Anton Mosimann celebrates 50 years at the stove cooking for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee lunch

Anton Mosimann said he was honoured to celebrate 50 years in the kitchen by cooking for the Queen as part of the Diamond Jubilee celebrations.

The lunch he prepared at Westminster Hall on Tuesday for 750 guests, following the thanksgiving service at St Paul's Cathedral, took place half a century after the 15-year-old Mosimann began his chef apprenticeship in the Swiss town of Twann, on 4 June 1962.

It was the second event during the Diamond Jubilee celebrations in which Mosimann was involved. Last month he oversaw the celebration dinner at Buckingham Palace, hosted by Prince Charles, for 20 heads of state.

"I feel incredibly honoured to be asked to cook for Her Majesty, it is a tremendous privilege," Mosimann told Caterer and Hotelkeeper. "Both events were amazing and I will treasure those memories for many years to come."

The lunch menu at Westminster Hall included marinated Uist Island salmon with Lyme Bay crab and fresh herb salad with lime soy dressing; saddle of Welsh Cambrian lamb with braised shoulder of lamb, grilled English asparagus, Jersey Royal potatoes and Jubilee Sauce; and a symphony of desserts (chocolate délice, bread and butter pudding and seasonal Scottish berries).

A Ceylon tea served after the lunch - alongside coffee and petits fours - was made from a bush planted by the Duke of Edinburgh during a state visit to Sri Lanka in 1954.

During his 50-year career, Mosimann - whose business empire today incorporates a private members' club in Belgravia, an events and catering company and the Mosimann Academy - has cooked for four generations of the Royal Family in all the royal palaces, all of the crowned heads of Europe, and four United States presidents, as well as six British prime ministers at 10 Downing Street. He received the Royal Warrant from the Prince of Wales in 2000.

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By Janet Harmer

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