On November 3, 2009, Windsor Castle went vegan for the day. The Duke of Edinburgh, founder of the secular Alliance of Religions and Conservation (ARC) which, with the UN Development Programme, organised the lunch as part of “the Celebration of Faiths and the Environment”. The banquet served 200 including UN General Secretary Ban Ki-moon, the Grand Mufti of Egypt and Archbishop Valentine Mokiwa, President of the All Africa Conference of Churches. It was the first vegan banquet in Windsor Castle's history.
BBC News reported:
All the food will be free-range, and most organic, local and fair-trade. No bottled water will be provided.The article also noted that the Bishop of London has become vegetarian for ecological reasons.
The menu for the vegan banquet at Windsor Castle
STARTER
Salad of roasted English pear, steamed celeriac and oven roasted cobnuts
Frisee leaves tossed with a hazelnut oil and lemon oil dressing
Served with a red grape reduction
Ciabatta bread served with olive oil
MAIN COURSE
Portabello mushroom stuffed with artichoke, red onion and thyme, set on pearl barley and butternut squash risotto with gremolata oil
Roasted root vegetables to include carrots, parsnips and beetroot turned with baby chard
DRINKS
Cranberry and fresh orange cocktail
Jugs of iced tap water and lemon on the tables
(No dessert due to extremely tight schedule)
I think it is wonderful that a celebration of various faiths as well as the environment took place during a vegan meal at Windsor Castle. Talk about a historical moment!
Photo: f_samora
1 comments:
How interesting! What a fabulous menu. I have to wonder about the no dessert though. Did I read correctly in the article (or perhaps it was another article) that there was originally an oil-based pie crust planned? I've tried to bake oil-based pie crusts and had no luck at all. (Mind you, I am anything but an accomplished baker!)
:-)
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