9 Foods And Drinks Loved By Grace Kelly

When you think of Grace Kelly, your mind might picture the Princess Grace of Monaco, in her real-life starring role after she married Prince Rainier III in 1956. It's hard not to associate Kelly, who died in 1982 at the young age of 52, with royalty. 

She was the epitome of elegance, a member of the Monégasque nobility and a classic star of the silver screen, starring in films like 1955's "To Catch a Thief" and 1954's "The Country Girl." There isn't much about Kelly's life that was relatable to the everyday person, actually. Born in Philadelphia to a wealthy family, Kelly defied her parents and studied acting, eventually becoming one of Alfred Hitchcock's muses. But, there were some things about her, like her tastes in food, that were somewhat normal.

Kelly enjoyed cooking, and, while she loved many French dishes, she didn't lose her fondness for some of the more common comfort foods during her royal life. In fact, if you can't resist a burger, you've got more in common with Kelly than you might have thought. Here, we take a look back at some foods and drinks that she adored. But spoiler alert, it's not all relatable. She was a princess, after all.

Grace Kelly was pretty strict with her diet, as she said she tried to avoid eating too much sugar or white bread — but, she wasn't above classic, American comfort food. In fact, like most of us, she reportedly enjoyed the occasional cheeseburger. 

But let's be real — It's unlikely you would have seen the princess indulging in any fast food patty. The kind of burgers Kelly enjoyed were likely homemade, and some reports state she even liked whipping them up herself from scratch. We don't know exactly what kind of burgers Kelly liked, but perhaps after moving to Monaco, she indulged in a French-style cheeseburger, complete with Gruyère cheese and caramelized onions.

Kelly was far from the only old Hollywood star who enjoyed an occasional burger. James Dean and Natalie Wood were among many celebrities who were regular customers at Hamburger Hamlet in Los Angeles, for example, while Elizabeth Taylor and Marilyn Monroe were both photographed multiple times enjoying the American favorite.

It seems that, for Kelly, cheeseburgers would have been firmly in the occasional treat category. She was very health-conscious, and would mainly eat whole foods, including grains and lots of vegetables. It's easy to imagine that she would have loved many modern nutrition and wellness trends.

Kelly was apparently a dab hand at making salads. In the book "Recipes for Rebels: In the kitchen with James Dean," published in 2015, Swenson pulls together recipes from Dean's friends, family members, and costars. Kelly's contribution? A Caesar salad. The star's version of this Italian-American favorite has all the classic elements, including Romaine lettuce, Parmesan cheese, anchovies, croutons, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, olive oil, and eggs. However, while many recipes instruct home cooks to whisk raw eggs into the dressing, Kelly took a different approach.

The Hollywood star coddled her eggs, which basically involves slowly cooking an egg in simmering water (similar to a poached egg). In her recipe, Kelly instructs the reader to place an egg in a cup, before pouring boiling water over it, and then breaking it into a salad bowl with the rest of the dressing ingredients.

Monaco has its own culinary traditions, but much of the cuisine in this tiny sovereign principality is influenced by the south of France (many of the residents are French, after all). So it tracks that when Kelly moved to Monaco in the 1950s to marry Prince Rainier III, she also developed a liking for French food. One dish that Kelly seemed to particularly enjoy was pissaladière. In fact, she even had her own recipe for the savory Mediterranean tart.

If you love rustic thin and crispy pizza —with anchovies, that is, there's a good chance you'll enjoy this appetizer pizza that's the ultimate snack for fish lovers. This French dish is very similar to the Italian classic, with its base of dough, or puff pastry. There are layers of ingredients like caramelized onions, black olives, and anchovies, but unlike pizza, there usually isn't any tomato sauce. That said, it seems that Kelly liked to break tradition.

In a kind of pizza-pissaladière mash-up, Kelly topped classic dough with a tomato-based sauce, before smothering it in olives, onions, and anchovies. This is the second dish on this list with anchovies, so Kelly was clearly a big fan of the small, salty fish. Again, it makes sense with her move to Monaco — anchovies are a Mediterranean staple, and a key element of many classic dishes from the region.

Another Mediterranean recipe that Kelly apparently loved was ratatouille Niçoise. It's pretty unsurprising, given that this simple Provençal dish seems perfectly suited to the princess' penchant for whole foods. In fact, as anyone who has seen the popular Pixar movie with the same name will know, ratatouille is essentially just stewed Mediterranean vegetables like eggplant, zucchini, tomatoes, and bell peppers, seasoned with fresh herbs like basil and thyme. Kelly's version of ratatouille Niçoise was apparently pretty accurate to the traditional dish, if a little heavier on the eggplant.

The Niçoise part of the dish's title refers to the recipe's Nice origins. Given that Nice is just 14 miles (22 km) from the principality, Niçoise cuisine is naturally popular in Monaco. Kelly was also reportedly a fan of salade Niçoise, which is usually made with raw vegetables like tomatoes, lettuce, radishes, and olives, as well as eggs and sometimes tuna or anchovies. In fact, the old Hollywood star allegedly had her own recipe for salade Niçoise. We were unable to track it down, but we'll hazard a guess that she was pretty generous with the salty fish.

