19th century gastronomer Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin observed, "Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you who you are." Indeed, there is no better measure of personal taste than the food one eats. Literally and figuratively.
What our presidents eat is a function of family heritage, personal preference, physical condition and social obligation. In sum: a president's favorite meal is NOT always what's served in the White House. Why? Because this is a public place and meals are required to meet certain standards. Often a president's favorite food is a simple dish enjoyed in childhood. These personal tidbits are generally not *worth* reporting in history books. Foods consumed privately (most often breakfast, or with the family) are generally the best reflections of personal preference.
Each of our presidents presents a unique gastronomic portrait. Some were gourmets relishing classic French cuisine (Jefferson, Kennedy); others were "down home" simple eaters (Adams, Johnson). Presidents have viewed food as fuel (Lincoln, Wilson); opportunities for cultural exchange (Nixon, FDR); or medical encumbrance (Garfield).
What we know about First Family food preferences is gleaned from primary documents (cookbooks, letters, journals), chef notes, and household ledgers. With few notable exceptions, presidential food favorites are rarely recorded by biographers.
Presidential cookbooks
...historic surveys with notes & modernized recipes; books on specific presidents are included in that person's section.
More information
1. Biographies
...these sometimes mention favorite childhood foods, family dinners. If the president liked to cook, it's
sometimes noted. Food allergies too.
2. Presidential homes & musems Example:
President Kennedy's favorite foods &
Mrs.
Kennedy's entertaining style
3. White House Chef books--examples: The Presidential Cookbook Henrietta Nesbitt [FDR] & The White House Chef Cookbook, Rene Verdon [JFK]
4. Cookbooks published by historic sites--example: Dining at Monticello, Damon Lee Fowler
5. Magazines & newspapers--Inaugural fare, State dinners, family Christmas suppers, and other presidential menus are sometimes
printed in newspapers & magazines. They are also good for researching recent presidential favorites and food lore
(who said "I hate broccoli?").
Everyone knows Barack Obama is our 44th president. Why does this site only list 43?
Excellent question! One of our presidents served two non-concurrent terms. Grover Cleveland was both 22nd and
24th president. Presumably, his food preferences remained unchanged.
George Washington is often associated with cherries (cherry tree, cherry pie etc.). According to his biographers, our first president did, indeed, love cherries. He also loved a wide variety of fruits, nuts, and fish. He preferred simple meals over fancy ones. George Washington's home ( Mount Vernon) was completely self-sufficient. It had extensive farms, orchards, meat preservation facilities (to make ham, bacon, etc) and animals. Family recipes were recorded in Martha Washington's Booke of Cookery (recently reprinted by Columbia University Press).
"George Washington's own eating habits were relatively simple. One observer of the time said
that he 'took what came with philosophy'; certainly no one could accuse our first President of
having been a gourmet. Custis, Martha Washington's grandson, described Washington's food
preferences: 'He ate heartily, but was not particular in his diet, with the exception of fish, of
which he was excessively fond. He partook sparingly of dessert, drank a home-made
beverage, and from four to five glasses of Madeira wine'...A special passion of the
President's was nuts. He would buy hazelnuts and shellbacks by the barrel...Food reflects the
man. In Washington, there is the interesting dichotomy of a man disinterested in the refinements
of the table, yet anxious to offer as many refinements as possible to his guests, simple in his own
tastes but generous toward others...As food reflects the man, it also reflects the times. The food
served at the President's table from 1789 to the end of Washington's second term, 1797,
indicates the new nation's dependence on the land. Game, fowl, meats, plantation-grown fruits
and vegetables, fish from local rivers of the Atlantic reveal the abundance of the land. Spliced
throughout the menus are the remnants of Washington's English heritage--puddings, cream
trifles, and taste for port and wine."
---The Presidents' Cookbook, Poppy Cannon and Patricia Brooks [Funk & Wagnalls:New York]
1968 (p. 8-9)
[NOTE: This book has many pages about Washington's food and dining habits. It
also includes modernized recipes with history notes. If you need more information ask your
librarian to help you find this book.]
"Washington said: 'My manner of living is plain, and I do not mean to be put out by it. A glass of wine and a bit of mutton are
always welcome. Those who expect more will be disappointed.' This, however, is an example of the 'plain living' offered guests
at a Presidential dinner: There was an elegant variety of roast beef, veal, turkey, ducks, fowls, hams, etc.; puddings, jellies, oranges,
apples, nuts, almonds, figs, raisins, and a variety of wines and punch [one guest observed]."
---ibid (p. 2)
"Breakfast seems to have been the only meal in the Presidential house that was relaxed. At least the report of Henry Wansey, and
English manufacturer, who had breakfast with the President and his family on June 8, 1794, indicates this to be so: 'Mrs.
Washington made tea and coffee for them; on the table there were two small plates of sliced tongues and dry toast, bread and butter,
but no broiled fish, as is generally the custom. Miss Eleanor Custis, her granddaughter, in her sixteenth year, sat next to
her, and next, her grandson, George Washington Parke Custis, two years older. There were but few of form; one servant only attended
who wore no livery.'"
---ibid (p. 8)
[Modernized breakfast recipes in this book include: Indian Hoe Cakes, Peggy Stewart Tea, Rice Waffles with Ferry Farm Sauce,
Buttered Eggs.] Nellie Custis'
Hoecake recipe (original
description & modernized recipe), courtesy of Mount Vernon (end of page).
Holiday & special dinners
Christmas at Mount Vernon
Dessert, anyone?
Popular desserts in George Washington's place & time were plentiful and delicious. Martha Washington's recipes include:
Fruit preserves, candied fruits, dried fruits, fruit cakes, sugar cakes (like cookies), carraway cakes, Shrewsbury Cakes, Great Cakes (enriched spice cakes),
Marchepane Cakes (marchepane is sugared almond paste), Bisket bread (like lady fingers), Mackaroones (macaroons), Ginger Bread, Iumbles (enriched sugar cookies flavored with vanilla, almond or lemon), Jellies, and Pie/tarts (fruit...apple, cherry, berry; nut...almond... or mince), custard (lemon, orange, almond), Cheese cakes & Snow.
If you want to examine this primary document ask your librarian to help you find a copy of: Martha Washington's Book of Cookery and Book of Sweetmeats, transcribed by Karen Hess [Columbia University Press: New York] 1995. ISBN 0-231-04931-5 (Check index pages for recipe references)
If you need something quick (& modernized), The Presidents' Cookbook/Poppy Cannon & Patricia Brown offers: Trifle, Rich Boiled Custard, Lettuce Tart, Cats' Tongues nee Spoon Biscuits (like lady fingers), Blackaps (apple dessert), Candied Orange Peel, Orange Butter, Martha Washington's Bonbons (candy), Fresh Cheese with Almonds, Custard Pie with Almonds, Rich Blackcake, A Tansy with Sliced Oranges, Martha Washington's Gingerbread, Maids of Honor, Martha Washington Famous Great Cake, Martha Washington's White Fruit Cake, Shrewsbury Cakes, Jumbles, Waverly Jumbles, "A Cheap Dessert," (hominy, cornmeal, eggs, milk & butter), Martha Washington Cake and Martha's Cherry Bread-and-Butter Pudding. If you want a couple of these, we can fax or scan.
What about the cherry tree?
According to the fruit experts at the University of Georgia:
"Sweet cherries came to the USA with English Colonists in 1629, and later were
introduced to California by Spanish Missionaries. In the 1800's sweet cherries were moved west by pioneers and fur traders to their major sites of production in
Washington, Oregon, and California. Cultivars selected at that time still form the base of the industry today."
John Bartram's famous Catalogue of American Plants circa 1783 contains several references to 18th century American cherries
Recommended reading: (historic recipes with excellent notes)
What did General Washington eat during the Revolutionary War?
What was served at the first State Dinner, May 29, 1789?
"Thursday, May 28. At New York: "New York, May 30.--Although The President makes no formal invitation, yet the day after the arrival of Mrs. Washington, the following
distinguished personages dined at his house, en famille. --Their Excellencies the Vice-President--the Governor of this State--the Ministers of France and Spain--and the
Governor of the Western Territory--the Hon. Secretary of the United States for Foreign Affairs--the Most. Hon. Mr. Langdon, Mr. Wingate, Mr. Izard, Mr. Few, and Mr.
Muhlenberg, Speaker of the House of Representatives of the United States."--Gazette of the United States. Paine Wingate, Senator from New Hampshire, one of the
guests has left the following description of this dinner: "It was the least showy dinner that I ever saw at the President's. As there was no clergyman present, Washington
himself said grace on taking his seat. He dined on a boiled leg of mutton, as it was his custom to eat of only one dish. After the dessert a single glass of wine was offered
to each of the guests, when the President rose, the guests following his example, and repaired to the drawing-room, each departing at his option, without ceremony."
General Washington's Thursday dinners:
"The Thursday dinners,...were served at three in the afternoon, to from ten to twenty-two guests. At the central table, laid exquisitely in fine linen, was a long mirror, made
in sections and framed in silver, on which stood china statuettes. The silverware which had been melted down and reproduced in more elegant style with each piece
displaying the arms of the Washington family, and a small bead edge around the rim, adorned the table. Roast beef, veal, lamb, turkey and duck, and varieties of wild
game, in which Manhattan Island then abounded, with jelly, fruit, nuts and raisins, were on the table before the guests made their entrance. Mrs. Washington sat at one
end of the table and the President's secretary, Tobias Lear, at the other. In the center of one side sat the president himself. After the meal the President would raise his
wine glass. All would drink a toast, and the ladies would retire to the drawing-room, leaving the men to their after dinner indulgences. The Washingtons served good wine,
but ordinarily a silver mug of beer stood beside the President's plate, except at state dinners. An invitation to dinner was not regarded as a command, and there were
instances of regrets being sent for one reason or another. Half a dozen or more servants were in attendance at these dinners, in the white and scarlet livery of the
Washington household. It is said that both the President and Mrs. Washington had a keen sense of the dignity of the position which they filled."
"With Martha's arrival the social pattern of the President's duties was established. The formal dinners began at 4 P.M., and there was no waiting for unpunctual guests. If no
clergyman was present, Washington himself said grace. In a mixed company , the President and his lady sat across from each other, halfway down the long table, with a
secretary at the head and the foot, to aid the serving and the conversation...Fraunces, in a dazzling white apron, white silk shirt and stockings, velvet breeches, and
powder in his hair, presided in the dining room and placed the dishes on the table, uncovered, while the carving and helping were mostly done by the secretaries. When
the ladies retired to the drawing room it was Washington's habit to follow them after fifteen minutes for coffee, leaving one of the secretaries to entertain the gentlemen who
wished to linger over the wine. If there were no other ladies present, Martha sat at the head of the table, with a secretary at the food, and the President half way between.
