HBO documentary that airs on Tuesday, viewers are given an inside glimpse into life at Buckingham Palace, including goings-on at the dining table.
Chef Mark Flanagan said that the 92-year-old royal has asked for callaloo to be served more often, saying that the Caribbean stew is "an absolute sensation" for the Queen.
“A number of the Caribbean dishes were particularly well received," the chef said, according to Express. "The callaloo soup was an absolute sensation. I had email after email telling me that it must now feature more regularly.”
Callaloo is a popular Caribbean dish with West African roots that features callaloo leaves (sometimes called dasheen leaves or taro root leaves), onion, garlic, tomatoes, thyme, and hot peppers. In our version here, you can also sub in spinach.
Much like commoners, Queen Elizabeth has very specific tastes in food and drink. Unlike commoners, however, the entire world pays close attention to those tastes. It is widely known, for example, that her favorite drink is gin and Dubonnet, and that she has a serious sweet tooth.
According to Darren McGrady, the Queen's former chef, she adores chocolate biscuit cake—and rarely leaves Buckingham Palace without it. “She'll take a small slice every day until eventually there is only one tiny piece, but you have to send that up, she wants to finish the whole of that cake,” McGrady said. “The chocolate biscuit cake is the only cake that goes back again and again and again.”
Yet at the end of the day, she's not too picky about what she eats. McGrady told Food & Wine last year that the Queen is “not really bothered about food. All she cares about are horses and dogs.” He called her diet “disciplined,” which keeps her “so well and so healthy.”
