Now hiring: Can you cook meals fit for the Queen?

Daily Mail

29 Apr, 2013 11:00 PM2 mins to read

Queen Elizabeth II is looking for a new chef.Photo / AP

She's known for having modest tastes, but anyone cooking for her needs to help prepare some of the world's extravagant banquets.

The Royal Household is advertising for a new sous chef who can make meals fit for a Queen.

The NZ$45,000-a-year chef will be based at Buckingham Palace but must be prepared to travel to other Royal residences and have a "good understanding of kitchen French".

The job description, posted on the Buckingham Palace website, says: "From state banquets for 200 to lunches for two; and from canapé receptions for 800 to staff restaurant meals; our chefs prepare it all to the same exceptional standards.

"In this hands-on position you will help to lead and train the junior chefs to deliver quality fresh food to the highest standards, and you will also take charge of the kitchen operation when working from smaller kitchens and when deputising for senior colleagues.

"Although primarily based at Buckingham Palace, you will also work as part of a team at other Royal residences throughout the UK, spending a total of approximately three months away from London."

Candidates are required to have experience of "menu planning and development" and have "proven planning and organisation skills".

They also must have a City and Guilds catering qualification or equivalent and should have experience within a five-star premier catering operation.

However, according to former Royal chef Darren McGrady the day-to-day job of feeding the Queen could be far more modest.

Mr McGrady, who worked in the Buckingham Palace kitchens for 15 years, told the Daily Telegraph last year that when at home the Queen was a woman of simple tastes.

Some of her favourite foods include Special K cereal, jam sandwiches and chocolate cake, he said.

The Royal Household employs around 1,200 staff, of whom approximately 450 are funded by the taxpayer.