For the family meals they reverted to the side-by-side chairs at the head of the table, with a carver at the food."
"[May 1-July 4, 1789) Washington's first task was not to ascertain his duties but to find time in which to discharge those awaiting him...These were duties of varying
complexity but the least difficult of them would demand hours on hours of work every week and some would require long attention daily; how could this be given? If visitors
were being ushered endlessly into the house all day, and the President went out every evening to return calls or to appear at civic entertainments, would not the public
service suffer fatally and he, himself, disappoint popular expectation? The rule to receive "visits of compliment" on two designated says of the week and then for an hour
only was made effective forthwith. Invitations to dinner in the President's House, which usually was served at 3 o'clock, had not been issued between the date of
Washington's arrival in New York and that of the assumption of office. It was decided to make no exception to this rule for the time being, though Lear, on reaching the
city, had hired Black Sam Fraunces as steward. The former proprietor of the tavern where Washington had said farewell to his officers, tossed off such a number of fine
dishes, according to Lear, that we are distracted in our choice when we sit down to table, and obliged to hold a long consultation on the subject before we can determine
what to attack. Although it seemed bad to leave these viands untouched while members of Congress were eating poor meals at noisy taverns, the Generals tentative
decision to do no entertaining at dinner was approved and perhaps as promoted by old Federal lawmakers of taste and by conspicuous New Yorkers.
"It was life as far removed as decent existence could be from the routine of Mount Vernon...To be sure, there were at least two embarrassing situations. In one of them,
the General had made arrangements to entertain guests at the afternoon meal on the 28th, the day after Martha's arrival; but perhaps because the servants were confused,
the affair was neglected. Senator Paine Wingate, like the General, did not consider himself particularly "nice," but even he wrote: "It was the least showy dinner that I ever
saw at the President's...After the dessert a single glass of wine was offered to each of the guests, when the President rose, the guests following his example, and
repaired to the drawing-room, each departing at his option, without ceremony. Martha's activity and experience changed all that. Before the summer was over, a
none-too-friendly Senator was to write of a meal at her table, "It was a great dinner, and the best of the kind I ever was at."
"Despite the restriction of the invitations to officials the dinners could be gay, since such of Washington's favorite friends as Knox and Robert Morris held office. He often
tried to leaven a lump and create a party more like those at Mount Vernon by inviting not only the elders but grownup sons, daughters, and daughters-in-law. The
president and Mrs. Washington sat opposite each other in the middle of the dinner table, the ladies being ranged on both sides of Martha, the gentlemen opposite them on
both sides of George. The dinner began with soup, fish, roasted and boiled meats, gammon, fowls, etc. The dessert was first apple pies, pudding, etc., then iced
creams, jellies, etc., then watermelons, muskmelons, apples, peaches, nuts. The food was eaten in solemn silence."
The Samuel Fraunces connection?
"Perhaps the most telling glimpse of Samuel Fraunces' character is gleaned from an exploration of his relationship with George Washington. Like many other
Americans, Fraunces respected and revered Washington. Their relationship was ever one of master and servant; however, Washington clearly respected Fraunces'
abilities as a manager and early in their acquaintance relied on him to select sundries such as china and glassware for his household and to recommend servants,
particularly cooks and stewards. Washington used the [Fraunces] tavern when he gave his famous farewell speech to his officers on December 4, 1783. Fraunces,
on the other hand, did not hesitate in the years before he joined the President's staff, especially as his monetary situation worsened, to exploit their friendship...
Motivated by a downturn in his personal finances, Fraunces joined the first President's staff as his chief steward...Fraunces also selected food for Washington's
table and supervised its preparation. Washington, however, was not completely satisfied with Fraunces' performance, and he noted the steward's "taste for the high
life," to which Washington did not object as long as expenses were kept low. The President entertained frequently, and it is no wonder that Fraunces was not able
to stay within his budget. Washington, however, wanted to avoid projecting a royal image to the public and politicians. The President also complained that his
servants were eating as well as he, and the two men appear to have had at least one disagreement over the serving of wine at the servants' table. Fraunces worked
for Washington in New York for less than one year (May 1789 to February 1790) and the was discharged. Washington later admitted, "I have entertained much
harder thoughts of the latter [Fraunces] than I might have done. After the Federal government moved to Philadelphia in 1790, Samuel Fruances rejoined
Washington's household. Fraunces apparently never intended to return to New York."
Need to make something for class? We suggest Washington cake.
What our presidents eat is a function family heritage, personal preference, physical
condition, and social obligation. John and Abigail Adams were New Englanders who
grew up on simple, frugal fare. Food historians tell us Mr. and Mrs. Adams also
appreciated a variety of cuisines and fine foods, which they enjoyed while living in
other cities (Paris, London, New York, Philadelphia). Although well versed in elegant
entertaining, we are told Mr. and Mrs. Adams generally served simple dinners at the
White House. Menus often included of their New England favorites. This was due
mostly to the fact that the White house was *brand new.*
"Of course it was imperative that there be some official celebration of the opening of
the new Executive Mansion...Finally plans were completed, and the big reception was
scheduled for New Year's Day, 1801. This was the day the White House was formally
opened to the public. The preparations were elaborate. This was the Adamses' most
lavish reception...Tea, coffee, punch, and wine were served. There were also cakes
and tarts, all baked in the new ovens on either side of the enormous kitchen fireplace.
In addition, curds, creams, trifles, jellies, floating island, syllabub, sweetmeats, and
assorted fruits graced the tables and were passed among the guests...Everything after
the New Year's Day reception was anticlimactic. Because of the short time left in
office, the Adamses did little formal entertaining...The dining habits of the [John
Adams] presidential family were relatively simple, at least by Virginia standards.
Menus were based largely on the couple's New England heritage, which differed
considerably from the Southern heritage of Washington....The net result was a plainer
cuisine. John Adams noted in his diary that his guests were served dinners that
consisted of Indian pudding, molasses, and butter as a first course, veal, bacon, neck
of mutton and vegetables as a second...However, the Adamses' wide experience in
Paris and London and later in social Philadelphia, and their exposure to the Southern
cuisine of the Washingtons and others, gave them a taste and respect for a more
varied diet. It may well have been Abigail's determined economy that limited their
menus, for John noted in his diary several dinners worthy of comment. Adams
described at the home of Miers Fisher, a young Quaker lawyer: "This plain Friend,
with his plain but pretty wife with her Thees and Thous, had provided us a costly
entertainment: ducks, hams, chickens, beef, pig, tarts, creams, custards, jellies, fools
trifles, floating islands, beer, porter, punch, wine." Another time Adams saw fit to
mention the quality of a meal at the home of Chief Justice Chew, describing it wryly:
"About four o'clock we were called to dinner. Turtle and every other thing, flummery,
jellies, sweetmeats of twenty sorts, trifles, whipped syllabubs, floating islands, fools,
etc., with a dessert of fruits, raisins, almonds, pears, peaches. A most sinful feast
again! Everything which would delight the eye or allure the taste...Parmesan cheese,
punch, wine, porter, beer." The ironic intent of "a most sinful feast" suggests that
Adams was not averse to rich foods. One suspects that Abigail's eye on that $25,000
[John Adams' presidential salary] accounted for the more mundane menus at home."
The First Ladies Cook Book, by Margaret Brown Klapthor, adds these recipes: Baked
salmon, A Pompetone, Oyster rolls, and Beggar's pudding. This book also provides a
general of the Adamses' entertaining habits and notes about the White House in its
earliest years and a photograph of a cookbook owned by the family.
Need to make something for class?
To make the filling: Mix 1/2 cup sugar with 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg. Peel and core 10 large
apples. Cut them into thin slices. Mix the apples with sugar-spice mixture and place in pastry-lined dish. Combine 1/2 cup
molasses (or maple syrup) with 3 tablespoons melted butter and 1/4 cup water. Pour this over the apples. Cover with the top pastry
layer and seal. Place in a preheated hot (400 degree F.) oven for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to low (325 degrees F.). After
reducing the heat, "dowdy" the dish by cutting the crust into the apples with a sharp knife. Return dish to oven and bake a full
hour. Serve hot with vanilla ice cream or with heavy cream or whipped cream. Serves 6."
Gourmet, scientist, traveler, farmer, diplomat: our third President was truly a Renaissance man. Biographers confirm Jefferson's
love for native foods and passion for foreign fare. Jefferson's tables, both public and private, reflected his love for
culinary adventure.
"Many of [Jefferson's] innovations are today an accepted part of our national diet...[he had an] adventurous palate and active interest
in a wide range of foods...In his four years in Paris he sampled widely French cuisine, making copious notes of dishes he liked
so he could serve them back home...In Holland he sampled waffles for the first time and was so pleased he immedately bought a
waffle iron...A particular tea in Amsterdam appealed to him; he bought some to take along. In Nancy it was chocolate that
caught his fancy, and in southern France he made notes on the differences in oranges in various communities he visited...Notes
made on a visit to Rozzano included details of butter- and Parmesan cheese-making. He tasted a frozen delicacy and observed that
"snow vives the most delicate flavor to creams, but ice is the most powerful congealer and lasts longer." Like many a traveler
returning home, Jefferson missed the dishes to which he had become accustomed. To his valet returning after him he sent a
request for him to "bring a stock of macaroni, Parmesan cheese, figs of Marseilles...raisins, almonds, mustard...vinegar,
oil and anchovies."...President Jefferson was particularly addicted to intricate dishes and brought back from Paris...His bouilli,
daubes, ragouts, gateaux, souffles, ices, sauces, and wine cookery...Jefferson confessed a preference for French cooking "because the
meats were more tender."...He was especially fond of fresh vegetables and kept a careful chart of the season when certain ones would
be available in the local market...A gourmet...Jefferson ate lightly...He preferred vegetables to meats and was particularly
fond of olives, figs, mulberries, crabs, shad, oysters, partridge, venison, pineapple, and light wines. He was a connoisseur as
well of delicate French pastries, souffles, light cakes...His table drinks were cider and malt drinks...his greatest field of
expertise was wine...the president's favorite wine was Madeira..."
"Despite his fondness for French cookery, Jefferson retained his liking for sweet potatoes, turnip greens, baked shad, Virginia
ham, green peas, crab and many other native delicacies...He was so fond of his Virginia sweet corn that he raised it in his
Paris garden. His kitchen garden at Monticello contained a variety of vegetables including his favorite peas, of which he was
familiar with more than thirty varieties. He also liked salads..."
