A family favourite, Coronation Chicken

Believe it or believe it not, I was once crowned. My featured image shows me on my coronation day – of course you will recognise that I was crowned as May Queen, and not as sovereign! I have a little book, “Favourite Retro Recipes” – subtitled “classic dishes from the 1950’s and 60’s”, which was part of a series of books about “favourite” foods. The books in the series included regional recipes from different counties, or highlighting different ingredients such as eggs or pasta, or occasions such as holidays or teatimes. I have several of these useful little books – well, more than several actually, and all the recipes I’ve tried from them have worked beautifully (and tastily!)

The books were published by J. Salmon Ltd:

“J Salmon Ltd, founded in 1880, was a UK-based printing and publishing firm, and was the oldest established postcard and calendar publisher in Britain^. It was based in Sevenoaks, Kent. It ceased trading in 2017. Joseph Salmon was a bookseller in London that bought a stationer’s store in 1880 aiming to establish a general printing business in Kent. He held the reins of the business until 1898 when his son, also Joseph Salmon, took over control. In July 2017, it was announced that the company would cease trading, due to family reasons and challenging market conditions. The copyright on imagery owned by the company is retained by the family.”

Recipes in the book I’m looking at include avocado dip which surprises me, as I didn’t think avocados were widely available then, I must investigate their arrival! There are classic classics such as beef Stroganoff, chicken Maryland, duck and orange sauce, and of course, sherry trifle. There are some which sound rather odd such as crispy corned tuna, and Turkey a la King (turkey in a white sauce with nutmeg and sherry) but there are many more standard dishes.

Here is one of my Aunty Audrey and also my mother-in-law’s favourites, Coronation Chicken:

4 lbs cooked chicken

1 tbsp vegetable oil

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 level tbsp tomato puree

1 level tbsp curry paste

4 fl oz red wine

1 bay leaf

1 can apricot halves, drained and pureed

10 fl oz mayonnaise

4 fl oz whipping cream

salt and pepper

watercress

lemon juice

1. 1. heat the oil in a small saucepan, add the onion and cook gently until softened
2. 2. add curry paste, tomato purée, wine, bay leaf and lemon juice

3. simmer, uncovered for about 10 mins until well reduced

4. strain and leave the liquid to one side to cool

5. purée the chopped apricot halves in a food processor or through a sieve

6. beat the cooked sauce into the mayonnaise with the apricot purée

7. whip the cream into soft peaks and fold into the mixture

8. season, adding a little extra lemon juice if necessary

9. remove the flesh from the chicken and dice

10. fold the chicken pieces into the sauce and garnish with watercress

Four pounds of chicken is quite an amount, but I’m guessing this is for a party. Of course, the recipe was invented by Constance Spry and Rosemary Hume in 1953 to celebrate the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, and as rationing – imposed during the war, had been lifted by then it was a little extravagant. I wonder how many ordinary people would have had, or maybe even heard of mayonnaise? I don’t remember trying it until the 60’s, and my parents were both good and experimental cooks. I guess we would have used salad cream – if my Mum had made it! I also wonder if most people would have used tomato ketchup – again, and maybe it was just in our home, I don’t remember tomato purée until much later.

Once again apologies for the odd layout, WordPress seems to delight in making things tricky at the moment!!