One Of Queen Camilla's Favorite Meals Is A True British Staple
As the mother of British food critic Tom Parker Bowles, a Londonite, and a consort member of the royal family, Queen Camilla is no stranger to fine dining. Still, like so many of us, she finds that the simplest dishes — the ones that taste like home and don't require a recipe – bring the most comfort. She told You Magazine that her last meal would include her home-grown asparagus "with lots of butter," Angela Hartnett's risotto, Dover sole meuniére, ratte potatoes with broad beans and peas, and "a really good glass of red claret." As for her go-to everyday snack, she noted a no-frills British classic. "One of my favorite foods is baked beans on toast," she said, shouting out Heinz as her preferred brand.
It seems Camilla's high-low cravings are a family trait. In an interview with The Standard, her foodie son replied "Hell yes" when asked if beans on toast are in his regular meal rotation. For all the foods the royal family doesn't eat, even the late Queen Elizabeth II was known to tuck into the treat now and then. Here's what makes the popular dish unique.
How and when to eat beans on toast
If you order beans on toast in the United Kingdom, you'll be met with warm Heinz baked navy beans in all their sweet, tomato-y glory, poured generously on a slice of white buttered toast with a dash of Worcestershire sauce. In a TikTok video, British etiquette coach William Hanson proclaims that eating baked beans "in a quintessentially British manner" involves unsalted butter and a relatively modest amount of beans. ("This is not your local lido," he says.) We have a feeling Queen Camilla isn't quite so precise. "My cooking is about good ingredients," she told You. "Nothing too mucked about, or fussy or fiddly."
Baked beans and toast are also part of a Full English breakfast, right alongside eggs, fried tomatoes, fried mushrooms, back bacon, and sausage. Beans on toast with a simple fried or poached egg on top also makes for a quick, tasty breakfast. At lunch, they are often cozied up to a baked potato. You can eat beans on toast any time of the day, best served with a cup of tea.
Heinz beans are the favorite
For folks in the United Kingdom, it's hard to imagine life without beans on toast. Indeed, YouGov ranks the dish as the ninth most popular food in England, sandwiched between bangers and mash and pigs in blankets. It's all the more surprising, then, that the saucy snack has been around for less than a century. According to popular legend, a Heinz executive capitalized on the product's popularity in England by advertising the beans as a toast topping in 1927, creating a new national dish in the process.
It may have started as an affordable and protein-packed meal during tough times, but it's still beloved by Brits of all stripes. In addition to its popularity among the royals, Star Trek legend Sir Patrick Stewart claims it's the only dish he can make. "I ate it probably thousands of times, all the way through my childhood," he tweeted, giving a triumphant little dance after taking a bite.