Thomas Jefferson served dinner a la francise.
Food notes, primary documents and modernized recipes:
Recommended reading...ask your librarian to help you get these!
Madison's biographers generally agree little is known about the private life, including food likes/dislikes, of James Madison. Dolley Madison's lavish dinners and entertainments represented the finest mix of Virginian fare and French cuisine. Presumably, Mr. Madison enjoyed some of these foods. The French connection was Jefferson's legacy. By the time the Madisons took residence in the White House, these types of meals/dishes were expected to be served.
Biographers note Mr. Madison's early love of agriculture growing up in Virginia remained with him throughout his life. Some of his contemporaries (see below)
reference bounteous harvest-style dinners. It is quite possible Mr. Madison's favorite meal consisted of Virginia ham, buttery rolls, apple pie and cider.
"In considering the social side of James Madison's administration, it becomes immediately apparent that the dominant figure was Mrs. Madison. No President's wife
before her was so thoroughly in charge of the nation's social life...On the surface, the social scene during Madison's administration followed the pattern established
by Jefferson. The cuisine was French as well as English--Virginian; the wines were the finest French vintages; the hospitality was as open and cordial as
Jefferson's. But Dolley was an innovator in her own right, with a style of her own. She did not share Jefferson's preference for intimate gatherings above all else, but
enjoyed having masses of people about--for dinner, lawn parties, luncheons, teas, and dances...Dolley's idea of entertainment was in effect "the more the
merrier."...Like Jefferson politically, Madison shared his aversion to formality and pompousness....The servant problems that nagged at the preceding
Presidencies did not seem to affect Dolley Madison. For one thing, she supervised her own kitchen...When the President and his wife had a dinner party,
provisions were lavish. Mrs. Seaton, wife of the owner of the National Intelligence (news publication), commented on one occasion: 'The dinner was certainly very
fine, but still I was rather surprised, as it did not surpass some I have eaten in Carolina. There were many French dishes and exquisite wines...Ice creams,
macaroons, preserves and various cakes are placed on the table, which are removed for almonds, raisins, pecan-nuts, apples, pears, etc...'...Dolley, following the
customary form of her day, was expected to do the serving and even the carving...After dinner and a second dessert of fruit and nuts, there were parlor games,
songs, music and even dancing...It was Dolley Madison who introduced the Easter Egg Rolling on the White House lawn, which was to become a tradition with
almost all succeeding Presidents' families...The Madisons present a paradox. Considering the length of time they were on the national scene, there is little known
about their private persons...James Madison, small and slender, was undoubtedly a sparing eater. But what foods pleased him most? Dolley...undoubtedly liked
food. But of her special favorite dishes little is known. Some few choice recipes and preferences were recorded, but they were relatively few, considering the
frequency of her entertaining."
"The most famous hostess in the White House has ever had came from the unlikely background of a devout Quaker family. The orderly, quiet routine of her
childhood in Virginia and her girlhood in Philadelphia had given her no training in the art of hospitality. Indeed at the time she married James Madison in 1794, as the
young widow of Todd, with one child, her life and personality seemed already set into the traditional Quaker molds. But the...warmhearted Dolley inside the
Quaker mold adapted quickly to her new life and loved every minute of it...Dolley soon adapted herself to the worldly customs of the new life she was leading...
Before long, she was the recognized leader of Washington society...At dinner parties, Mrs. Madison also gracefully took the reins. She presided at the head of the
table with her guests on her right and left, Madison at the side and his secretary at the foot of the table. This saved him from the effort of serving the guests, drinking
wine, and leading the conversation...After their retirement the hospitality of Montpellier was Dolley's chief occupation...Dinner at Montpellier was an elaborate
affair. The food on the table was always luxurious. Food for a party would include three or four kinds of meat, three or four kinds of bread, fresh vegetables, fruit,
pastry, champagne and ice."
"The President, following Washington's practice, accepted no invitation to dine out...but everybody flocked to special dinners and the regular Wednesday evening
"drawing rooms" at the White House."
Madison's college [Princeton University, NJ] food
Early marriage tables
Secretary of State dining
Retirement
What was served for dinner when the White House was burning (August 24, 1814)?
Standard stories
"With an army encamped just east of the Capitol, Ross and Cockburn lead a contingent of redcoats through the silent city to the White House, where, entering the dining-room, they found the banquet table set as Jennings had left it, decanters cooling on the sideboard. In the kitchen, 'spits, loaded with joints of various sorts stood before the fire; pits, saucepans, and other culinary utensils stood on the grate with all other requisites for and elegant and substantial repast. The invaders helped themselves gratefully. Having enjoyed this fortuitous hospitality, and toasted the king in presidential wine, they systematically ransacked the other rooms, robbed the cellars of their bottles, then prepared to burn the place down."
"It was midnight on the evening of August 24, 1814, by the time the British arrived at the President's House, where they were met by a surprise: an elegant and elaborate dinner laid out as if for their arrival...major General Robert Ross...reported that the dinner 'intended for Jonathon was voraciously devoured by John Bull.' Every account praised the quality of the president's excellent wine, used to toast the health of the Prince Regent."
The myth
Revisiting the story: a study of primary sources.
"To the delight and surprise of the hungry British soldiers, the dining table was loaded with viands choice enough to spread before a gourmet like the Prince Regent. It was laid out for a banquet of forty persons--a sizable dinner company even for entertainers like the Madisons. For the British home public the most amusing feature of the invasion was that the American President had ordered an elaborate dinner which he thought to enjoy at leisure with his friends and Army officers in celebration of the deliverance of the capital city. No doubt it was the merriment of the British which caused the banquet story to be denied so emphatically by American sources, including some of the members of Madison's staff, who refused to concede that the President's meal, prepared for cabinet members, dignitaries and generals, was eaten by privates of the wrong army. The first reference to the banquet was contained in a letter from a British midshipman published in a London newspaper. The historian of the 44th Regiment relates the story. Gleig adhered to it sixty-odd years later, after the various reasons why it was challenged were submitted to him . His description ran: 'Several kinds of wine, in handsome glass decanters, were cooling on the sideboard. Plate holders stood by the fireplace, filled with dishes and plates; knives, forks and spoons were arranged for immediate use; in short, everything was ready for the entertainment of a ceremonious party. In the kitchen spits loaded with joints of various sorts, turned before the fire. Pots, saucepans and other culinary utensils stood upon the grate, and all the other requisites for an elegant and substantial repast, were exactly in a state which indicated that they had been lately and precipitately abandoned. Jean P. Sioussa, a refugee of the French Revolution known around the President's house as 'French John,' formerly a retainer of the British minister, Anthony Merry, served as Madison's doorkeeper at the time of the invasion. He repudiated the entire banquet story. Nothing was in the kitchen when the British came, he asserted, except a little meat. One wonders that the matter has been considered of sufficient importance for all the inquiries and denials, but controversies lead to re-examinations and conclusions. The British did, in fact, find a banquet awaiting for them. One of the enlightening accounts of what occurred at the President's house before the coming of the British has been supplied by Madison's body slave, Paul Jennings. In his pamphlet, A Colored man's Reminiscences of James Madison, Jennings tells how he had set the table on the afternoon of August 24 and had 'brought up the ale, cider, and wine, and placed them in coolers, as all the cabinet and several military gentlemen and strangers were expected.' Mrs. Madison had informed him that dinner would be ready at the regular hour of three, when the President, who ordinarily ate no supper, dined. The slave's account leaves no doubt that a large meal was in prospect, and that it was ordered by either the President or his wife. The question of who ordered it might have been answered had Admiral Cockburn preserved the trinkets and souvenirs he took from the executive palace. They included penciled notes Madison had written to Mrs. Madison from Bladensburg battlefield."
Mr. Jenning's own words
Primary sources
What is the "real" truth?
Need to make something for class? We recommend:
"Cinnamon (Woodbury Cake)
"Dolley Madison's Layer Cake
"Caramel
Did Dolley Madison start the Easter Egg Roll tradition?
Maybe. Maybe not. Popular American history generally credits Dolley Madison for initiating the Easter Egg roll/hunt in Washington
D.C. Hillary Clinton's official statements (below) perpetuate the myth. Serious White House historians and several academic experts respectfully question the validity of this claim based
on lack of primary evidence.
"One delightful piece of Dolleyania has defied accurate documentation to the day: the belief that it was Dolley who inaugurated the tradition of the annual White
House Easter egg roll on Easter Monday. Neither Dolly nor any of her contemporaries mention this event in any document located to date, but true or not, the
tradition is now firmly attached to Dolley's White House years. Ethel Stephens Arnett, one of Dolley's more recent biographers, wrote that young John Payne Todd
had heard that an egg hunt or roll had been practiced by the Egyptians and suggested that his mother adopt the game for him and his friends. "Dolley liked the
idea," Arnett wrote, "and with her own hand tinted hundreds of hard-boiled eggs in bright colors, invited the children of the area to come and play with them, and
thus started the Easter Egg Hunt on the White House lawn. She is said by some to have started the tradition on the grounds of the Capitol. In the original version of
the egg roll, children brought baskets of colored hard-boiled eggs and sat in long rows...White House historian, William Seale, researched the tradition and wrote
that President Rutherford B. Hayes "had begun the tradition of rolling Easter Eggs on the White House lawn. This Easter Monday custom had originated at the
Capitol many years before; now one remembering exactly when."
"MRS. CLINTON: Well, I'm so glad to see all of you here. And this year we've done a few things a little differently to try to make it even better for all of you. You
know, the very first Easter Egg Roll took place in 1809. Now, how many of you were here for that one? (Laughter.) Good. That was Dolly Madison who started it
in 1809, and it used to be at the Capitol. And then it was moved here to the White House. And every year the Monday after
Easter is when we do this."
James Monroe, like Thomas Jefferson, acquired a taste for French cuisine while serving abroad. His White House dinners
reflected contemporary standards of elegant European tradition. Mr. Monroe is said to have loved this food. He also enjoyed
dishes from his native Virginia.
"On the Monroe family plantation in Virginia...[Elizabeth Monroe]
served many old Southern recipes, dishes her husband had known from boyhood. One of the most famous, spoon bread, dates back to early
Indian days...James Monroe, like his former teacher and mentor, Thomas Jefferson, was fond of Continental cuisines, but he was
equally fond of the foods of his Virginia childhood...Chicken Fried with Rice...[was] used frequently by Elizabeth Monroe at the
Monroe plantation, Oak Hill...Hot breads and biscuits were a way of life in James Monroe's Virginia... "
What to make for class?
