closeicon
News

The king of kosher catering the coronation

Leading caterer Arieh Wagner will be supplying delicacies for Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis and his wife Lady Valerie

articlemain

For the vast majority of the coronation's hundreds of official guests, food won't merit much of a thought.

But for the observant Jews among them, special accommodation will have to be made.

Leading caterer Arieh Wagner is the man providing the kosher food for the coronation.

He will be supplying delicacies for Chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis and his wife Lady Valerie, who are staying with King Charles and Queen Camilla at Clarence House to allow them to walk to Westminster Abbey for the ceremony on Shabbat.

Then the caterer will then lay on kosher food for some of the guests, including Israel’s President Isaac Herzog.

Swiss-born Wagner, 51, who manages the kosher events department at the Sheraton Grand London Park Lane, is keeping his plans for the unique occasion close to his chest, but it is not the first time he has catered for the royal family.

He has worked with Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle for nearly a decade and says discretion is at the heart of his work for the royals.

Tony Page, another kosher caterer who has worked on similar events, said that with the royal family, the key was to“keep it simple”.

The aim when working at Buckingham Palace or Windsor Castle was to replicate the menu that was being served to the other guests.

He suggested, at this time of year, lamb would often be the main course. But he added that if the King’s chef decided on something more unusual, such as venison, he would “offer kosher loin of lamb, which is not dissimilar in appearance”.

Generally, he added, the London Beth Din supervises the kosher food at royal banquets, including overseeing the provision and washing of the cutlery and china.

He explained that to ensure the footmen serving the meals did not accidentally mix up the plates, kosher portions tend to be larger than those intended for non-Jewish guests.

Some palace banquets are also served on real silver plates which, to be kosher, had to be unused for 24 hours, with the priceless Georgian silverware “dunked in a tub of scalding water”.

Wagner, whose parents ran The Silberhorn Hotel, a kosher hotel in Grindelwald at the foot of the Swiss Alps, has had a contract to work for the royals for a number of years.

Share via

Want more from the JC?

To continue reading, we just need a few details...

Want more from
the JC?

To continue reading, we just
need a few details...

Get the best news and views from across the Jewish world Get subscriber-only offers from our partners Subscribe to get access to our e-paper and archive