Some of Margaret Thatcher’s dishes would not be palatable to today’s connoisseurs, to say the least
Margaret Thatcher was always said to be a keen cook. But some of her dishes would not be palatable to today’s connoisseurs, to say the least.
Among recipes that she sent out to fans is one for something called a ‘mystery starter’.
The ingredients are listed as two packets of Philadelphia cheese, one flat teaspoon of curry powder and one tin of beef consommé, undiluted.
She recommends topping each set dish with a black olive. To vary it, she suggests adding leftover chicken, shrimps or mushroom.
The strange recipe is contained in a file marked ‘favourites’ which contained responses to any questions she might be asked.
It contains a letter to a class of school children in which she writes that her favourite meal to eat when working late in the House of Commons was a Buck Rarebit.
This is a rich cheese on toast dish was a poached egg on top, from the MPs’ cafeteria.
Margaret Thatcher trying out some of her own experiments in her kitchen inside No.10
Chris Collins, her official historian, said: ‘I don’t think she was a genius in the kitchen. But she was game.
Among recipes that she sent out to fans is one for something called a ‘mystery starter’
‘She actually liked doing things like that. She liked anything where you had to have a method, and you put effort into it.
‘It wasn’t exactly what cooking was about. It wasn’t inspiration. It was the sheer physical joy of ingredients. I actually think she did rather enjoy doing it. To me it is quite possible that these came from some scrapbook that she once had.’
She also says she likes to watch Yes, Minister.
Asked if she’d ever got into trouble at school, she remarked: ‘There’s a streak of rebellion in all of us’.
The recipe was one of several found in a file of her ‘favourites’ dated 1979-1987.
The folder includes standard replies to some of the most popular requests and questions in letters to the prime minister, which were dealt with by Number 10’s secretaries, the Garden Room Girls.
Lady Thatcher’s recipe for orange and walnut cake, ‘lamb chops in a parcel’, and stuffed ‘courgettes maison’ served with prawns and mornay sauce, were also included in the file.