Yevhen Klopotenko visited Prince Harry
The winner of the fifth season of the culinary show 'MasterChef', chef Yevhen Klopotenko personally handed over his dishes to Prince Harry. The restaurateur emphasized that one of them is now the late Princess Diana's favorite dish, the mother of the Duke of Sussex. This was reported by 'Glavkom' citing Yevhen Klopotenko's social media.
The chef arrived before the departure of the 'Ukrzaliznytsia' train, from which Prince Harry left Kyiv after a busy trip. Klopotenko handed over traditional Ukrainian dishes in the branded packaging of his establishment for the journey. Moreover, together with the Duke of Sussex, he simultaneously pronounced the name of Ukraine's most famous soup on camera.
«We prepared him real Ukrainian food: borscht, cabbage porridge, vereshchaka, and syrniki. All of this went with him on the train back. And to make sure he doesn't forget this taste - a jar of borscht dressing and my phone number, so when he cooks, he can text me. Because Ukrainian food is not just about satiety. It’s about us, about roots, and even about royal families,» noted Yevhen Klopotenko.
Klopotenko also brought a copy of the letter from Buckingham Palace. In 1981, the South African charity Avril Elizabeth Home in Johannesburg reached out to famous people with a request to send their favorite recipes for a collection.
«Lady Diana's favorite recipe is borscht. It consists of the following ingredients: beets, natural yogurt, onion, chicken broth, milk, sour cream, salt, and pepper,» stated the reply, compiled on behalf of Princess Diana (through her secretary).
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The letter is dated April 7, 1981, when Diana still bore the surname Spencer, but was soon to become engaged to Prince Charles. There were no specific mentions of cabbage, potatoes, tomatoes, or pampushky. So, Yevhen Klopotenko corrected this by presenting the original version of Princess Diana's favorite dish.
«Prince Harry came to Ukraine. And I immediately thought: he must feel the taste of what his mother loved. Because once an Englishwoman wrote a letter to the palace to find out what dish Princess Diana loved the most. The answer was simple - borshch soup. A bit adapted, but the essence remains,» concluded Klopotenko.
As a result of the trip to Ukraine, Prince Harry had the opportunity to try real Ukrainian dishes, including borscht, which was his mother Princess Diana's favorite dish. Yevhen Klopotenko personally handed over not only the dishes but also a copy of the letter confirming the choice of borscht as the princess's favorite dish in 1981.