Food - Drink
The Real Reason Food With A Pointed End Is Never Served To The Monarch
By LAUREN CAHN
Queen Elizabeth cultivated an air of mystery around the royal life, but one thing that is apparent is that life in the royal family involves a lot of rules. Most of these guidelines are entrenched in tradition that goes back centuries, like the rule that bans pointed-edged foods from being served to a royal.
The rule that royals never be served pointy foods is so old that its origins are uncertain, but its significance has remained steadfast. According to former royal family chef Graham Newbould, “The royals never have square sandwiches because tradition has it that anyone presenting them with pointed-edged food is trying to overthrow the throne of England.”
Newbould explains that even a simple task like preparing the tiny cucumber sandwiches for teatime was fraught with tradition. The first step was to ensure that all the seeds were removed from the cucumber as one must never serve anything with seeds to the royal family, and the last step was to cut off the corners of the bread so that there were no pointy edges.