NPR has a fun little piece on a collection of 1730s royal menus recently discovered. Turns out, 18th century English royals have more in common with the foodies of the modern day than expected. Both love eating the odd.
Here are some menu items made for King George II that showed up in the vintage find:
- frogs
- puffins
- boar’s head
- larks
- 1- to 2-day-old ortolans songbirds
- pineapple pickles
NPR notes that it’s odd there’s only one mention of tea in the documents. I wonder if it’s because it’s not considered a mealtime drink?
This dovetails with another bit of research I’ve done on tea and royals: Did you know that Portugal’s Catherine of Braganza is credited with bringing the custom of drinking tea to England when she married King Charles I in 1661? It was already popular in Portugal among royals. And another side note: Their union marks one of the most impressive dowries ever offered for a bride. England got Tangier and India’s Seven Islands of Bombay in the deal.
Source: Frogs And Puffins! 1730s Menus Reveal Royals Were Extreme Foodies : The Salt : NPR.
It's good etiquette to share what you like!
