A chef tasked with crafting a vegan banquet for Prince William‘s eco awards originally refused to prepare the ‘disrespectful’ menu.
Saulo Jennings was asked to cater canapes for the prince and 700 guests at the Earthshot Prize awards night in Rio de Janeiro on November 5 but could not stomach the 100 per cent vegan supper.
The top Brazilian chef, who uses sustainable ingredients from the Amazon rainforest, originally thought he had misunderstood the instructions after being informed by organisers.
‘It’s like asking Iron Maiden to play jazz,’ the chef told the New York Times. ‘It was a lack of respect for our culinary traditions and for the Amazon itself’.
Mr Jennings catered for the coronation ceremony of King Charles at the British embassy and was planning to feed guests pirarucu – a huge river fish found in the Amazon which has become a symbol of the rainforest’s environmental recovery.
‘I have nothing against vegans or British people,’ he added. ‘But I don’t want to abandon my culinary mission. My work has always been about balance, about honouring what the forest and rivers give us.’
Prince William is understood to have had no involvement in asking for the vegan menu, while vegetarian food is usually served at the awards to honour its climate conscious message.
Mr Jennings, a UN gastronomy ambassador, eventually agreed to prepare a fully fish-free menu, including local items such as cassava root, jambu leaf and Brazil nut.
A chef tasked with crafting a vegan banquet for Prince William’s eco awards has refused to prepare the ‘disrespectful’ menu
The Prince of Wales will visit the South American nation for the first time for his Earthshort awards
However, he was reportedly not chosen because of budget restrictions, rather than his original resistance to the vegan dishes.
The event will be hosted at Rio’s Museum of Tomorrow and will be catered by another supplier.
The chef’s Sao Paulo restaurant, Casa do Saulo, serves a wide range of fish items but does not have any meat-free main dishes, according to its menu on social media.
He is involved in community-led efforts to prove sustainability can work while enjoying traditional foods.
‘We eat whatever the forests give us, whatever the rivers give us. Some days it’s fish, other days it’s nuts and açaí. That’s what real sustainability looks like,’ he said.
The Prince of Wales will visit the South American nation for the first time for his Earthshort awards before joining world leaders at the Cop30 global climate change summit in Belem in the Amazon.
The annual environmental accolade, founded by the prince in 2020, awards £1million to five people to be used to scale up ideas which could help ‘repair’ the planet.
When the finalists were announced, William said the ‘urgent optimism’ at the heart of his environmental project felt ‘unstoppable’.
Pop stars Kylie Minogue and Shawn Mendes are among those performing at the ceremony.
Prince William and Earthshot have been contacted for comment.