In 1961, Julia Child released the first volume of her cookbook, "Mastering the Art of French Cooking," and well, you likely already know it was a huge success. The book introduced American home cooks to new culinary techniques and French dishes, like beef Bourguignon, coq au vin, and caneton a l'orange. The latter, more widely known as duck a l'orange, is made with a rich, brown, orange-flavored sauce. But, while Child helped to put duck a l'orange on the dinner party menu for housewives everywhere, she actually wasn't the first to introduce this dish to the American public. In fact, Kelly got there before her.

Duck a l'orange started appearing in recipe books in the 1950s; and it's even featured in the second edition of "Betty Crocker's Picture Cook Book." Published in 1956, the book features the favorite dinner menus of popular celebrities of the time, including Kelly. In the segment, titled "Entertaining in Hollywood," Kelly explained that she liked to have duck a l'orange served with French-style green beans and hearts of palm salad.

We know that neither Child nor Kelly invented duck a l'orange. But you might be surprised to learn that the French didn't either. The dish actually has Middle Eastern roots, and was probably invented in Persia. After that, it made its way to Italy, and then, in the 16th century, it landed in France.

Given Kelly's liking for anchovies, it's not all that surprising that she enjoyed caviar. Unlike, perhaps cheeseburgers or ratatouille, this particular food feels more fitting for royalty. Caviar is, of course, one of the most expensive and luxurious foods in the world, largely because of the way it is produced. The delicate eggs are hand-harvested from rare sturgeon fish — before being cleaned, sorted, and cured with salt.

There are many ways to serve caviar. Some like to keep it simple, by eating the eggs from the back of their hand, while others like to pair it with boiled eggs, crème fraîche, or crackers. Kelly's favorite way to serve caviar, though, was on blinis.

In "Betty Crocker's Picture Cook Book," Kelly said that, before tucking into duck a l'orange, she liked to indulge in an appetizer of caviar blinis. For the uninitiated, blinis are basically mini pancakes that serve as a tiny, edible plate for caviar. Kelly liked hers to be made with buckwheat, and drizzled with oil and lemon juice or vinegar.

Again, it's not surprising that Kelly was partial to Champagne, being a princess, and all. And with Monaco not being too far from the Champagne region of France, fizz wasn't difficult to find. Speaking of Champagne and the actress, here's a fun fact: the iconic, vintage-style Taittinger Champagne poster that features a slender, blonde woman in a black evening gown behind a tall glass is not Grace Kelly, as it has been mistakenly rumored to be — it's rather, French actress Catherine Deneuve.

The princess seemed to favor another Champagne, anyway. In 1970, Kelly asked Perrier-Jouët, one of the oldest Champagne houses in France, to sponsor the Rose Ball, her annual charity event. It is said that the maison's Belle Epoque was indeed, the princess' favorite Champagne.

But when there weren't prestigious French Champagne names available, Kelly wasn't fussy, either. According to fellow Hollywood icon Ava Gardner, Kelly and her once bought some bubbly from a bootlegger in Africa, while they were filming the 1953 movie "Mogambo." Gardner claimed that Champagne was a big part of their close friendship, and she said that Kelly would send her a bottle every year on her birthday. We'd like to raise a glass to that lovely story. Cheers, ladies.

In France, a holiday feast often involves foods like smoked salmon, cheese, stuffed mushrooms, and chicken liver pâté. While Kelly clearly loved and embraced French cuisine, she didn't forget her roots over the holidays. According to Kelly's son Prince Albert, the princess always wanted to celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas with traditional American foods (via People.com).

She would insist on eating roast turkey, in particular, even though it wasn't hugely popular or widely available in Monaco, at the time. This makes sense, considering that turkeys are actually native to North America, not Europe. To ensure they had an authentic American feast, Prince Albert recalled that Kelly would either take the family to the American Club on the French Riviera, or to the Monaco/USA Association. At those places, they would enjoy a Thanksgiving spread with yams, pumpkins, and plenty of (imported) turkey. The prince added that, if they were unable to enjoy their annual turkey during the American holiday, they'd be sure to make up for it at Christmas.

Another example of Kelly not losing touch with her American past was in her love for scrapple. Yes, the glamorous princess loved this distinctly un-princessy dish (no offense to scrapple lovers), which is made with a mishmash of pork scraps, like heart, liver, and even head. Everything is boiled with cornmeal, flour, and herbs, before it's sliced and fried in a pan. Out of place in a palace, scrapple has its roots in peasant food. It was often eaten by less fortunate folks in Pennsylvania, and was even given the nickname "poor man's bacon."

According to Kelly's nephew Chris LeVine, his Pennsylvania-born aunt couldn't let go of scrapple, even when she lived in a palace. He recalls that, on visits home, she would wrap up slices of the fried pork meat and take it back to Monaco in her handbag, giving it to the kitchen staff to encourage them to replicate it.