According to the official Senate committee on the 2005 inaugural,
The 2005 Inaugural Luncheon menu draws upon historic ties to the Presidency of Theodore Roosevelt and the Lewis and Clark expedition of 1803-1806. In the early twentieth century, the preparation of a decadent layered scalloped course was a common style of menu presentation. Creamed seafood was one of the many courses served at President Roosevelt’s inaugural ball supper in 1905. In great contrast, the thirty-three members of the Lewis and Clark expedition found sustenance in America’s natural bounty of wild game during their three-year journey to the Pacific Ocean. Although a century separated these two unique visions of America, President Roosevelt enjoyed ending an elaborate meal with a simple steamed pudding while Lewis and Clark foraged the land for a bountiful harvest of fruits and berries.
Thus the Committee decided upon the following menu — recipes available:
Scalloped Crab and Lobster
Roasted Missouri Quail
Chestnuts
Brined Root Vegetables
Steamed Lemon Pudding
Apple Wild Cherry Compote
Windsor Vineyards, 2004 Sauvignon Blanc
Mendocino County, Private Reserve
Windsor Vineyards, 2000 Cabernet Sauvignon
Sonoma County, Signature Series
Korbel Natural “Special Inaugural Cuvée” Champagne
However, some wits passed around the following tongue-in-cheek menu honoring major donors and managed to convince several food bloggers in 2005 that this was the menu:
According to The Washington Post, January 19, 2005, “Guests at three balls — to which donors of between $100,000 and $250,000 were invited tonight — will dine on lobster medallions with orange and grapefruit sections, filet of beef tenderloin with asparagus, baby carrots, potatoes au gratin and Georgia peach crumble with vanilla ice cream.”
Who says money doesn’t get you everywhere?