Linda helps to feed the Queen

CELEBRATIONS for the Queen's 90th birthday today have reminded a woman of the time she cooked for the monarch in West Cornwall nearly 40 years ago.

Queen Elizabeth II visited Geevor Tin Mine on Friday November 28, 1980 for the opening ceremony of the extension of the Victory Shaft.

She was joined by her husband Prince Phillip and son Prince Andrew.

The Cornishman reported on the event, featuring the Queen on the front page, under the headline 'The Queen smiled at me' and on two full pages inside with a number of pictures taken during her seven-hour stay in West Cornwall, which included a visit to Newlyn harbour.

For Linda Piggott-Vijeh, now 61, the visit was her first experience of professional catering and inspired her to a lifetime's work in the food and drink industry.

Ms Piggott-Vijeh said she had been living in Helston with her then husband who was based at RNAS Culdrose when she struck up a friendship with chef Ann Long, who ran the Count House Restaurant, at Botallack.

"When she was asked to cook for the Queen's lunch I asked if I could help out," said Ms Piggott-Vijeh, who said at that time she was an enthusiastic home cook but no more.

"My job that day was to peel the grapes.

"Every time I see a peeled grape now I remember that.

"I was required to serve the wine to the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh and Prince Andrew."

Despite only getting to peel the grapes, Ms Piggott-Vijeh said that day started her love of food and led her on the path to become a chef, culminating in her being the chef for the British Ambassador to the United Nations many years later.

The former cookery teacher at Cornwall College, Camborne, who now lives in Somerset, still regularly cooks in Cornwall at a private house in Helford.