God save the queen’s chef

Gordon Ramsey may be the best-known of the current British celebrity chefs, but Darren McGrady, the former Buckingham Palace chef and author of Eating Royally has an exceptionally elegant resume. McGrady, who now lives in Dallas, was personal chef to the late Princess Diana until her death; prior to that, he was senior chef in the kitchens of Buckingham Palace where, his official biography notes, “he traveled around the world with the Queen and the royal family.” His cookbook — a compilation of personal anecdotes and the “exact recipes that graced the tables of Windsor, Balmoral, Kensington, and Buckingham Palaces” — offers local cooks the opportunity to bake “Her Majesty’s Birthday Chocolate Cake” and Poached Eggs Suzette.

England’s royal family traditionally imported their chefs from France or Italy: Queen Victoria’s chef was Italian Charles Elme Francatelli (who wrote his own series of cookbooks in the 1800s). Queen Elizabeth’s daughter, Princess Anne, had a Swedish chef who set off the infamous “nipple scandal” last January when he drunkenly attacked a young horse groom who also worked for the royal family.

McGrady’s career was much more circumspect, befitting the chef to a royal family. He will appear in Kansas City on Sunday at the Travel, Adventure and Culinary Experience Show at the Overland Park International Trade Center.