"It is a matter of some curiosity that Adamas, with all his exposure to diverse European cuisines, showed so little interest in food.
His culinary education had certainly been extensive...Yet throughout the Adamas diary rood references are sparse. Adams never
failed to mention with whom he dined and how often, but the contents of the meals obviously concerned him so little they were not
worthy of comment...Adams was especially fond of fruit. The White House orchards flourished and eventually the apricot, plum, apple,
and pear trees blossomed and bore fruit...[Adamas] retained a fondness for the plainer foods of his Massachusetts upbringing...
As John Quincy Adamas himself was a curious mixture of the simple and the sophisticated, so were his food preferences. One day he
could say "Five or six small crackers and a glass of water give me a sumptuous dinner."...
---The Presidents' Cookbook, Poppy Cannon & Patricia Brooks [Funk &
Wagnalls:New York] 1968 (p. 110-126)
"Folks driving in downtown Jackson will be in for a surprise as characters dressed in 1800s costumes stroll along the street near The Carnegie Center for Arts and History and The Aeneas Building on Oct. 30. Then General Andrew Jackson and his wife Rachel will arrive in a carriage.
It's The Three Stars Collation & Frolicking Preview Party at The Aeneas Building that will begin at 7:30 p.m. and will recreate the historic evening of Sept. 18, 1825, when Jackson and his wife were wined and dined by the city's residents.
Jon Meacham, editor of Newsweek magazine, is honorary chairman. Chairwomen for the event are Roberta Price, Patty Lewis and May Scott.
The evening's menu will include some of Jackson's favorites: Spiced round of tenderloin with mini biscuits and jezebel sauce; hot water corn cakes with caramelized onions & squash relish, roasted lamb chops with rosemary, hoppin' John, cheese and grapes, benne wafers, floating islands and mini-custard tarts.
...The exhibit curator is Dr. Larry Ray, an art historian specializing in the history of interiors and decorative arts. The collection comes from across Tennessee, including the Tennessee State Museum.
...But he also was a man who had a French chef and enjoyed French wines. He was as familiar with the fine art of cooking as he was with the fine art of hunting men in war.
Gala co-chair Patty Lewis said the event will include fall decorations, "quilt tops, pumpkins of all varieties, mums and bittersweet. There will be four tablescapes. When you enter the Aeneas Building, you'll see an alcove on the back wall where a portrait of Andrew Jackson by Jordan Stonecipher will be unveiled and presented to the city. The exhibit at The Carnegie will be fabulous, and it's catalogued in a book created by Dr. Ray."
The event will be a cocktail dinner and buffet with heavy hors d'oeuvres, "enough to be dinner," said Gena Mandle, caterer, who is preparing the meal. "We're recreating a lot of Jackson's favorites. We brainstormed about what would work and what wouldn't."
"We also wanted a menu with items that fit together," said Lewis, "and feasible to serve to 250 people." She added that there will be an open bar and wine and beer for guests.
Mandle said the floating islands will be lemon raspberry and chocolate mousse with creme anglais. She'll also offer Old Hickory Nut Soup in shot glasses for a taste and mini-trifles of gingerbread, pear and custard.
Terry Ford of Lauderdale County, a long-time food historian, researched the menu. Ford has one of the nation's largest collections of cookbooks, some dating from the Middle Ages.
..."I have quite a large library, and I have presidents' cookbooks on a shelf. There are a lot of menus and recipes of the presidents. Andrew Jackson - a quite colorful fellow - liked a variety of things.
He kept a horseshoe-shaped table in the state dining room. He had the finest china, silver and furniture for the East Room. People called him King Andrew because of the magnificence of his culinary banquets," Ford said.
He liked leg of lamb and lamb chops, particularly with rosemary. The Hermitage had a lot of rabbits, and he was fond of that. He had a French chef. He was not so 'backwoodsy.' There were a lot of things at the White House, oysters on the half shell, blue points, primarily - and they had French wines.
Rachel Jackson died of a heart attack Dec. 22 before Jackson's inauguration was held in January, so White House entertaining was handled by Emily Donelson, who became his hostess.
Other foods Jackson enjoyed were "Leather Britches," which was green beans cooked with water and bacon, braised wild duck and wild goose and fried apple pies for snacks.
"And he liked fried ham and ham gravy, oh yes," said Ford. "He had an Old Hickory nut soup - that was hickory nuts, hot water and sugar, pound it with a mortar and pestle and make a paste, add water to it, strain it, of course."
The floating islands involved whipping up a meringue and having boiled custard underneath.
"Sometimes you add sherry and almond flavoring to it and sometimes cake," he said.
He liked to serve his White House guests Daniel Webster's punch, which included lemon, sugar, green tea, brandy, claret, champagne, bananas, orange pineapples, cherries and strawberries.
"Anyone who drank this, one cup would do it," Ford chuckled.
Ford said the preview party "is going to be very elaborate and will be quite an event in many ways - and it will be fun."
Non-stick vegetable oil spray
"During Van Buren's many years in Washington before becoming President, he had acquired a reputation as a bon vivant and epicure. His table was
always exquisitely prepared; food, wine, and service were impeccable...The simplicity of the first official New Year's reception and
those that followed disappointed all the local fashionables...Although brought up with a natural Dutch frugality, Van Buren combined
a taste for simple, hearty Dutch fare with a much more sophisticated taste than most of the natives of Kinderhook, New York, his
birthplace...One visitor..commented on Van Buren's avoidance of sweets...The former president replied that he never ate pastries or
puddings, preferring instead a little fruit. So saying, he ate an apple...When Van Buren was appointed Minister to England by
Andrew Jackson, he developed a fondness for many English...dishes, particularly those of the Christmas season...Boar's head became
a Van Buren favorite...Van Buren, like Dutchmen of his day, was extremely fond of oysters...
Need to make something for class? We suggest...
"...Harrison's Presidency lasted a single month, too short a time to provide a real clue as who might have been, culinarily
speaking...One thing is certain...he did enjoy food and took pleasure in selecting tidbits for his family table. One of his first
expressed wishes regarding the social side of his Presidency was to do his own marketing for the White House table. And market
he did...The custom of plying potential voters with food and drink was practiced by politicians from Washington's day onwards. But it
reached its zenith...in the campaign of 1840, when Harrison lieutenants wined and dined the populace throughout the West....all
eligible makes were [treated] to a feast of cornbread, cheese, and hard cider. Little by little the feasts became more
elaborate...Burgoo [squirrel & vegetable stew]...was the perfect election dish, as it was easily expandable to the size of the crowd...During Harrion's campaign for
the Presidency, the hard [alcoholic] cider flowed so freely...that Harrison became known as the Hard Cider Candidate."
"A letter...refers to Harrison's old gardener, who had been asked to come and live in Vincennes. The importance of the gardener
evidently arose from Mr. Harrison's love of fresh vegetables. When he went to Bogota in the 1830's as United States Minister, he
wrote home: 'I have a very excellent garden, beans, peas, cabbages, cauliflower, celery and artichokes in abundance, and we shall soon
have beets.'..."
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"The Tyler Presidency is an illustration of the feminine influence on a social system. Socially speaking, there were two Tyler administrations.
The first began with the death of William Henry Harrison...At [Tyler's] side was his wife, Letitia...Both Tylers were
unceremonious, hospitable Virginians...The following year Letitia Tyler died. But the informal note struck at the
beginning of Tyler's term of office remained...John Tyler lived in Washington as he had in Virginia. He even brought to the
White House the same slaves who had cared for his family in Williamsburg...For two years Tyler lived simply and comfortably at
the White House. His daughter, Letitia Semple, one of his seven children described their life in the Presidential house:
"We breakfasted at eight-thirty and dined at three o'clock, except on state occasions...and had tea served after our daily cares
and duties, because my father's time was rarely his own..."...There were many parties given during the holiday season for Washington officialdom. Always the tables were
laden with substantial and varied foods...No one foresaw, in that winter of 1843, that the newly arrived beauty on the Washington
social scene, Julia Gardiner, would within a short time be the arbiter of the city's taste and style...As soon as the word was out,
the newspapers began feeding elaborate detail of the wedding feast to avid readers...The wedding supper was described in detail:
"Cold woodcock, pigeons, chicken salad, oysters prepared in various ways, but no wines, this being strictly forbidden by the
bridegroom and assented to by the bride...Breakfast appears to have been even more elaborate. Omelets, spring chicken, pigeons
and woodcock, ham and eggs, salmon, beefsteaks, kidneys, boiled eggs, and young duck......With only eight months
left of Tyler's term of office, Julia decided to make the most of it. Accustomed to the flourishes of high society in Europe, she set
about duplicating some the pageantry she had witnessed there...... Roast ham, a saddle of venison or some other heavy roast, roast wild
ducks, or other poultry all were in evidence. Enormous supplies of home-baked cakes and pudding were on
hand. Puddings were a great Tyler favorite. Punch, Madeira [a type of wine], and the ubiquitous champagne
were ready."
Butter
"A Grateful Pudding
White bread
"Simple, hearty country fare was what pleased James Polk most...His diet was the unadorned frontier diet of the South, without the...
extras of genteel Southern cuisine...It was pain ham that Polk craved when he was being inundated with Creole specialties and
delicate French succulents in New Orleans...Corn Pone...was a favorite mainstay with him...A dish such as [Tomato Omelette] was especially
pleasing to [Polk's] palate..."
What to make for class?
"...[Taylor] was much concerned with what he ate...His familiarity with Louisiana gave him firsthand knowledge of Creole
cooking, and he became enamored of its variety and richness...Taylor would accept plain fare without complaint, but he did
insist that it be decently cooked and well served..."
Need to make something for class? These classic Creole doughnut-type foods are perfect! Be sure to give yourself enough time.
Mr. Filmore is credited for modernizing the White House. Under his administration, the first iron cookstove was installed.
Prior to this time, all cooking was still conducted colonial-style, with open hearth. These modernizations were not immediately
embraced by his staff.
"We would like to be able to say that Fillmore's single-minded efforts on behalf of the Executive Mansion's new stove were merely
indicative of his zest for fine food, his appreciation for gourmet repast, his adventurous eating habits. Alas...He had little
time for frivolity or luxuries, in dress or food,...By the time he was president, his life patterns were established. Plain food,
prepared in a simple, farm style, as part of the pattern...Meat, potatoes, and vegetables were the ingredients of life for the
Fillmores...Corn Pudding...has been a favorite dish of simple eaters such as the Fillmores as well as of White House gourmets
...To...Millard Fillmore, it was natural that a good hearty soup would often serve as a full meal...Soup to a New York farm
family such as Fillmore's was more of a stew of meat, potatoes, and vegetables; when ready to serve, the solids were removed from
the soup kettle to a platter. The soup was served, consumed, then the soup bowls filled with the meat and vegetables from the platter. No
sense in wasting time or dishes...Resurrection Pie...recipe came originally from the North County of England, home of Fillmore's
family...Made by the English settlers in New York State, beef or pork liver and cuts similar to round steak were used..."
