Cooking at the White House wasn’t always the glam job it is today. Thomas Jefferson’s French chef Honoré Julien – who’d cooked for George Washington, too – wanted to quit upon seeing the kitchen at the White House. And George Washington placed a want ad for a cook: ”A cook is wanted for the family of…
Tag: White House
Christmas in the White House: President Benjamin Harrison’s Carlsbad Wafers and His 1890 Christmas Dinner
President Benjamin Harrison, being a card-carrying participant of the Gilded Age, and his wife Caroline Scott Harrison served an unusual dinner on Christmas day, 1890. (The menu follows below.) Unusual in one way. Carlsbad Wafers. Huh? The mention of Carlsbad Wafers stopped me in my tracks for a minute. Like a curious cat, whiskers trembling,…
Eating Dessert at the White House + A Word about Dallas, November 22, 1963*
Bill Yosses, the current White House pastry chef says pie is the all-time favorite in the Obama White House, but adds that “The dessert that was the biggest hit last year was a sugar cookie in the shape of the First Family’s dog, Bo. This year we have a black and yellow bumblebee to celebrate…
Breaking: State Dinner Menu Released
Potato and Eggplant Salad White House Arugula w/ Onion Seed Vinaigrette 2008 Savingnon Blanc, Modus Operandi, Napa Valley Red Lentil Soup w Fresh Cheese 2006 Riesling, Brooks “Ara”, Wilamette Valley Roast Potato Dumplings w Tomato Chutney Chick Peas and Okra or Green Curry Prawns w caramelized Salsify w smoke Collard Greens and coconut aged basmati…
Feasting in State: Obama’s First Real State Dinner
In the next week, we will see real-time examples of a few of the different types of feasts common to American culture: Thanksgiving — essentially a harvest feast tinged with overtones of cultural identity — and President Barack Obama’s first true State Dinner, to be held on November 24, 2009 for India’s Prime Minister Manmohan…
Diana Kennedy’s Menu for Charles, Prince of Wales
In 2002, Diana Kennedy, well-known author of Mexican cookbooks, served the following menu to the man who would be king, Charles, Prince of Wales:* Cocktails & Appetizers Tequila Apéritifs Fresh Tortillas Small Pumpkin Seeds Toasted and Ground with Roasted Habanero Chilies Guacamole Enhanced with Grapes and Pomegranate Seeds Meal Cream-of-Squash-Flower Soup Pork Loin Baked in…
Gardening at the White House
A history of American gardens, a part of the “Eat the View” effort to turn the 18 acres of the White House backyard into a garden. Sounds like the Obama garden is not the first garden to be planted there.
President Obama’s First “State” Dinner
According to the White House Web site, dated February 22, 2009, the following discussion took place in the White House kitchen: DISCUSSION WITH THE FIRST LADY, SOCIAL SECRETARY DESIREE ROGERS, EXECUTIVE CHEF CHRIS COMERFORD, PASTRY CHEF BILL YOSSES AND STUDENTS FROM L’ACADEMIE DE CUISINE White House Kitchen Here’s what White House Chef Cris Comerford had…
Lobster Bisque and Striped Bass à la President Barack Obama
On February 24, 2009, President Barack Obama lunched on lobster bisque and striped bass, along with TV anchors due to report on his “state of the nation” speech. Very interesting was a brief mention of the Obamas’ “family dinners”: He cherishes family dinner in the White House, where “thorns and roses” is now the favorite…
