State banquet menu.

[madaboutpurple]

After reading the menu they ate especially the starter I am glad I did not have to go .The starter they had sounds really odd. Also why is the vegetarian menu never mentioned. I wonder what alternatives were offered.

You could have posted the menu op!

I thought it sounded quite boring. But I guess it needs to be fairly basic so that most people can eat it!

• Hampshire watercress panna cotta with Parmesan shortbread and quail egg salad

• Organic Norfolk chicken ballotine wrapped in courgettes with a thyme and savoury infused jus

• Vanilla ice cream bombe with Kentish raspberry sorbet interior with lightly poached Victoria plums

Sounds delicious to me and I love the fact they have got 3 counties in there, including the one I live in.

Wonder if any of them have a delicate stomach and can't eat much rich food like me!

That's not my idea of basic! I wonder how much Trump ate. He mostly eats from McDonald's, doesn't he?

What part sounded boring and basic to you?

Okay, the first course not so much. But the main course - bit of chicken with some vegetables and gravy? Dessert is ice cream and sorbet and some poached plums. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love chicken gravy and vegetables, and also dessert. But it's not exactly cutting edge cuisine is it?

Frankly, probalby best for Trump as he's unlikely to want anything too adventurous.

What would you have served?

When I think of banquet I picture larks tongues in aspic, roast swan, chitterlings and spit roast ox 👑

There will have been a vegetarian menu, and I’d love to see that too.

But lots of the people there will basically spend their life going from banquet to event eg the royal family and the trumps, and won’t be able to stomach a feast that frequently.

It’s like wedding food. Appeal to the broadest range of tastes?

Sounds delicious to me. I don’t eat chicken but I would have happily eaten the rest.

In my former life, I went to a few formal dinners of this sort and had to organise a few.

Menu always needed to be fairly neutral to appeal to the majority, easy to eat and unlikely to create a mess, and straight forward to cook, plate and serve ensuing quality across all servings.

There ended up being a fairly restrictive playbook from which to select dishes that met all these requirements and consistently work well.

Add on top of that showcasing British produce and this was probably a very sensible choice.

@Sourisblanche same here, starter sounds lovely, Parmesan shortbread ❤️I’m curious about the veg or vegan choice though.

I cant abide Panna cotta at the best of times, never mind green and savoury!
Chicken ballotine is just sous vided so really boring and I don't like the texture.
Pretty safe and boring really, while being too weird for my tastes!

@DiscoBob im thinking it may have had a buratta type texture ?

The entire point of the meal was to try to get Trump warmly-disposed towards us. So this will be what they think he (or poss Melania) will like.

I feel like I'm being atttacked for thinking the menu is a bit boring?

I am not a professional chef and I appreciate there's notable skill in creating a good panna cotta and a good ballentine of chicken.

But I guess if I was at a really swanky do like this I' dbe expecting a few foams or some more left field ingredients or something. A souffle. Perhaps a vegetable done three ways. Maybe an additional sauce?

Perhaps I watch too much masterchef?

Although on my watch, I would have added in Gin and Tonic sorbet between first and second courses and an excellent cheese board and port to finish 😋

I wish he had choked on his food.

Goodness, you skin is thin!!! 😆

In my ignorance, haven't seen a savoury panna cotta before.

They did have port. A 1945 vintage in a nod to Trump being the 45th president as well as the 47th, and it was they vintage they had that was closest to his birth year (this was just such a weird factoid it stuck in my head when I read it earlier!)

Possibly served to the men and women separately? Do they still do that?

My jokey tone clearly didn't come across in this post!

Soufflés can be a risk when done on a large scale. Suspect there was enough drama between the kitchen staff and secret service already!

Was anyone else thinking of The Residence when reading about the conflict 😂