Franklin Pierce was not noted for his fondness of food. Family entertaining was non-existent. State dinners were not considered
"up to par" by Washington's high society.
"...Pierce...was said to be 'quiet in his tastes.' Preferences for the solid, traditional fare of his native New Hampshire were
strong in him. The good, hearty, often quite inventive dishes of mid-century New Hampshire found favor with this native son...
President Buchanan loved to entertain in grand European style. Like Thomas Jefferson, he was fond of French cuisine. He also delighted in Pennsylvania Dutch
(German) fare. Below please find historic notes and selected recipes:
"With the election of President James Buchanan, our only unmarried president, the Capital began the gayest social season in its history. The man in the White House
was wealthy, an epicurean, a...bachelor with a flair for society and impeccable knowledge of its ways. The First lady was to be his niece, Miss Harriet Lane, a
lovely young lady of twenty-five who had been well prepared and trained for her exciting new role...The White House receptions again became gorgeous displays
of finery...Buchanan was so particular about the quality of his food that he had fresh butter sent him regularly from Philadelphia in a locked brass-bound kettle."
"For a brief moment before the storm of war--the four years before the Civil War--gaiety returned in full force to the White House, after four administrations of
deprivation...Buchanan...had had wide exposure to European manners and had developed a certain partiality for French cuisine. He liked the formal elegance of
European society...The President did not stint on entertaining. For elaborate dinners and receptions he called on the services of Gautier, a French caterer. Gautier
had a reputation for the beauty and finesse of his service and preparations as well as the superb quality of his cooking. Gourmets exclaimed over the partridge,
terrapin, oysters, lobster, and wild turkey served under his supervision...Frequently, Buchanan was forced to pay the bills for his lavish dinners and receptions out of
his own pocket. In spite of his innate formality, he did not mind this, for he enjoyed entertaining and wanted to do it well. The biggest social event of Buchanan's four
years was surely the visit of England's Prince of Wales to Washington...This was the first visit to the former American colonies of an heir-apparent to the British
throne...Two lavish dinner parties were held for the Crown Prince...[at Buchanan's inaugural ball, March 4, 1857]...The five thousand revelers were served eight
rounds of beef, seventy-five hams, sixty saddles of mutton, four saddles of venison, four hundred gallons of oysters, five quarts of jellies, twelve hundred quarts of
ice cream in assorted flavors, and plates of infinite variety. Three thousand dollars had been spent on the wines. And the high point of the evening was a pyramid of
a cake, four feet high and cleverly ornamented with a flag bearing the insignia of every state in the Union...Olympian as this all was, it was still but a hint of the
gargantuan banquets of the administration to come. One might think that such quantitites of food would be enough for several armies, but the food actually ran out
before the guests had completely given up...Those critics who may have objected to Buchanan's adherence to a formal etiquette had no complaint about the bounty
of his service. His dinners were generally "pronounced superb in manner and style." The presidential routine was simpler than his entertaining patterns. He normally
rose early, and had an early breakfast, read the newspaper and was busily at work at his desk by eight o'clock. At five in the afternoon, a brisk your's walk gave
him a good appetite for the elaborate dinner that usually followed. Dinner was almost always at the White House...One day a week, some of the cabinet members
and their wives were invited to have dinner at the White House en famille [together as a family]....Although not of German stock, President Buchanan enjoyed the
specialties prepared by the Pennsylvania Dutch inhabitants of his native state."
Need to make something for class?
Confederate Sauce
"Moss Rose Cake.
"Apees
"During several years of collecting material for The Presidents' Cookbook...we
ran into all sorts of controversy concerning President Lincoln's habits, his likes and dislikes, when it came to food. Judging from menus of the
state balls and banquets given at the White House during Lincoln's Administration--some of the most elaborate in our history--one
might conclude that Honest Abe was a gourmet to end all gourmets. Nothing, of course, could be further from the truth. Giving the
opposite side of the picture, certain observers of the times...said flatly that Lincoln was almost entirely indifferent to
food, 'Except that he liked apples and hot coffee.' The President's bodyguard wrote, however, 'Mr. Lincoln was a hearty eater. He
never lost his taste for things that a growing farmer's boy would like. He was particularly fond of bacon.' Probably like most of our
strongest Presidents (excepting Jefferson), Lincoln relied on food to feed the furnace. Undoubtedly he ate well when
served a tasty meal but was usually so preoccupied that he gave little thought to food. One thing seems certain: he was a gentle
man at the table and uncritical. His stepmother said, 'He ate what was before him, making no complaint.' A companion of his
lawyer days, Leonard Sweet, wrote, 'I never in the 10 years of circuit life I knew him heard him complain of a hard bed or a bad meal of
victuals."
"Just as so much about [Abraham Lincoln's] life has been shrouded in latter-day myth and legend,
making it difficult to assess the truth about the man, so, too, have his food habits and tastes been
the subject of controversy...It seems to us that the food truth about Lincoln must lie somewhere between these extreme points
of view...One aspect of Abraham
Lincoln's characteristically gentle nature was apparent in his approach to food...
Temperamentally...Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln were totally unlike...This was strikingly apparent when it
came to food and food history. Although both came originally from Kentucky, they reflected two
completely different Kentucky traditions. Mary had been raised in the lush bluegrass region of the
state, where gracious, comfortable living and rich, elaborate cooking were legendary. Abe grew up
on the frontier, where he ate very plain food, partly for economic reasons, partly because of the
frontier tradition. Corn dodgers, cakes made of coarse cornmeal, were a staple. Wild game provided
the protein a growing boy needed. During the days of young manhood, where he boarded at the
Rutledge Tavern in New Salem, his diet consisted largely of cornbread, mush, bacon, eggs, and milk.
Several friends of that period recalled later that if Abe was partial to any one food it was honey, a
great delicacy for him at the time."
"Family meals at the Lincolns' were routine. Early in the morning the President liked a "good hot cup of coffee." But often he would
forget about breakfast until 9 or 10A.M. John Hay, one of Lincoln's private secretaries, occasionally ate with the President. He
noted that the frugal repast might consist of "an egg, a piece of toast, coffee, etc." On occasion breakfast was a single egg.
For lunch, Hay reported, Lincoln "took a little lunch--a biscuit, a glass of milk in winter, some fruit or grapes in summer...He ate
less than anyone I know." Lunch was usually eaten irregularly..."
"Abraham Lincoln dined in a spartan fashion...He would rather nibble fruit. His wife Mary tried everything to make Abe eat but was
frustrated time and time again to see the finest foods left all but untouched on his plate. One of the few entrees that would
tempt Lincoln was Chicken Fricassee. He liked the chicken cut up in small pieces, fried with seasonings of nutmeg and mace and served with
a gravy made of the chicken drippings. Mary Lincoln set a table at the White House, which included such food as Aspic of Tongue,
Pate de Foie Gras, Turkey stuffed with Truffles, and all sorts of wild game, such as venison, pheasant, or canvasback duck. But
all too often the President merely picked at his food."
---A Treasury of White House Cooking, Francois Rysavy [G. P. Putnam:New York] 1972 (p. 250)
The gingerbread story, retold by Carl Sandburg:
What kind of cook was Mary Todd Lincoln?
"By the 1840s improved methods of salting and icing allowed Mary Lincoln to keep food longer than her mother could. Imported oysters, a delicacy on local
menus, could be preserved for weeks by bountiful washing in salted water and some help from the weather. A few heretics (Mary Lincoln was not usually one of
them) no longer baked bread, depending, instead, on a wagon that delivered bread, crackers, and cakes three times a week. The Springfield stores were beginning
to sell prepared butter, and in season local farmers brought vegetables and fruits down Jackson Street for the unfixed prices that proper ladies were not supposed
to contest. Penny-pinching Mary Lincoln was among those who violated the prescription that ladies don't beat down prices, and she had several public battles with
the fruit peddler over the prices of his less than perfect strawberries...Lincoln was never a fussy eater, and was satisfied most mornings with an apple for his
breakfast. Still, he would be home for dinner in the middle of the day, and only delinquent housekeepers kept men waiting. But in Mary Lincoln's home it was the
husband whose casual sense of time and lack of appetite made regular hours an impossibility...Sometimes Abraham helped out by shopping...Even with improved
technology and help with marketing, cooking took up the largest part of Mary Lincoln's day. Some Springfield women relished their culinary labors and earned
awards at the country fair for their pickles, preserves, cakes and pies...Mary never entered those competitions, or at least she never won a prize. The one
household product for which she was remembered--what the family circulated as Mary's recipe for white cake--was a simplified gloss on the more complicated
version of a standard cake...Having grown up without practical experience in cooking, Mary relied on Kentucky staples. Years later, amid the haute cuisine of
France, she fondly remembered the "waffles, batter cakes, and egg cornbread--not to mention "buckwheat cakes" of Lexington. The Lincoln menu was also full
of what Mrs. Trollope disparaged as America's "sempiternal ham," and Mary Lincoln's frugality encouraged the appearance of cheap local game, such as
woodchucks, pheasants, and prairie chickens. In any case, she learned to do what the slaves had done in Lexington: roast coffee, make calf's-foot jelly,
preserve fruit, and prepare cheese. In the summer the kitchen ran her, and it was both the repetitiveness and the lack of control that led disaffected matrons to
compare themselves to slaves...By 1851, after nearly ten years of housekeeping, Mary Lincoln had progressed to an advanced version of Miss Leslie's Cookery,
purchasing this, along with Miss Leslie's House Book or Manual of Domestic Economy for Town and Country...In the more difficult version there were recipes for
everything from family soup to to invalid cookery of beef tea and blackberry preserve...Because she had not learned the vices of sugar and, like everyone in
Springfield, innocently believed it the "most nourishing substance in nature," she spent hours making puddings, cakes, candies, and cookies. By modern standards,
the Lincoln household consumed a vast amount of sugar...Some of these sweets were eaten by others, for if Mary Lincoln was a novice cook, she was a practiced
hostess with an easy charm that obscured any shortcomings in her menus. Her contemporary Julia Jayne Trumbull acknowledged her as the "prettiest talker in
Springfield,"..."Mary Lincoln often entertained small numbers of friends at dinner and somewhat larger numbers at evening parties. Her table was famed for the
excellence of its rare Kentucky dishes and in season was loaded with venison, wild turkeys, prairie chickens and quail and other game" ...In her kitchen at Eighth
and Jackson Mary Lincoln relied on simple fare, offering her guests not four courses but tea and cakes and strawberries in season. "This last week, we gave a
strawberry company of about seventy," she wrote in 1859. "If your health will admit of venturing out, in such damp weather," went one Mary Lincoln invitation,
"we would be much pleased to have you, Mr. B., and the young ladies came round, this eve about seven and pass a social evening." By seven Mason and Mary
Brayman would have eaten their middle-of-the-day dinner as well as their supper, leaving the hostess responsible only for dessert. Unlike some of her friends and
family, Mary Lincoln did not use her cooking for charitable purposes...though she often invited friends from the...church for tea and cakes...By the mid-1850s
Lincoln's prominence required substantial entertainments, and with money available from his successful law practice, Mary Lincoln hosted large receptions--what in
the East passed a levees. On the prairies, as elsewhere, French was the language of sociability, used by Mary and her friends to distinguish their grandest affairs
from the even more elegant soirees or "grand fetes,"..Instead, she simply put food on the table, and the crowds poured into the house to eat it..."
