Coronation Chicken.

"Coronation Chicken" was developed by Constance Spry of the English Cordon Bleu Cooking School, specifically for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. It was served at an official coronation luncheon, but the recipe was widely promoted to the public.

Here is the recipe, with comments, from “The Constance Spry Cookbook”, first published in 1956:

“One would not venture to serve, to a large number of guests of varying and unknown tastes, a curry dish in the generally accepted sense of this term. … I doubt whether many of the three hundred odd guests at the coronation luncheon detected this ingredient in a chicken dish which was distinguished mainly by a delicate and nut-like flavour in the sauce.
For convenience in serving on the occasion mentioned, the chicken was arranged at one end of an oblong dish, and a rice salad as given below was arranged at the other.”

CORONATION CHICKEN (COLD) (FOR 6-8)
2 young roasting chickens; water and a little wine to cover; carrot; a bouquet garni; salt; 3-4 peppercorns; cream of curry sauce (recipe follows).

Poach the chickens, with carrot, bouquet, salt, and peppercorns, in water and a little wine, enough barely to cover, for about 40 minutes or until tender. Allow to cool in the liquid. Joint the birds, remove the bones with care. Prepare the sauce given below. Mix the chicken and the sauce together, arrange on a dish, cover with the extra sauce.

CREAM OF CURRY SAUCE.
1 tablespoon oil
2 oz onion finely chopped
1 dessertspoon curry powder
1 good teaspoon tomato purée
1 wine-glass each of red wine and water
bay leaf, salt and pepper, sugar
slice or two of lemon and a squeeze of juice, possibly more
1-2 tablespoons apricot purée
¾ pint mayonnaise
2-3 tablespoons lightly whipped cream
a little extra whipped cream.

Heat the oil, add onion and cook gently 3-4 minutes, add curry powder. Cook again 1-2 minutes. Add purée, wine, water, and bay-leaf. Bring to boil, add salt, sugar to taste, pepper and the lemon and lemon juice. Simmer with the pan uncovered 5-10 minutes. Strain and cool. Add by degrees to the mayonnaise, with the apricot purée to taste. Adjust seasoning, adding a little more lemon juice if necessary. Finish with the whipped cream. Take a small amount of sauce (enough to coat the chicken) and mix with a little extra cream and seasoning.
This is an admirable sauce to serve with iced lobster.

RICE SALAD.
The rice salad which accompanied the chicken was of carefully cooked rice, cooked peas, diced raw cucumber, and finely chopped mixed herbs, all mixed in a well-seasoned French dressing.

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