President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte will welcome the royal couple to the Château du Roi Soleil on the first evening of their three-day state visit to France, in the presence of some 160 guests.
France, proud of its cheeses, honors Franco-British friendship by inviting a blue cheese from across the Channel to the state dinner which will be served on Wednesday to King Charles and Queen Camilla in the Hall of Mirrors at the Château de Versailles.
Unveiled Tuesday by the Elysée, the menu designed by several French chefs includes a starter composed of “blue lobster and pigeon crab”, Bresse poultry accompanied by a porcini gratin and a plate of cheeses including Comté matured for 30 months and Stichelton, a typically English blue cheese.
“Good cheeses” in England
“Contrary to the widespread idea that you cannot find decent food in England, this is totally false, you can find good products there and especially good cheeses,” says Alsatian cheesemaker Bernard Antony, responsible for selecting the royal dinner, in the newspaper L’Alsace.
Stichelton, a cheese similar to Stilton but made from raw milk, takes its name from an old form of the name of the village of Stilton in Cambridgeshire, England.
It was voted among the five best cheeses in the world by Anne-Sophie Pic, who imagined the starter for the Versailles dinner.
“This cheese is a marvel, it is very English, we only find it there,” the chef from Valence (Drôme) who runs several starred restaurants, notably in London, told Reuters.
A visit postponed due to unrest linked to pension reform
Initially scheduled for the spring shortly after their coronation, Charles and Camilla’s state visit to France was postponed due to unrest linked to pension reform.
The Versailles dinner menu was therefore modified to respect the rhythm of the seasons, leading Anne-Sophie Pic to abandon asparagus for seafood from Brittany.
Shellfish as a starter
“We are in the middle of the shellfish season, that’s when the lobsters and crabs are the best. They were caught in Roscoff and arrived fresh today in Paris,” she told Reuters.
The recipe for this starter served cold includes almond alcohol and melon, once prized by King Louis XIV.
“The king was curious and asked his gardener to grow exotic fruits in his garden at Versailles, particularly melons which he loved,” she said.
Michelin-starred chef Yannick Alléno also participated in the preparation of the state dinner, which will be served on plates decorated with 18th-century Sèvres porcelain birds.
For dessert, guests will taste Ispahan, a cake designed by pastry chef Pierre Hermé composed of a macaron biscuit flavored with rose, raspberries and lychees.
“I am very honored to have been selected, it is my first state dinner at Versailles, so there is still a little pressure!” confided Anne-Sophie Pic.
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