Need to make something for class?
Frosting for Mary Todd's Courting Cake
Mary Todd's Vanilla Almond Cake
Mary Todd's Candied Fruit Frosting
Abraham Lincoln's second inauguration supper: an eyewitness account
"The Supper.
It had been rumored--and the foundation for the report was only rumor--that the supper was to be something extraordinary. We were
surprised at this, because we knew good taste and modern custom, in small places like New-York, have, of late years, literally eschewed
the practice of immense suppers at public balls; and this reform had been reconciled by the fact that such attempts had generally
ended in catastrophes to the toilets and tempers of all participants. It was, therefore, with misgivings that we saw it announced that a
grand supper would be served in one of the corridors of the extensive building. The American people, in general, we are ashamed to say, have not yet learned
how to behave at table; and that species of etiquette, not too prevalent in private, is certainly always absent at public suppers. So it was
not strange that we should have had warning visions of a grand rush, then a crush, and a demolition in the twinkling of an eye of all
the confectioner's handiwork, the frantic snatching of viands from the tables, the brandishing aloft of wine cup, and plate, and cutlery,
laden with article alike dangerous to toilet and stomach; of munching and crunching sans ceremonie; of defilement and ruin to precious
apparel, the result perhaps of weeks of the dressmaker's effort; of the loss of temper, and loud cries of complaint. And indeed, we harbored
a fear as a consequence that a graceful assemblage of dignified ladies and gentlemen might be transformed, as if by the wand of some
evil spirit, into a social raffle, where he who was rudest should be most successful in appeasing the cravings of the appetite, and in
pocketing the delicate ornamentations of the table.
"The name of the cuisiner has escaped us, and it is not worth while to hand it up now.
Suffice it to say it was not Delmonico, therefore we did not expect perfection. The hall set apart for supper was the grand corridor in the west wing. The
table was set in the centre, and it gave standing-room for about three hundred persons one time. The cabinets of the works of genius and invention, placed
at intervals, served to form alcoves on each side of the supper-table. On one side, some of these were provided with seats; on the other, they were
reserved for depositing the extraordinary quantity of material necessary for such a host, and for the operations of the waiters.
"The ornamentation of the table, though limited in extent, was in excellent taste, and perhaps quite as profuse as the unfortunately small space devoted to the supper would permit. There were three leading and conspicuous pieces from the confectioner's hands, placed at appropriate points in the centre and at each end of the table; in the centre, our imposing Capitol, perfect in miniature; at one end an exquisite representation of the heroic deeds of the gallant army; at the other, a similar device of the proud achievements of the navy. The representation of the Capitol was admirably executed; no detail seemed to be too minute for imitation. Even the lamps at the entrance seemed to give forth light. The columns, pedestals, cornices, frieze entablatures, windows, statuary, and the majestic dome, and towering above all else, the Goddess of Liberty, were all there as perfect as the mould and model could) make them. In addition, there were several allegorical representations of the progress of civilization, the genius, the arts, the sciences and literature of the day. The piece on the right, was in honor of the army; and the glory and fame of the defenders of our liberty were illustrated by a pyramid, around which were clustered in tasteful profusion all the insignia of war, the paraphernalia of battle, and the emblems of victory. The navy was honored in the same manner, the representation being surmounted with Admiral FARRAGUT's old flagship Hartford, gallantly riding the white crested waves, while aloft might be seen the Admiral himself lashed to the rigging, emblematical of the old hero's achievements in the Bay of Mobile; then battered Fort Sumter, the sad epitome of secession; then Neptune with chariot and trident, and the Goddess of Liberty, inspiring the brave sailor to greater glory and higher fame. There were other ornamentations, principally pyramids of which the detail is unimportant, for nougate, croquant, and chocolate are the same here as elsewhere. The bill of fare provided a select and tasteful variety, and no better idea of it can be obtained than by inserting it right here verbatim."
Bill of Fare.
"This was the programme for the feast. The only thing which did not seem promising was the fact that but three hundred could be comfortably
accommodated at one time, while there were five thousand persons to be accommodated, and a large majority of them ladies. About the hour
of 12, the Presidential party were escorted by a private entrance to the privileged places. Soon afterward the doors were opened, and
a throng of more than a thousand, who had collected at that end of the hall, poured into the supper-room . Of course,
when three persons occupy the space barely sufficient for one, a 'crush' is the result; and the crush which followed can
better be imagined than depicted.
"But this was not the worst feature. With the indecency of conduct and want of politeness and
etiquette which characterizes many American people at table, and which is the certain accompaniment of a large grows at a public supper, many
gentlemen, and ladies, seized upon the most ornamental and least nutritious part of the table decorations, demolished them, carried the pieces off
in a handkerchief or crushed them under foot. Then the more substantial viands were served likewise. Large dishes of choice meats, tatetes, saldes and
jellies were carried off vi et armis into the alcoves, or elsewhere. One gentleman presented a very ludicrous attitude with a large plate of
smoked tongue, requiring both hands to hold it, no place to sit down, and no way to eat it! He looked the picture of despair.
"In less than an hour the tables was a
wreck; a few ornaments not destroyed were removed, and the array of empty dishes and the debris of the feast were positively frightful to
behold. The doors were now wide open, and hundreds of ladies in elegant silks, satins and velvets, and gentlemen in dainty broadcloth,
surged and struggled back and forth. A few obtained something to eat, others very little, and many more only succeeded in ruining their
toilets. As much was wasted as was eaten, and however much may have been provided more than half the guests went supperless. By
it was a public supper; we were not much disappointed, and though the gentlemen who managed it may have been to blame for the want of
room, the fact remains that the supper was a disaster, and detracted from the otherwise pleasant aspect of the occasion."
---"The Inauguration Ball," The New York Times, March 8, 1865 (p. 1)
What did President Lincoln think of this affair?
"[Martha Patterson, President Johnson's daughter] initiated the establishment of a...dairy to keep the White House supplied with the
fresh milk and quality butter the Johnson family loved...The 'plain people from the mountains of Tennessee' continued to enjoy
in the White House the pleasures that meat something to them back home. They had popcorn parties, in which the President joined
heartily. They also roasted apples and chestnuts...the President preferred the country cooking of his native Tennessee...Andrew
Johnson...[had] a fondness for the Carolina specialty called Hopping John...Fond as he was of canvasback duck, Andrew Johnson was
also very partial to wild turkey...Pine Bark Stew...was a Johnson standby...As a poor Southern boy who helped his widowed mother support
the family, Andrew Johnson was no stranger to the resourcefulness of [sweet potatoes]. A few examples of this Johnsonian
favorite...Sweet Potato Pone, Apple-Stuffed Sweet Potatoes, Pioneer Style, Sweet Potato Pie, Sweet Potato Pudding."
Eliza Johnson's Sweet Potato pudding
Butter, Sweet potatoes, Sugar, Raisins, Allspice and cinnamon, Cloves, Nutmeats, Cane Syrup or molasses, Eggs.
"The inauguration of General Ulysses Simpson Grant in 1869 did more than usher into the Presidency an honored war hero. It launched an era of opulence the like of
which the United States had not seen before and has seldom seen since. There is irony in the fact that U.S. Grant, the simplest of men, should have had an
administration renowned for its gaudy, lavish display of all the material vanities of the age...The new President and his wife...were catapulted from the humdrum routine of
years of dreary army existence to a world they had never known...A man of simple tastes, President Grant perhaps thought his years in the White House would be a mere
continuation of the previous years...As soon as the Grants moved into the White House, the new President brought with him as cook a quartermaster from his army days.
Julia [Grant's wife] refrained from comment at first, but it soon became obvious that the "chef" considered the White House dining room simply an enlarged mess hall, with
quantity the chief ingredient to be considered. To him turkey represented the sine que non of any dinner. He planned turkey for a formal dinner, and varied the menu for a
state dinner by having a bigger turkey...It wasn't long before Julia found a replacement. She hired an Italian steward named [Valentino] Melah, who had catered for some of
the nation's most fashionable hotels. From the moment Melah entered the White House the cuisine changed radically. Turkey fled. In its place Melah offered a
twenty-five-course dinner, often consisting of partridge, filet of beef, and myriad other elaborate concoctions of the era. Melah's special talent was for opulent
banquets...Culinarily speaking, Julia was a creampuff in Melah's hands. She literally turned the planning and execution of official entertainments over to his capable
management...Melah was a wine connoisseur; consequently, the wines accompanying White House dinners were exemplary...At private, quiet family dinners, Melah's fine
Italian hand was barely discernible. Here the simple tastes of the old soldier held sway. The president adhered to a military punctuality at mealtime...Mealtimes with the
family were especially happy occasions...when the Grants were truly alone, the President loved to frolic with his children, and the dinner hour often became play time...It
was the President's habit to roll his bread into tiny balls and shoot the balls as ammunition at Nellie and Jesse [two of his children]...Grant retained a fondness for plain
cooking...The one large meal that President Grant indulged in was breakfast. Leaner, more Spartan days, when breakfast consisted of cucumbers and coffee, may have
been responsible for his insistence on a hearty morning meal. A favorite breakfast consisted of broiled Spanish mackerel, steak, bacon and fried apples, flannel cakes or
buckwheat cakes, and a cup of strong black coffee--plain fare by bounteous. At other meals, the President showed partiality for roast beef, wheat (or wheaten) bread, and
boiled hominy. His fondness for simple rice pudding was almost a mania."
