FOOD & DRINK
In the kitchen
at Government House David Inwood, the chef at Government House, provides some recipes that have been served to visiting Royalty and VIPs, but at the same time are manageable to prepare in the average kitchen
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ever has RURAL magazine had a ‘Royal Family disclosure’ article before or is ever likely to have one in the future. So, what is our one and only attempt at this? ‘Prince Edward is an admirer of Government House chef David Inwood’s Lemon Meringue Roulade’ (see the recipe overleaf). A RURAL scoop? Eat your heart out, you intrusive tabloids! Talking of eating, let us introduce David, who has been the chef at Government House since 2003. He runs the kitchens by himself – there are no kitchen staff for him to control (Government House is not Downton Abbey).
But for a big dinner party he is helped by fellow chef Claire Allenet of Vinifera in Broad Street. David has now cooked dinner in the terms of office of four subsequent Lieut-Governors – two from the Army and two from the RAF – including the present Lieut-Governor, Air Chief Marshal Sir Stephen Dalton. Of course, it is with ‘the Lady of the House’, that he consults weekly about menus. The guest list for Government House dinners is impressive: Royalty, foreign ambassadors, politicians, distinguished visitors in all sectors of life, national, foreign and domestic. David started training at Bournemouth College in the 1980s, worked his way through some of London’s top hotels and restaurants, including Claridge’s and the Grosvenor House Hotel, as well as working on the QE2 liner. He came to Jersey in 1997, worked at L’Horizon for two and a half years and then at the Pomme d’Or.
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In 2003 he married and he didn’t really want to continue the long and antisocial hours that are common in catering and neither did his wife, Joan. For him, one of the best parts of his job is the more family-friendly working hours, without having to travel to and from work: they have a cottage in the grounds. David was asked to propose three of his favourite recipes that would be as easy to prepare at home as they would be for serving up in the Government House dining room for a special dinner:
