HRH Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh
His Royal Highness Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, is quite of an adventurer, for some reasons - He was born with it.
After his family fled Greece following the Greco-Turkish war which went badly for Greece, he was into different places. Either visiting royal relatives around the continent, attending school or practically moving from one residence to another.
He became a veteran of a life of adventure and travel pursuit.
A certified foodie prince
He relished his domestic life with the Queen and he has been known to be a certified gourmand prince. He loves food and likes to personally cook his own meals, according to former personal chef of the Queen, Darren McGrady.
The Queen, Prince Philip and their four children
During summer holiday where the royal family moved to Balmoral Castle in Scotland, Prince Philip took charge with the family's barbeque party in the ground of Balmoral estate.
The Duke of Edinburgh loved the kitchen atmosphere and one of his indulgences in life is experimenting dishes.
He would often enter the royal kitchen, much to the surprise of newly-hired staff, and cooked his own meals, according to McGrady.
Prince Philip's love for adventure.
During his younger days, he liked fast cars. He was always behind the wheels and often took frequent, long trips abroad, visiting British overseas territory in service to the Queen.
He had taken many solo overseas tour. He could not be pinned down in one location that Her Majesty was heard commenting before, "Philip was born with itchy feet.
The young Prince Philip
According to royal observers, perhaps it was Prince Philip's way of getting out of pressure being a Queen's husband. Others say, he was used to a life of a pursuit ever since he was a young boy.
He did not grow up with his family
It is a public knowledge that the Duke of Edinburgh did not grow up with his family. They fled Greece in 1923 and lived for the rest of their lives in exile.
They settled in France, just outside Paris, in a home loaned to them by his rich paternal aunt-in-law, Princess Marie Bonaparte.
However, within six years, his parents' marriage broke down. His father, Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark, left their family home and went to live in Southern France while his mother, Princess Alice of Battenberg was institutionalized in Switzerland.
Prince Philip was sent to England to live with his maternal grandmother, Princess Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine, the dowager Marchioness of Milford-Haven.
His guardians were his maternal uncles, George Mountbatten, 2nd Marquess of Milford-Haven, and later, Lord Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl of Burma.
He grew up visiting magnificent palaces and castles around Europe, most notably in Romania where the crown princess was his first cousin, Princess Helen of Greece, and in Sweden, where the future Queen consort was his maternal aunt, Princess Louise.
Prince Philip at 7 years old with his siblings and parents. 1928
And of course, Windsor Castle, because King George VI, the father of Queen Elizabeth II, was his second cousin through King Christian IX of Denmark, and his mother's second cousin through Queen Victoria. Prince Philip spent many Christmas in Windsor with the royal family.
After attending private school in England, he went to live in Baden, Germany with his sister, Princess Theodora, whose husband, Prince Berthold of Baden, ran a private school, Schule Schloss Salem, one of the elite boarding schools in Germany founded by Jewish educator, Kurt Hahn, admired by Prince Philip.
When the threat of Nazi started spreading in Germany, Kurt Hahn left Schloss Salem and moved to Scotland where he established Gordonstoun.
Prince Philip followed Hahn in Scotland and became one of the most notable alumni of the school.
Retirement from public duty
In August 2017, at the age of 96, Prince Philip retired from public life, forced by his advanced age and relinquished most of his royal roles to his children.
By then he had completed 22,219 solo engagements since becoming prince consort in 1952. He is also the longest-serving British prince consort in history, the oldest living great-great grandchild of Queen Victoria, and one of the last two surviving (the other is Prince Michael of Greece and Denmark) grandchildren of King George I of Greece.
The Queen and Prince Philip
Following his retirement, he chose to live quietly at Wood Farm, a modest royal cottage in Sandringham estate in Norfolk because the green scenery and countryside atmosphere bring good to his health.
Prince Philip enjoyed his country living in Wood Farm and spent most of his days walking around the property, reading books and watercolor paintings.
Prince Philip and the Queen in Balmoral
He would join the royal family on important family events like weddings. His last public appearance was in 2019 at the wedding of his great niece, Lady Gabriella Windsor.
Prince Philip Loves to Cook!
Among the anecdotes and tales of adventures told to the public about the Duke of Edinburgh, it’s his love for the kitchen that’s been so sweetly remembered.
According to former royal chef, Darren McGrady, who served the palace as a royal chef for 15 years, first as a personal chef to the Queen and then to Princess Diana, Prince Philip loved the kitchen atmosphere.
He likes to cook, and quite of a foodie prince. He would take over dinner preparations for his family. And not afraid to experiment different recipes.
When it comes to family barbeque party, the Queen trusted no one other than her husband. Prince Philip enjoyed grilling meat for his family and guests during the family’s outdoor activities at Balmoral castle during summer.
Prince Philip behind the grill in Balmoral with Princess Anne
His creativity in the kitchen has been legendary.
McGrady recounted one incident while the royal family and staff were in Sandringham and Prince Philip entered the kitchen and saw the lamb meat being prepared.
McGrady recalled that the Duke of Edinburgh then took matters into his hand and volunteered to cook the dish.
