The Kitchen of the King

Evening Post, Volume CXXVIII, Issue 121, 18 November 1939, Page 20

The Kitchen of the King

T£ING; GEORGE THE FIFTH seldom] ' "v^f. stayed at Windsor, and his father, King ; Edward the Seventh, scarcely usedji^thev castle;. at all, frankly ; preferring.: his own country house at Sandxingbia^n; -says/a writer in the "Sunday Tiniest' Our present JCing and Queen, however^ have' already shown a mark- * «d/preference for this ancient Royal .residence,, and Queen Elizabeth is making.- .several alterations and improyements, so that it shall be more of ahome, and less of a show place. She-has changed and modernised manj^ of: theTooms, but'^bne department in which, as . a true Scottish ' 'housewife., she has. always delighted, and! which • she will be. sure •to leave .anore^or.iless untouched, is-the famous oid? Royal; kitchen. .kT^s huge room, with its high vaulted iroof,.'.was: built in the days of the Second Henry, seven centuries and ' inore,;ago, and countless banquets have • \been ; prepared there in those far-away .days' when sheep and cxen were 'toasted .whole before the enormous ' fireplace, and vegetables were scarcely r known; .Visitors to the kitchen today are at !'■ firstSalmost; dazzled by ,lhe ; glittering j arrjay- bi. brass and copper utensils ar- { raiige'S' round the walls, all brightly |)Dlisiied," and gleaming and sparkling in'HJie-light^ ; Many of them were in usetwbeinAGeorge; the Third was King, and.1-are, still utilised for preparing me^ls 7 for George the Sixth. .; Xj quaint-looking meat screen, made j ,of Josik and lined with metal, proudly I flaunts'the Tudor badge of Henry the Eighth^:iii: whose reign it was first Ixsed^and before the old fireplace is another enormous oaken screen, fash"ioried^h* Stuart days. ' ' j

Bound the room are four longi tables, solidly fashioned, as if for all time, from beeches that once spread their shade in Windsor Great Forest. One of these is used for luncheon andj 'second-course work, another for soups \ and sauces, and a third for entrees, while the fourth is reserved for kit-j chenmaids who are responsible for! meals in the stewards' room and ser-1 vants' hall. | In the centre of the room is a large! square table which was formerlycovered -with a white cloth, on which \ the dishes for each course were arranged in proper order to be taken toj the Royal dining-room. This table has' now been modernised into a steamheated hot-plate, and on State occasions is brilliant with the gleaming silver dishes on which the various courses are served. \ Then there are numerous stoves, several up-to-date marvels adapted to the most' delicate of cookery achievements, a unique tiny range specially designed serving table of hollow steel frame and by the Prince Consort for the roasting of gamel by charcoal, a wonderful legs, and the newest labour-saving appliances of every kind and variety. This kitchen is controlled by a small but perfectly-trained army of master cooks and apprentices, yeomen of the kitchen, assistant cooks, roasting cooks, kitchenmaids, scourers, and so on, each one of whom knows his or her work to perfection, and carries it out with the precision acquired by careful training, and all are dressed in a uniform of spotless white. ■ Even in the midst of preparations for the most important and elaborate of State banquets, this great kitchen machine works with smoothness and regularity, probably with far less noise and bustle than that in the majority of suburban kitchens. Everything is in its appointed place, the assistants work by the clock, and the exact moment at which each dish is to be ready i for serving up is calculated to a nicety.