Cynthia D. Bertelsen's Gherkins & Tomatoes
A Writer's Musings on Nature and Culture, Since 2008
Desserts and sweets served in the White House reflect the culinary history of the United States. The patterns of cooking, eating, and serving food in the White House originally relied heavily on the British heritage of the Thirteen Colonies, a pattern that generally continues until the present day. Although wars and economic depressions plagued the…
Continue reading ➞ Florida Oranges, and Other White House Desserts
President Harry S. Truman found himself on the slimming end of things in 1946. The New York Times reported that Truman's menus seemed a bit austere and quoted White House housekeeper, Mrs. Mary E. Sharpe, as saying "When I make up menus I keep it in mind." "It" being President's Truman's ongoing battle of the…
Continue reading ➞ Poor Harry: Thanksgiving in the Truman White House 1946
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,…
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…
Continue reading ➞ Eating Dessert at the White House + A Word about Dallas, November 22, 1963*
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…
Continue reading ➞ Breaking: State Dinner Menu Released
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…
Continue reading ➞ Feasting in State: Obama’s First Real State Dinner
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…
Continue reading ➞ Diana Kennedy’s Menu for Charles, Prince of Wales
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.
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…
Continue reading ➞ President Obama’s First “State” Dinner
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…
Continue reading ➞ Lobster Bisque and Striped Bass à la President Barack Obama
The punch froze. So did the canaries. Brought in to sing for the guests, the poor creatures stiffened seemingly in mid-air, falling to their deaths onto the guests below. Luckily, supper began at 9 p.m. with hot coffee and hot oysters. And the people needed something hot to forget their blue noses and the sad…
Continue reading ➞ All the President’s Tables: Ulysses S. Grant’s 1873 Inaugural Supper
January 20, 1953 In 1953, the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies (JCCIC) started the now-traditional ritual of hosting a luncheon for the incoming President and Vice President. General Dwight D. Eisenhower enjoyed tremendous public recognition because of his role as Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe. Any man who could keep the troops…
Continue reading ➞ All the Presidents’ Tables: Dwight D. Eisenhower’s First Inaugural Luncheon, 1953
Like Lyndon Johnson, Harry S. Truman first became president after the death of an incumbent president. When Franklin Delano Roosevelt died on April 12, 1945, Truman took the oath of office in a subdued and quiet ceremony in the White House. The 1949 inauguration, on the other hand, presented an entirely different story. To begin…
Continue reading ➞ All the President’s Tables: Harry S. Truman’s 1949 Inaugural Luncheon
Reagan's first inauguration boasted the honor of being the first inauguration celebrated on the west front of the U.S. Capitol. Held in Statuary Hall, Ronald Reagan's 1981 luncheon featured a "California Cuisine" menu. The U.S. Air Force String Quartet and U.S. Army Strings performed for the 200 guests. Each guest received a series of frameable…
Continue reading ➞ All the Presidents’ Tables: Ronald Reagan’s First Inaugural Lunch Menu 1981
According to an e-mail from the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, the 2009 Inaugural Luncheon looks like this. Note that recipes are also included; click for a .pdf file of the recipes. Around 200 guests will attend this exclusive luncheon in Statuary Hall. Design Cuisine, a top-flight caterer in Washington, designed the menu, which…
Continue reading ➞ Inaugural Luncheon 2009: Menu and Details
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…
Continue reading ➞ All the Presidents’ Table: George W. Bush’s Second Inaugural Menus
President-Elect George W. Bush and President Bill Clinton met for lunch in December 2000 in the Clinton White House to discuss the impending transition of power. This is what they ate: Squash soup Greek Salad Filet Mignon Upside-down Apple Tart w/ Maple Ice Cream* I think it's interesting that there's no quarter given to vegetarians…
Continue reading ➞ All the Presidents’ Tables: Bill and George Tête à Tête
The Joint Congressional Inaugural Committee served the following menu in honor of President Richard M. Nixon and Vice-President Spiro T. Agnew on January 20, 1973. INAUGURAL LUNCHEON 1973 Shrimp Cocktail Roast Tenderloin of Beef Bercy Sauce Green Beans Amandine Broiled Tomato Grapefruit-Avocado Salad Rolls and Butter Fresh Strawberries with Cream Mints Coffee
