Yahoo News Prince William and Harry’s first baby meals revealed by royal chef, and they’re so easy to make at home (ready in 3 minutes!)
Prince William and Prince Harry ate this tasty treat as their first baby meals according to a former royal chef - and it's easy to recreate at home.
Prince George's 'favourite' meal is a perfect week-night family dish and while 10-year-olds eat a wider variety of foods these days, his tastebuds have come a long way since he was little, and indeed since his father Prince William was a baby.
Whether they're in the Royal Family or not, all babies move from liquids and onto solid food at some stage of their life and this weaning process can be challenging, even if you follow expert advice on how to start weaning and use the best high chair.
Prince William and Prince Harry were no different for parents Princess Diana and Prince Charles, except they had chefs to freshly prepare all of their meals from scratch.
Darren McGrady, former chef to Queen Elizabeth, Princess Diana, and Princes William and Harry previously revealed the first baby food that the young princes first tucked into.
In an unearthed interview with Today.com, Darren admitted, “I’ve certainly never seen packaged food with any of the royal babies. Why would they buy packaged food when the queen has 20 personal chefs?”
Instead, during his 15-years of cooking for the royals, Darren cooked several meals for the young princes, and in doing so he detailed how he would puree steamed apples and pears from the Queen’s Sandringham country estate for their first meals.
Steaming apples is a bit like stewing apples, and according to Healthpath, cooked apples have an extra benefit - the gut healing pectin. It states "This special form of fibre is released during the stewing process and new evidence suggests that it may help to repair and maintain the intestinal mucosa lining".
One study found it helped to "modulate gut bacteria", "get rid of toxins in the gut" and "reduce inflammation".
While pectin is present in raw apples too it is more pronounced when the apples are cooked.
How to steam apples and pears
Wash, peel, core, and chop up one medium-sized apple and pear - if you want to serve them as finger food chop them into longer slices for easier gripping.
Pop them into a microwavable dish and add one tablespoon or 15ml of water and seal the dish
Put the microwave on high for three minutes and check every 30 seconds to see if they are tender, without going too mushy.
Alternatively, you can steam the chopped fruit over a pan of boiling water using a steamer basket, and simmer over medium heat for 10 minutes. If they are easily pierced with a fork then they are ready.
According to him, the apple and pear puree baby food had to be sieved twice to be absolutely sure no lumps remained, something Darren believed would be given to the new royal baby at the time.
And while royal chefs would traditionally prepare everything, he claimed that royal nannies too would have a say in what food gets put on the menu.
These days Prince William has three children of his own, Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, eight, and Prince Louis, five with his wife Kate Middleton. Although Kate often likes to bake with her kids, it's likely that their Norland nanny will be involved in some way with the food they eat.
He explained, "When you marry into the royal family you have royal duties and commitments; they will have to have a chef at home preparing everything."
“I’m sure Kate will have input into what dishes the baby will have, but the nanny will have the ultimate say."
Darren added, "It’s not just the clothing and name that will trend; people will think that Kate and the nannies are bound to have it right, so they will want to have the best for their babies too".
In other royal news, Prince George is obsessed with this homegrown treat, and Kate Middleton has discovered a health food hack she wants to try with her kids.