""[Melah's] state dinners were...rated as successful...The table seated thirty-six without improvising, and dinners for that number were given almost every week. This is how
The Olivia Letters [penned by Emily Edson Briggs, a Washington newspaper correspondent] describes one of these elegant dinners: 'In the beginning of the feast, fruit,
flowers, and sweetmeats grace the tables, while bread and butter only give a Spartan simplicity to the 'first course,' which is composed of a French vegetables oil, and
according to the description by those who have tasted it, no soup, foreign or domestic, has ever been known to equal it. The ambrosial soup is followed by a French
croquet of meat. Four admirably trained servants remove the plates between each course, and their motions are as perfect as clockwork...The third 'course' of the dinner is
composed of a filet of beef, flanked on each side by potatoes the size of a walnut, with plenty of mushrooms to keep them company. The next coruse is dainty in the
extreme. It is made up entirely of luscious leg of partridges, and baptized by a French name entirely beyond my comprehension. It will readily be seen that a full
description of the twenty-nine courses would be altogether too much for the healthy columns of a newspaper to bear, so we pass to the dessert...The dessert is
inaugurated by the destruction of a rice pudding, it is a pudding as would make our grandmothers clap their hands with joy. After the rice pudding, canned peaches, pears,
and quinces are served. The follow confectionery, nuts, ice-cream, coffee, and chocolate, and with these warm, soothing drinks the presidential entertainment comes to
an end, and the host and his guests repair to the Red Room.' ...Many of the state dinners consisted of twenty-nine courses with a break after the entree for Roman punch
to fortify the guests. A dinner for thirty-six during this administration might cost as much as $2,000, although the average cost was about $700. For these dinners the State
Dining Room was elaborately decorated with garlands of roses and evergreens festooning the ceiling and walls...The centerpiece was often a solid silver ship..."
Need to make something for class? These are tasty & portable:
Rice
"Fried Apples with Bacon
"Julia's Veal Rolls
Leg of Veal
"In his personal taste, the President enjoyed everything in moderation. He always had one cup of coffee at breakfast time, one cup
of tea for lunch...Delicate Cornmeal Battercakes...Long a favorite breakfast dish in the White House in the days of Lucy
Hayes...Angel Cake was one of [Lucy's] favorite desserts...Both Rutherford and Lucy Webb Hayes had their roots in Ohio...Simple
recipes from 'back home' frequently found their was to the White House table...Winnie Monroe, the Hayes' cook, was another Ohioan,
so it was natural for home-grown recipes to be repeated in Washington..."
Need to make something for class?
According to the historians, Mr. Garfield really liked squirrel soup:
"The attempt to interest the patient [James A. Garfield, after he was shot July 2, 1881] in food is
also recorded by Colonel Crook, the Disbursing Officer of the White House. He says that the
consulting doctors thought the appetite for the ill man might be tempted if he could have some
squirrel soup, of which he was very fond. For this purpose, Crook was given a permit to shoot
squirrels on the grounds of the Soldiers' Home. Unfortunately, the President never got well
enough for the Colonel even to go after the squirrels."
The Presidents' Cookbook, Poppy Cannon (p. 302-307) states that James A Garfield preferred
healthy, nutritious food over rich European dishes. His wife, Lucrezia, was an excellent bread
baker. Garfield's favorite drink was milk. When he was dying, the Adams Express Company in
Baltimore sent a cow to the White House to ensure a fresh supply of milk. This book lists these
recipes as Garfield's favorites: Soda bread, Inspiration bread, Extra-fluffy mashed potatoes,
Parsnips a la Garfield, Garfield pie (apple), Garfield herbal tea & Spice tea.
Garfield had for years suffered from severe stomach ailments. He had endured chronic dysentery during the Civil War and later battled dyspepsia. Garfield carefully
controlled his diet, even carrying with him to Congress a lunch that his doctors had prescribed a sandwich of raw beef on stale bread.
Most days, Garfield was able to keep down a little bit of oatmeal. Unfortunately, that happened to be the one food he despised. Although Garfield found it difficult to eat anything, for a while at least he seemed to relish drinking a glass of milk. He dutifully swallowed the koumiss, a drink made from fermented horse milk, that [Dr.] Bliss gave him nearly every day, but he strongly preferred cows milk. Eager to help in any way, Americans latched onto this small piece of information. So that the president might have the freshest possible milk, a company in Baltimore sent him an Alderny cow, which could be seen tied up on the White House lawn. The White House cook, who was the only Catholic among the staff, poured a large glass of milk for Garfield every day. Just before she carried his tray up the winding servant stairs to his sickroom, she quietly sprinkled holy water into his glass.
"If gourmetship were the chief ingredient in Presidential greatness, our twenty-first President would score near the top. Few
Presidents have ever equaled Chester Alan Arthur in social and culinary style. Only one, the master of all--Thomas Jefferson--surpassed him.
...On December 7, 1881, Arthur took up residence in the White House and celebrated his arrival with a cozy, intimate
dinner in...[the private dining room]...We have no record of that first small dinner...other than the knowledge it was
prepared by the French chef Arthur brought with him to Washington. The chef had worked for New York gourmets and was well
acquainted with the elaborate dinners of the haute monde of the day...The President's daily schedule stressed moderation. He
usually arose about nine-thirty, had a light Continental breakfast of coffee and a roll as he dressed, and then went to his
office...Lunch consisted of oatmeal, fish, and fruit--no meat or heavy side dishes...Dinner was at six. He dined lightly, but
with style. His favorite meal was a mutton chop with a glass of ale, or a slice of rare roast beef with hot baked potatoes and
fruits. Accompanying this was a glass of claret...President Arthur was fond of seafood of all kinds...he was particularly
keen on [Rhode Island Eels]...He went to the Thousand Islands are particularly enjoyed salmon fishing--and salmon eating...
Arthur favored [Macaroni Pie with Oysters]...At Chester Arthur's sumptuous dinners [Turtle Steak]...was just one of the many specialties
of his chef..."
"Throughout his Presidency, Cleveland maintained this eloquent Victorian standard of entertaining at official functions. His privated
dining habits were something else again. In fact, during the tedium of one long, rich multi-course meal, he was heard to murmur
that he would prefer a plate of corned beef and cabbage. Cleveland had brought from Albany his cook, who had served him faithfully
as Governor and knew exactly how to prepare the simple dishes he liked best. Frank Carpenter, journalistic observer of the time,
noted aspects of the President's personal dining habits. 'At eight he is ready for breakfast. This is not a large meal...[it consists of]
oatmeal, beefsteak, eggs or a chop, with coffee to wash it down.' Lunch...was virtually a snack...Dinner was 'a plain
meal...'"
"...President Cleveland never really liked French cooking. He once wrote, 'I must go to dinner. I wish it was to eat a pickled
herring, Swiss cheese and a chop at Louis' instead of the French stuff I shall find.'"
"...the Harrison Christmas dinner was about as American and unpretentious as the family itself. The dinner began wit Blue Point oysters
on the half shell, followed by consomme a la Royale, chicken in patty shells, and then the piece de resistance, stuffed roast
turkey, cranberry jelly, Duchess potatoes and braised celery. Then came terrapin a la Maryland, lettuce salad with French dressing, and
assorted desserts: minced pie, American plum pudding, tutti frutti ice cream. For those still hungry, ladyfingers, Carlsbad
wafers, and macaroons were passed, followed by fruit and coffee...Each child's plate had by its side a rush basket of bonbons. Part of the
birthday feast included 'big dishes of beaten biscuits...' Bouillon--a Harrison family favorite--was also served, along with
cakes and ice cream...The Harrisons were a soup-loving family [Corn Soup] was a special favorite...It was Mrs. Harrison's homy custom
to serve hot clear soup at her White House teas and receptions...The Harrison family was as fond of oysters--in a variety of
forms--as any long-time Washington residents...So addicted was Caroline Harrison to good food properly prepared that she actually compiled
a cookbook during her time in Washington...The indefatigable Mrs. H. collected her favorite recipes of various legislators' wives
and bound them together under the title Statesmen's Dishes and How to Cook Them...The Ohio-Indiana-bred Harrison
family were all corn addicts, favoring a great number of recipes for serving this useful vegetable...Presidential Fig Pudding...
epitomizes Benjamin Harrison's food preference. It is made of a staple, common food, but it is prepared very well indeed, with imagination
exercised in the preparation. Mrs. Harrison was justifiably proud of her concoction and included it in her cookbook...."
Need to make something for class?
"Both [President and Mrs. McKinley] liked plain food, in substantial quantities. Both breakfasted on army portions of eggs, hot breads,
potatoes, steak or chops, fish on occasion, fruit, and coffee...Lunch and dinner followed the same abundant and starchy
path...Eggs were a standard on the McKinley breakfast table, usually fried or scrambled, but sometimes 'fancied up,' as in this omelet...
...Boiled Fish a la McKinley...was a family favorite...Red Flannel Hash...found favor in Victorian times with Midwesterners like
the McKinleys...Hot Lobster salad...was prized enough by the McKinley to be served as the focal point of their silver wedding
anniversary celebration...."
Teddy Roosevelt approached food with the same zeal he employed in aspects of his maverick career. This President had
definite
culinary opinions and specific favorite foods. General notes here:
"The Roosevelts were a comfortably affluent family who could eat what they liked. What they
liked happened to be simple--not Spartan, as some reports have suggested--but good simplicity in
hearty helpings. For breakfast, the President had hard-boiled eggs with rolls and coffee. He
varied this occasionally by having a big bowl of hominy with salt and butter. Teddy had set ideas,
within the limitations of his food preferences, of just how his food should be prepared. The
eggs must be hard boiled, not medium or soft. Rolls must be homemade and served in great
quantities. Coffee, too, was consumed in volume. Ted, Jr., recalled that his father's coffee cup
was "more in the nature of a bathtub." If the president lunched alone, he had a bowl of milk,
sometimes with crackers, sometimes not. But he was capable of eating quantities of food if the
occasion arose. One observer, O.K. Davis, said, "I have seen him eat a whole chicken and drink
four large glasses [of milk] at one meal, and chicken and milk were by no means the only things
served."
Lunch with the family usually consisted of cold meat (often leftovers), freshly baked bread,
cantaloupe in season, and tea. Family dinners were often three-course affairs, but sometimes only
two. The food was generously served by unpretentious. The White House received many gifts of
game, an unending delight to Teddy. He was also very fond of chicken, as has been implied, and
had pronounced ideas on service it, saying once: "The only way to serve fried chicken is with
white gravy soaked into the meat."
