Friday 24 June 2016

Tyrrell's Hand Cooked Coronation Chicken

A special summer edition. The British culinary triumph that is coronation chicken brought to life in a crisp form: a right royal union indeed, and surely a moment for a reverential pause. So says the packet.

The country has been celebrating the 90th birthday of Queen Elizabeth II this summer (and the 95th birthday of the Duke of Edinburgh) and we've been enduring the usual lovely chill wet weather to go with the picnics and street parties, so I suppose this summer seemed a good time to launch a Coronation Chicken flavoured crisp.

I have read that cold wet summer weather was named Queen's Weather because the summer of the coronation (June 1953) was so dreadfully cold and wet. However, I have also read that Queen's Weather indicates a fine day for a fete because Queen Victoria was usually blessed with good weather when she appeared in public. Mind you, that comes from the 1894 edition of Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. So we've had one or two queens since then.

If you take the first meaning of Queen's Weather you'll probably agree it's not a bad description for this June. In London anyway. We also have Glastonbury (famous for mud) and Wimbledon (famous for rain) fast approaching so I see no reason for the weather to improve any time soon. A pity because much of May was lovely.

Anyway, whatever the weather we can all enjoy a packet of crisps now and then, so why not give these a try? Dutch taste tester really rather enjoyed them even though she doesn't like coronation chicken, and History Graduate was spotted in the kitchen several times. He thought the taste was mostly chicken without the coronation.

Myself, I thought the taste was mostly chicken with a handful of curry flavour chucked in. But isn't that more or less how you make Coronation Chicken?

Quite a tasty crisp with rather a hard crunch. Not bad. And we really liked the packaging design.
On this day that Britain has voted to leave the EU, and the Prime Minister has resigned (or announced he will step down), it seems appropriate to offer you a crisp that commemorates one symbol of stability in this country: the Queen.

No comments :

Post a Comment