Queen Camilla’s quick healthy snack is remarkably humble and it’s part of her mouth-watering “last supper” too.
King Charles and Queen Camilla might live in magnificent and historic residences like Clarence House and Birkhall but that doesn’t mean that their favourite foods are all similarly luxurious. Her Majesty in particular is known for enjoying some rather more fuss-free meals than some people might imagine a senior royal eating. From Queen Camilla’s un-royal comfort food to her love of fish and chip suppers, her food tastes are often quite humble and the same is true of her snacks.
Queen Camilla’s quick healthy snack in the summer is just one simple ingredient and she revealed her delicious choice during a visit to Godolphin School in 2013. According to Express.co.uk, the Queen was asked whether she grows her own food and explained that she loves eating peas straight from the pods, no cooking required.
“Yes I do, we grow all our own vegetables. I think my favourites are broad beans,” she said, before adding, “But I'll tell you what I really like, I like peas straight from the garden.”
Queen Camilla continued, “If you take them straight from their pods they're delicious, really sweet. I take all my grandchildren into the garden and they spend hours and hours eating peas.”
Eating fresh, raw peas seems to have become Queen Camilla’s family tradition and when they’re so fresh and sweet like this we can’t blame her! If you are green-fingered like Her Majesty then you might have already started to sow peas under cover, which can be done from March. In the summer especially you can also buy fresh peas, often pre-shelled, from supermarkets, though these tend to require washing and microwaving before eating.
Alternatively, if you want to embrace Queen Camilla’s love of this healthy snack outside of fresh pea season you could always cook some very affordable frozen garden peas and allow them to go cold. However, served cooked, Queen Camilla’s quick snack is also part of one of her favourite meals as the perfect vegetable accompaniment.
As reported by The Sun, Queen Camilla previously spoke with her son, food critic and writer Tom Parker Bowles, for You magazine about what her ideal “last supper” would be. Unsurprisingly, home-grown vegetables were a key part of the dinner alongside some delicious fish.
"My last supper would probably involve my own asparagus, with lots of butter. Angela Hartnett’s risotto. I love her cooking,” she said. “Dover sole meunière, with ratte potatoes and fresh broad beans and peas from the garden.”
The broad beans and peas would add a lovely fresh sweetness to contrast with the rich butter sauce with the fish. Her Majesty also confessed that she still cooks for herself when she’s at home and that she favours “simple things” including fish which she makes “en papillote with butter and herbs” and, of course, vegetables.
She cooks lots of “kale, purple sprouting broccoli, carrots, courgettes, and lots of peas and beans” because “they freeze so well”. Her baking, though, is something she’s less proud of.
"I could fill a book with all my cooking disasters. I’m not a natural baker, to say the least," Queen Camilla declared. "As for baked potatoes… Many a poor, incinerated specimen has been found in the bottom of the Aga, put in, then forgotten about."