Two-hundred years after President Thomas Jefferson's 1801 inauguration, to celebrate George W. Bush's first inauguration in 2001, the U.S. Army Brass Quintet provided music. Around 230 dignitaries ate lobster from the surface of U.S. Senate china and enjoyed other dishes honoring Jefferson's presidency. Now Bush walks about as a very lame duck, so lame that…
Continue reading ➞ All the Presidents’ Tables: George W. Bush’s First Inaugural Luncheon 2001
For a man who liked a chop and some herring, Grover Cleveland and his stomach met their culinary match during America's lavish Gilded Age. Grover Cleveland served two non-consecutive terms as president, beginning his initial term in 1885 and his second in 1893. In between, Benjamin Harrison sat in the Oval Office. While president the…
Continue reading ➞ All the Presidents’ Tables: Grover Cleveland’s Inaugural Ball Suppers
A lot of wine used to be sold in Bercy, a Parisian neighborhood. Naturally, the restaurateurs there featured wine in their menus, particularly in a sauce made with shallots and butter. Sauce Bercy. One of President Richard M. Nixon's favorite sauces. He liked it so much the chefs served it at both of his inaugural…
Continue reading ➞ Sauce Bercy, as Served at Nixon’s Inaugural Luncheons
The Joint Congressional Inaugural Committee served the following menu in honor of President Richard M. Nixon and Vice-President Spiro T. Agnew on January 20, 1969. INAUGURAL LUNCHEON 1969 California Fresh Fruit Supreme Celery and Olives New York Roast Tenderloin of Beed Bercy Sauce Baked Tomato Parisian Potatoes Avocado on Romaine Rolls and Butter Pastry Gems…
Continue reading ➞ All the Presidents’ Tables: President Richard Nixon’s First Inaugural Luncheon
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,…
Just in time for Thanksgiving eve, the White House uploaded the following menu that President Bush and his family will eat on November 27, 2008. Just a few changes from 2006: Free-Range Roast Turkey Cornbread Dressing Cranberry Sauce Sautéed Green Beans Morelia Style Gazpacho with Spinach Salad Zucchini Gratin Whipped Maple Sweet Potatoes Buttered Mashed…
Continue reading ➞ BREAKING: Camp David / White House Thanksgiving Menu 2008
Like presidents before him, George W. Bush prefers eating his turkey at Camp David. Here's what he loaded up on at Thanksgiving in 2006: Free-Range Roasted Turkey Cast-Iron Skillet Cornbread Dressing Cranberry Sauce Sauteed Green Beans Zucchini Gratin Whipped Maple Sweet Potatoes Basil Chive Red Potato Mash Giblet Gravy Fresh Clover Rolls with Honey Butter…
Continue reading ➞ Thanksgiving in the Bush White House: 2006 Menu
U.S. Presidents since Eisenhower seem to prefer the rusticity of Camp David for Thanksgiving. Bill Clinton ate his first Thanksgiving dinner as president at Camp David. The Office of the First Lady released the following menu the day before Thanksgiving that year, November 23, 1995: Thanksgiving Menu Turkey Wrapped in Bacon Mrs. Kelly's Traditional Cornbread…
Continue reading ➞ President Bill Clinton’s First Thanksgiving in the White House: The Menu
What do world leaders get to imbibe at the White House in these last days of the Bush presidency? To look at the menu for the G20 financial-crisis dinner held on November 14, 2008 at the White House, you wouldn't even guess that world leaders flew in to discuss the economic woes of the world…
Continue reading ➞ What??? $500-a-bottle wine* at the White House … Now???
Hands down, my vote for the greatest presidents we've seen in this country goes to George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Franklin Delano Roosevelt. John Kennedy might have been a truly great president, but he died before he could prove his mettle, though his stand against the USSR during the Cuban Missile Crisis counts…
Continue reading ➞ Election-Day Menu: Food from Our Greatest Presidents
In 2005, sparks flew in the White House kitchen. And the conflagration came not from the Crêpes Suzettes. No indeed. White House chef, Walter Scheib, formerly chef of the Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia, found himself in the same pickle that other French-trained chefs working at the White House experienced over the years. Scheib, who…
Continue reading ➞ Looking for a Woman Chef: The 2005 Palace Revolt
Food and fiction go together like ham and eggs. And especially food-based mysteries --- as the following authors so aptly show: Phyllis Richman, Susan Alpert, Miranda Bliss, Nancy Fairbanks, Ellen Hart, J. B. Stanley, and Diane Mott Davidson. Elliott Roosevelt, the son of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, wrote a mystery with the title of The…
Continue reading ➞ FICTION IN THE (WHITE HOUSE) KITCHEN
