When King Edward VII was crowned in 1902, a Lincolnshire farmer honoured him by naming a new variety of potato the King Edward. Half a century later, the culinary creation for his great-granddaughter, Queen Elizabeth II, resulted in one of the modern nation’s favourite sandwich fillings.
Although coronation chicken is now almost exclusively served between two slices of bread for a workday lunch, at the time of its creation in 1953, it would have been the height of luxury. Post-World War Two rationing was still in place in the UK and it was to be some time before chicken became the cheap everyday ingredient it is today.
These days, coronation chicken is usually roast chicken in curry-flavoured mayonnaise, with the occasional addition of sultanas or fruit such as mango. But the original dish was a delicate, creamy concoction, designed to be served with a rice salad rather than in a sandwich.
Read more: Toys, stamps and teabags: 10 Coronation mementoes for under £25
Coronation chicken was not invented for the coronation banquet, but for a lunchtime function attended by hundreds of foreign dignitaries in London for the ceremony. The dish is often attributed to domestic goddess Constance Spry, who published the recipe for the first time in 1956 in The Constance Spry Cookery Book, but in reality, it was created by Spry's friend, chef Rosemary Hume, who founded the L’Ecole du Petit Cordon Bleu cookery school in Victoria in 1933.
Many British celebrity chefs have added their own twist to it over the years, including Heston Blumenthal, who was invited to recreate the dish for Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee garden party in 2012. He added other spices, sultanas and nigella seeds in his take on the classic recipe.
We asked three North East chefs to create a new dish to celebrate the coronation of King Charles III, taking all of the elements of the recipe established in honour of his mother, but giving it a modern-day twist. The brief was simple: The recipe had to contain chicken, curry and mayonnaise or another dressing. Other than that, the only limit was the chef's imagination. Here's what they came up with:
Tom Rhodes: Masterchef winner
Scotswood chef Tom's life was transformed when he became MasterChef Champion in 2021. Although Tom, 33, is a regular at food shows all over the country and is kept busy with his private dining business, he is still working at Newcastle's Nando's restaurant. He has appeared as a judge in this year's show.
"This modern twist on classic coronation chicken is perfect for summer," he said. "The tangy and familiarly spiced yoghurt marinade is lighter than the original while helping to tenderise the chicken and infuse it with flavour. It’s delicious served over a mixture of greens and cold rice noodles as a salad, and that sweet and juicy mango salsa adds a really fresh, tropical twist."
Step 1: Whisk together 250g plain yoghurt, 1 tablespoon curry powder, 1/2 teaspoon turmeric, 1/2 teaspoon finely-grated garlic, 1/2 teaspoon finely-grated ginger, 1 teaspoon salt and juice of 1 lime. Add 8 boneless chicken thighs to the marinade and stir to coat. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or overnight.
Step 2: Remove the chicken from the marinade and shake off any excess. Heat 1-2 tablespoons of oil in a large frying pan or griddle pan over medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot, add the chicken thighs and cook for about 6-8 minutes per side, or until they are golden brown and cooked through.
Step 3: While the chicken is cooking, make the mango salsa. In a medium bowl, combine 1 ripe mango, 1 small red onion, 1 red chilli, 1 small bunch fresh coriander and 1 small bunch fresh mint, all finely chopped, with the juice of 1 lime and salt to taste
Step 4: When the chicken is done, remove it from the pan and let it rest for a few minutes. Serve the chicken hot with the mango salsa on top.
Jonny Stewart, Masterchef 2023 contestant
Jonny, 32, is back home in Hebburn, South Tyneside, after competing in this year's Masterchef. The Google product trainer was sent home after the second round of the first heat, after wowing judges John Torode and Greg Wallace with his whole Korean chicken and white chocolate blondies. Jonny says the competition was the best fun he has ever had and is now hoping to start his own street food business.
"My take on coronation chicken has a street food vibe, with fruity mango chutney, spiced crispy fried chicken and topped with a dollop of curried mayo," he said.
Step 1: Slice a bun in half and apply some mango chutney to the bottom slice, a good spoonful I'd say as you really want the fruitiness. I recommend Pink Lane Bakery's sourdough stottie, they're perfect for this.
Step 2: Take a boneless skinless chicken thigh for each person and bash it out thin and then coat in flour, then egg, then a good quantity of seasoned flour with 1/4 the amount again of corn flour. then fry to make a fried chicken burger and place on top of your mango chutney.
Step 3: Make a curried mayonnaise, either by taking a good curry paste and blitzing it together with a good spoonful of regular mayo, or make your own by adding garam masala, turmeric, coriander powder, chilli powder and cumin powder to one whole egg, a teaspoon of Dijon mustard and 230ml of oil
Step 4: Make a quick slaw using some shredded red cabbage and red onion together with some cumin seeds, a light splash of oil and vinegar and mixing together to give you further crunch
Step 5: Spoon your mayo liberally over the top of your chicken thigh, place on top of your mango chutney, add a spoonful of slaw then top with the other half of the bun.
Jennifer Malkin, head chef at Commissioners Quay Inn, Blyth
Jennifer's creation will be served over the whole coronation weekend at The Inn Collection's 30 pubs, from Beal in Northumberland to Beaumaris in North Wales. The company's newest addition, the Park Hotel in Tynemouth, will open later this year as The Tynemouth Castle Inn. "We are serving our take on coronation chicken all weekend for people to try," she said. "On offer is a spiced buttermilk fried chicken, with classic coronation sauce, toasted almonds, lime, chili and coriander, served in a brioche bun. Think like a chef and get ahead. Make your marinade, brine and crumb in advance. You will need to marinade your chicken breast for 12 hours before cooking."
Step 1: Make the brine. Combine 1200ml water, 40g squeezy honey, 55g rock salt, Pinch of thyme, half a lemon and two garlic cloves in a large pan and bring to the boil. Stirring to dissolve. Boil for 1 minute once ingredients are combined, remove from the heat and allow to cool. Submerge one chicken breast per person and leave for two hours, then rinse and pat dry.
Step 2: Make the marinade: Mix the 125ml Buttermilk, 5g garlic powder and 5g curry powder
Step 3: Butterfly the brined chicken breast into two pieces and marinade for 12 hours
Step 4: Combine in a bowl and mix: 10g Smoked Paprika, 5g Cooking salt, 10g Cayenne Pepper, 10g Onion Powder, 10g Garlic Powder, 10g Sage' 25g Cornflour, 50g Plain flour, 10g Basil' 5g White pepper, 5g Madras curry Powder
Step 5: Make coronation slaw: Mix 125g White Cabbage, 25g red onions, 80g carrots, 60g Yogurt, 40g Extra thick mayonnaise' 40g Sultanas, 15g Mango Chutney, 5g curry powder, 10g coriander, 5ml lime juice
Step 6: Remove chicken from marinade and coat with dry mixture. Fry until golden brown
Step 7: Take a burger bun, Place cooked chicken onto the bottom half and top with Coronation Slaw. Add the top half of the bun and serve with home-made chips.
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