Ernst August I
King of Hanover
From the private Royal Menu Collection of © Jake Smith
Un potage Duchesse
Cream of potato soup
Un potage de mouton à l'Anglaise
Mutton and vegetable soup based on a white stock
Huitres d'Angleterre au naturel
English oysters served naturally on crushed ice
Merluches à l'eau de sel au beurre fondu, sauce d'anchois liée
Salted Hake in butter with an anchovy sauce
Longe de veau à la broche au jus, garnie de pommes de terre à la béchamelle
Spit-roasted loin of veal with potatoes in a Béchamel sauce (created by Louis de Béchamel, Marquis de Nointel and Maitre d´Hotel to King Louis XIV of France) made from veal stock, cream, butter and flour
Une timbale de macaroni à la Parisienne
Layers of macaroni, chicken, chervil, mushrooms and mayonnaise topped with sliced truffles and tarragon leaves
Laitues farcies, garnies de Saucissons de Francfort
Lettuce stuffed with forcemeat poached in white stock served with Frankfort sausages made from smoked beef and veal
Chevreuil rôti à la gelée de groseilles
Roast Venison served with redcurrant jelly
Une compote de poires
Pears poached in vanilla-bean syrup
Une fanchonette à la vanille
Puff-pastry coated with meringue and filled with vanilla cream
Glaces à l'orange
Orange sorbet
In 1837 the English Duke of Cumberland and Teviotdale, Ernest Augustus, became the King of Hanover courtesy of a quirk of law that prevented Queen Victoria –as a woman – from taking the dual throne of Hanover alongside that of Britain.
Therefore when Queen Victoria ascended the British throne, her uncle the Duke Cumberland and Teviotdale, ascended the Hanoverian throne as the absolute monarch of the small German Kingdom - “no larger than a fourpenny bit”, he once declared.
On 28th June 1837, eight days into his reign, the now King Ernst August I arrived in his realm and became the first resident monarch of Hanover in over a century.
With the arrival of a resident King to Hanover, also came the arrival of royal banquets to Hanover.
“I had the honour that night of being admitted, with my wife, to supper in the renowned Ritter-saal”, recounted the King’s personal Court Chaplain, on one of his early audiences with the King, the Reverend Allix Wilkinson.
“It was, I believe, the most beautiful banqueting-hall belonging to any sovereign in Europe. It was hung round above with the portraits of the Dukes of Brunswick from the earliest times, and below with full-length pictures of all the Electors of Hanover who had borne the royal title from George I. to King Ernest.
“Down the middle of the hall was a long table, holding about six and thirty, where the king entertained his royal guests, the Diplomatic Corps and their ladies, the full generals and other high dignitaries, as far as there was room. On each side were round tables, holding about a dozen, where persons made their own little parties, and so fully enjoyed themselves.
“On that long table was displayed all the gold and silver plate for which Hanover was so distinguished. In the centre was a large plateau with St. George and the Dragon, made specially for King Ernest by Hunt and Roskell, and said to be worth four thousand guineas. Every consol-table round the hall, every chandelier, every bracket for candles (of which there were thousands), every frame of the numerous mirrors was of massive silver”. - Reverend Allix Wilkinson, Court Chaplain to the King.
Menu dated 25th March 1845
Dinner at the Leine Palace (Leineschloss), hosted by His Majesty King Ernst August I of Hanover.
King Ernest Augustus I of Hanover
