‘It’s like asking Iron Maiden to play jazz’: Chef for Prince William’s eco awards refuses to prepare ‘disrespectful’ vegan menu

The chef tasked with creating a vegan banquet for Prince William’s environmental awards initially refused to create the ‘disrespectful’ menu.

At the Earthshot Award awards night in Rio de Janeiro on November 5, Saulo Jennings was asked to prepare a canapé for the prince and 700 guests, but he couldn’t stomach the 100 percent vegan dinner.

The top Brazilian chef, who uses sustainable ingredients sourced from the Amazon rainforest, initially thought he had misunderstood the instructions after being informed by organisers.

“It’s like asking Iron Maiden to play jazz,” the conductor told the New York Times. ‘It was a lack of respect for our culinary traditions and the Amazon itself.’

Mr. Jennings catered King Charles’ coronation at the British embassy and planned to feed guests pirarucu, a huge river fish found in the Amazon that 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 give up my job as a cook. ‘My work has always been about balance, honoring what the forest and rivers give us.’

While Prince William apparently had no interest in wanting the vegan menu, the awards often serve vegetarian dishes to honor the climate awareness message.

Mr Jennings, the UN gastronomy ambassador, eventually agreed to create a completely fish-free menu, including local produce such as cassava root, jambu leaves and Brazil nuts.

Prince of Wales to visit South American country for first time for Earthshort awards

However, he was reportedly not chosen due to budget constraints rather than his original resistance to vegan dishes.

The event will be hosted at Rio’s Museum of Tomorrow and will be catered for by another supplier.

The chef’s Sao Paulo restaurant, Casa do Saulo, offers a wide variety of fish items but no meat-free main courses, according to its menu on social media.

She participates in community-led efforts to prove that 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. “This is what true sustainability looks like,” he said.

The Prince of Wales will visit the South American country for the first time for the Earthshort awards before joining world leaders at the Cop30 global climate change summit in Belem in the Amazon.

The annual environment prize, established by the Prince in 2020, awards £1 million to five people to be used to promote ideas that could help ‘repair’ the planet.

When the finalists were announced, William said the ‘urgent optimism’ at the heart of the environmental project was ‘unstoppable’.

Pop stars Kylie Minogue and Shawn Mendes are among those performing at the ceremony.

Prince William and Earthshot have been contacted for comment.