The Coronation Cookbook

To mark the Golden Jubilee, the veteran cookery writer, Marguarite Patten, is launching a cook book looking back on how Britain celebrates big occasions like coronations.

She has recreated some of the meals made at the four coronations of the 20th Century both at the royal table and lower down the scale at street parties.

We asked her how the nation's taste in food (and celebrating) has changed during her lifetime. The first coronation she examines is Edward VII's in 1902.

Street parties in 1910 were mostly of the cold meats variety

It came immediately after the Boer war and Britain was in the mood for celebrating.

450,000 people were fed on Coronation day and although that meal would vary from place to place, Marguarite Patten imagines that something like Carbonadde Flamande would be a representative dish.

It was created by the chef of the day Auguste Flamande and she thinks as a lover of food, Edward would have chosen that kind of dish - stewing steak , onions , beer in a butter sauce.

For his coronation banquet Patten says Edward VII was quite sophisticated.

His love of foreign food comes across.

Jambon D'espagne a la basque (Spanish ham) and Fillet de Truites a la Russe, trout with caviar in a hollandaise sauce.

GEORGE V

George V's coronation fayre included banana jelly and iced buns

The Street parties of 1910 were of the 'cold meat tea' variety but many of the dishes then are still enjoyed today - boiled bacon, pickled onions, bakewell tarts.

A quarter of a century later George V street party fayre included banana jelly and blancmange,

Russian salad (for better off families) and iced buns for those with less money.

GEORGE VI

British food dominated George V1's coronation

In his coronation banquet in 1937 the choice of dishes contrasted with those of Edward.

His love of British food came across.

Here rather than Spanish ham, there were Rosettes of Scottish Salmon.

The main chicken dish was in a plainish sauce.

The 'chaudfroid' sauce, which means the coating sauce was first hot then cold, was very fashionable at the time.

For the coronation street parties Patten notes that chocolate eclairs were becoming very fashionable.

ELIZABETH II

Grilled fillet steak was the main dish for our Queen's coronation

There were two banquets but both represented fairly simple royal tastes of the time, partly because rationing was still in force in Britain and partly because The Queen liked simple food.

The main dish was grilled fillet steaks.

Edinburgh salmon featured again as well as a simple soufflé named after Princess Anne.

Patten imagines what people would have eaten watching the coronation - avocado dip with crudités representing the increased sophistication, ditto Melon and orange cocktails.

Coronation Chicken was the dish of the day - chicken served with an apricot mayonnaise sauce featuring a hint of curry.

This was not served at the Buckingham Palace banquet though.

By 1977 the golden jubilee street parties tended towards chocolate cakes, cheese scones, scotch eggs and sausage rolls.

Marguarite Patten is 86 and still working as a writer and broadcaster.

Marguerite's television cooking career began in 1947 on a magazine programme called 'Designs for Women', it was about cooking, DIY and other things.

It was still a fairly austere time, rationing was still a major issue - that did not end until 1954.

People were still asking her for plain traditional things and those were the recipes she offered. As well as a long career in television cookery she produced over 160 cook books, including the first ever in colour.