McGrady in his food video also shared one amusing episode where Prince Philip taught him how to peel a ripe mango without directly slicing the fruit into a half.
His Favorite Dishes
According to the book, Dinner at Buckingham Palace, taken from former royal footman, Charles Oliver’s diaries and recipes, Prince Philip’s specialties are breakfast and light snacks and always packed his electric glass-lidded frying pan when the royal court moves to Windsor Castle, Sandringham or Balmoral, so that he could always do the cooking chore.
The Duke of Edinburgh loved to cook the traditional English breakfast: bacon, eggs, sausages, and sometimes kidney and omelettes.
For light meals, he would whip smoked haddock, mushrooms sautéed in butter with bacon, Scotch woodcock (scrambled eggs with anchovies on toast).
Scotch woodcock, despite a very traditional British morning dish and sounds so elite, is actually a dish cooked in simplicity.
It is made of soft scrambled eggs, cooked in a low heat to achieve a custard-soft texture, on toast topped with anchovies.
McGrady said in one of his video clips: “Prince Philip has a much broader palate than Her Majesty when it comes to food.
The Queen eats to live whereas Prince Philip lives to eat. He would want to try any new dishes all the time and got so excited about new ingredients whereas his wife, the queen, would just stick to the same dishes week in and week out”.
McGrady shared some trivia about Prince Philip’s humor in the kitchen and noted how the former Greek prince loved the idea of experimenting dishes.
He fondly recalls one uncomfortable episode in Balmoral castle when the Duke of Edinburgh entered in the kitchen very late at night.
The prince was so dressed down McGrady mistakenly thought he was a gardener wandering in the kitchen, looking for food.
Once he came home from a public engagement and tasted McGrady’s new dessert sauce recipe, the Crème Anglaise, Prince Philip loved it so much it became part of the royal menu since then.
Crème Anglaise, a French recipe, is made of light custard used as a dessert cream or sauce on scones, toast or sandwiches. Prince Philip loved to pour it into his pancakes.
One of his favorite dishes revealed by McGrady is a savory Russian pirog or Russian pie called, Salmon Coulibiac. This recipe consists of skinless salmon fillet, rice or buckwheat, mushrooms, vegetables and hard-boiled eggs stuffed into a puff pastry.
A slice of Salmon Coulibiac
Watching how McGrady prepared the recipe in his video, it looks quite easy to prepare. We can even try it at home. Check below recipe and procedure how to create this favorite dish of Prince Philip.
Prince Philip’s Favorites Recipes
1. Scotch Woodcock
Ingredients:
- 8 eggs, beaten
- 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon cream
- 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon butter
- Kosher salt and cracked black pepper
- 8 slices bread (crust removed if desired), toasted
- 12 anchovies, sliced in half
- Sliced chives, to garnish
How to Prepare:
- Whisk together eggs and cream.
- Heat butter in a large non stick skillet over medium low heat.
- Add the eggs and turn the heat to low.
- Using a rubber spatula, constantly stir the eggs until they have just set. It should achieve a custard-like texture. Then season it with salt and pepper.
- Divide eggs between toast, then top each piece with three pieces of anchovy.
- Garnish with chives if desired and serve immediately
2. Crème Anglaise
Ingredients:
- ½ cup whole milk
- ½ cup whipping cream
- 2-inch piece vanilla bean, split lengthwise
- 3 large egg yolks
- 3 tablespoon sugar
How to Prepare:
- Combine milk and cream in heavy medium saucepan
- Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean. Add to the milk mixture
- Bring milk mixture to heat. Simmer. Set aside.
- Whisk egg yolk and sugar in a bowl.
- Gradually combine it with the hot milk mixture.
- Return the mixture to saucepan. Stir over low heat until custard thickens.
- Strain the custard into bowl and chill.
3. Salmon Coulibiac, a Russian pirog
Chef, Darren McGrady silicing Salmon Coulibiac
Ingredients:
- 1 large sheet of a pastry dough
- 1 egg yolk, beaten mixed with 1 tablespoon milk for egg wash
- 1 skinless Salmon fillet
- Unsalted butter, melted
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- ½ cup of sliced mushrooms
- 1 teaspoon freshly chopped thyme leaves
- Minced garlic and onions
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 2 hard-boiled eggs
- 200g rice
- 400ml fish stock of water
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
How to Prepare:
- In a non-stick frying pan, heat melted butter and sizzle the salmon to achieve a desired firmness but not to cook thoroughly. Set aside.
- In a pan, heat butter, add garlic, onions, coriander seeds, thyme, cumin seeds, mushrooms.
- Add rice and fry until golden. Add bay leaf.
- Pour in fish stock water. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Cover and simmer until rice is thoroughly cooked.
- Transfer the rice into a bowl and let it cool.
How to Assemble the Pie:
- Roll out the pastry dough in a baking tray.
- Scoop the rice mixture and scatter in the middle of the pastry.
- Put the salmon fillet in the center of the scattered rice.
- Scoop the rest of the rice mixture, topped slices of hard-boiled eggs.
- Fold both edges of the pastry to cover the coulibiac and cut the edges.
- Brush with egg wash until the dough is completely coated.
- Bake in the oven until the dough is golden.
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