Prince George Makes Green Lentils Popular
Even the 4-year-old's diet is famous
It came as no surprise that Prince George would be dining like, well, royalty at his London Day School, with an impressive menu featuring entrées like lamb ragout, salmon fillet with salsa verde and poached haddock. But no one could have predicted that Prince George's first school lunch (baked smoked mackerel on a bed of Le Puy green lentils) would send the country into a craze for the peppery green pulses.
The protein-rich lentils started to fly off shelves in the UK after French news outlet The Local revealed the four-year-old's healthy first-day lunch. Sabarot, a distributor of Le Puy green lentils since 1819, said the report caused a high demand for the legumes from both wholesalers and restaurants.
The report triggered a "star effect," Antoine Wassner, head of Sabarot, told L'Express newspaper, which happens "as soon as a VIP is linked to a product." Though Wassner is unsure of the continued popularity of the lentils, the legally protected pulses grown in the Auvergne region of central France are luckily already considered some of the best, with their refined taste that comes from the rich terroir.
If the young prince can make lentils (often called the poor man's caviar) popular, he can make just about anything popular. And with a menu this elite, we won't be surprised if the next UK food obsession also follows Thomas's Battersea's now-famous spread.