Steak was a popular food with the President...He had a great sweet tooth and usually used as
many as seven lumps of sugar in his coffee...Hominy was a staple at the Roosevelt table. In
addition to being part of breakfast, it was often served as a starch at lunch and dinner, with meat
gravy over it...T.R.'s one great gourmet interest was exotic teas...Ku-Kwa was a favorite...Teddy
Roosevelt also expressed admiration for the famous Caravan tea...The President was far less fond
of alcohol. At informal dinners with friends, only one wine was served, a far cry from the
previous administrations' six and seven glasses. It is possible that alcohol did not agree with
T.R."
"While Roosevelt loved to eat, the dinner table to him was less an occasion for fine dining than a springboard for conversation
in which he played the prime role. (p. 115)..."With the exception of the President's love for Caravan and Hu-Kwa tea, he had little
use for exotic food or drink, or even for alcohol. Although many unknowing oververs clucked that the President used his huge
golden goblet to slurp whiskey, in fact he usually drank form it a mixture of white wine and sparkling water. Roosevlet had an outdoorsman's
taste for game of all kinds, fried chicken, and steak, and a sweet tooth for cookies. Other preferences included a fondness for all
manner of greens (fiddleheads and dandelions, in particular); shad and shad roe; liver and bacon for breakfast; kidney stew; Indian
pudding; and mint tea...ome sophisticated visitors were taken aback at the simplicity and relative absence of alcoholic
refreshment at Sagamore Hill; others reveled in the same simplicity, like the Englishman who exclaimed over his luncheon of 'bouillon,
some lamb chops and new peas and potatoes, and watermelon for dessert.' (p. 126-127)...Oysters were said to be a Roosevelt
favorite." (p. 129)
TR's 42nd birthday dinner, October 27, 1900, [Courtesy of the
Theodore Roosevelt Association]
First Course: Bluepoint Oysters
In June 1906 a syndicated column published in the Washington Post "outed" TR and his family for indulging in
extravagant dining practices. TR responded in kind the next day in the same paper:
"The President indicates that but one correct inference can be gleaned from a syndicate story appearing tin the [Washington] Post yesterday, which purports to describe at some length the culinary department of the Executive Mansion, and that is that the occupants of the White House partake of the ordinary three meals a day. The menu card supplied but the author of the Executive Mansions pure-food story might, indeed, be interesting reading, suggested the President, if it portrayed facts. But when any one endeavors to create a widespread impression that the President and his family sit down to a four or five course breakfast, a six or seven course luncheon, and a ten-course dinner, the President feels that a denial is not inappropriate. Instead of a breakfast consisting of oranges, cantaloupes, cereals, eggs, bacon, lamb chops, hot cakes, and waffles, President Roosevelt insists that the regular White House breakfast consists of hard boiled eggs, rolls, and coffee. Instead of a luncheon of such delicious viands as Little Neck clams, stuffed olives, celery, consomme of chicken, fish saute, eggs a la turque, Spring lamb, new string beans, asparagus, mashed potatoes, lettuce, tomatoes, strawberries , and ice cream, President Roosevelt declares that when alone he always contents himself with a bowl of bread and milk. When Mrs. Roosevelt or the children are present, the luncheon consists of cold meat, if there is any left over, tea, cantaloupe in season, and bread. Instead of a ten-course dinner, including almost everything in the list of edibles, the President declares that nine times out of ten a three-course dinner is served, and the other time a two-course dinner. The paragraph in the culinary story referring to the fact that the President and his family 'eat about the same things as are eaten by other American families in comfortable circumstances,' the President declares to be accurate if segregated from the balance of the story. But when taken in connection with the published menu cards, the President sarcastically inquires how many comfortable American families serve such meals. Upon the statement that 'every article of food that goes to the White House table is carefully inspected' the President humorously admits that the cook looks over the potatoes to see that no bad ones get into the pot, but that such espionage over edibles is all that is contemplated. The assertion that the White House marketing is all done at the Central Market might be true but for the fact that none of the marketing is done at the Central Market. Pinckney, the White House steward, is credited with being clothed with entire authority in buying provisions. Sometimes the President says Pinckney does buy some fruit, but that he never buys other provisions. Special mention made of asparagus consumed at the White House as being purchased through the market is all wrong, declares the President, as all asparagus eaten at the White House comes from the President's estate at Oyster Bay. The interesting declaration that Quentin is permitted to have all the sugar he wants in his demi-tasse loses some of its flavor in the light of the President's declaration that Quentin never drinks coffee."
Senator Hanna's famous Heavenly Hash was served to TR in 1906. Primary records confirm
the popularity of this recipe. We do not have TR's reaction.
Need to make something for class?
Sagamore Hill Sand Tarts
"Steak spelled with a big 'S' was the favorite food of William Howard Taft. When the Chief Justice started to eat steak, it did not
matter much to him what the meal was. As a matter of fact, according to the late Ike Hoover, of the White House staff, when Taft
was President there was always steak for his breakfast. Naturally, Mrs. Taft saw to it that steak appeared every morning for her husband.
Toward the end of his life he had to modify his diet and steak became more of a luxury. Generally Mrs. Taft would order some form
of potatoes to go with the steak. The former President was fond of hashed brown potatoes, if his diet did not interfere. The steak was always
broiled in this method:
"Taft would have had to defer to several others when the title of Presidential gourmet was awarded, but there is no doubt he deserved
the award as leading gourmand. Some of his "snacks" have become legendary. On a visit to Savannah, he once breakfastaed on grapefruit,
potted partridge, broile venison, grilled partridge, waffles with maple syrup and butter, hominy, hot rolls, bacon, and more venison...A
typical Taft lunch might include bouillon, smelts with tartar sauce, lamb chops, Bermuda potatoes, green peas, and--for dessert--
raspberry jelly with whipped cream, salted almonds, bonbons, and coffee. Like his predecessor and mentor, Teddy Roosevelt, Taft
was a great coffee consumer. Dinner some hours later would be, typically, lobster stew, salmon cutlets with peas, roast
cold tenderloin with vegetable salad, cold tongue and ham, followed by frozen pudding, cake, fruit, and coffee...At home, under
the watchful eyes of a well-meaning wife, he might dociley nibble at his eight-ounce breakfast steak, his two oranges, several
pieces of toast and butter, all washed down with quantities of coffee with cream and sugar...But on the road he let himself
go...President Taft enjoyed entertaining...the first diplomatic tea...[served] Lobster a la Newburg, chicken pates, salad, rolls,
an assorted sandwiches...as well as ice cream, cakes, candies, coffee, and punch. It was a spread in the Taft tradition...
The President was fond of waffles for breakfast...The only breakfast dish that President Taft would not eat was eggs--he
could not abide them...One of President Taft's favorite luncheon dishes was terrapin [turtle] soup...[Taft also enjoyed] Billi Bi...
a cream of mussels soup...the President dearly loved all kinds of seafood...William Howard Taft did not care how elaborate the
food was as long as it was attractively served--and served in quantity. Bake ham filled the bill every time...Salads were a
special favorite, almost a perennial on the Taft luncheon and dinner tables...peach salad was held in high esteem...One of Taft's
weaknesses was salted almonds...."
"This city is astir with excitement over the coming here today of President Elect William H. Taft, who will be the city's guest
for twenty-four hours...The climax of Atlanta's attentions to Mr. Taft will come tonight at the chamber of commerce banquet. Six
hundred and fifty others will sit down to dine with the president elect on a menu composed mainly of famous southern delicacies. The
piece de resistance will be baked possum, with baked sweet potatoes on the right of him, on the left of him, under him and heaped over
him. The possum was included in the bill of fare at Mr. Taft's request...Leading up to the "possum and taters," there will be the
renowned Brunswick Stew, and to wash the dishes down there will be gallons and gallons of "simmon beer," a strictly temperance
drink brewed from the famous but slightly acid persimmon."
Need to make something for class? How about President Taft's beloved almond snack?
"...President Wilson's disinterest in food posed some White House problems. The White House physician was constantly concerned
about the President's lack of weight...An elaborate survey was taken by the White House staff to determine the President's food
preferences--which dishes he seemed to enjoy to eat, which he left untouched. Chicken salad was a favorite and was
frequently requested by Wilson as a luncheon dish. And once, when he was to visit friends who lived outside Washington in the
Virginia countryside, he wrote ahead--in an untypical burst of gustatorial ferver: 'I am very fond of country hams, peach
cobblers, butter and buttermilk, fresh eggs, hot biscuits, homemade ice cream and plain white cake.' This contrasts oddly with
a later report that the President's favorite breakfast consisted solely of two raw eggs in grapejuice...
A constantly requested favorite of President Wilson was strawberry ice cream, combining his favorite form of dessert with one of
his favorite fruit...Georgia Kiss Pudding, a favorite recipe brought to the White House via the President's House at
Princeton University...."
"Charlotte Russe
Luncheon, March 4, 1913
Bouillon, Cheese Straws, Oyster Patties, Chicken Croquettes, Green Peas, Smithfield Ham,
White Bread and Butter, Brown Bread and Butter, Biscuits, Rolls, Strawberry Ice Cream and Cake, Coffee.
Dinner, March 4, 1913 Clear Soup, Cheese Straws, Broiled Shad, Cucumbers, Roast Lamb, Mint Sauce,
Beans, Potatoes, Waldorf Salad, Chocolate Mousse, Cakes, Coffee.
Breakfast, March 5, 1913 Oranges, Cereal with Cream, Bacon and Eggs, Steak, Hot Cakes, Toast, Tea, Coffee.
Luncheon, March 5, 1913 Fruit, Fried Oysters, Cole Slaw, Tartare Sauce, Broiled Chicken, Creamed Potatoes, Green Peas,
Apple Fritters, Hard Sauce, Coffee.
Dinner, March 5, 1913 Cream of Celery Soup, Baked Filet of Halibut, White Sauce, Roast Capon, Cauliflower, Mashed
Potatoes, Fruit Salad, Charlotte Russe, Coffee.
"Hors d'oeuvres made by Mrs. Woodrow Wilson's own recipes will be served at a reception to be given by Acropolis Books Friday in the home of the World War I President. Copies of the recipes, some in Mrs. Wilson's handwriting (including a few she apparently secured from friends during bridge games because they are written on score cards), are on file in the house. These recipes, which will be used Friday, were printed in "Entertaining in the White House" by Marie Smith.
"Another Midwestern country favorite...is this authentic chicken pie brought to the White House by Mrs. Harding...Before the poker
session began at a stag dinner at the White House that almost always included the Presidential favorite, knockwurst and
sauerkraut. Sometimes frankfurters were served...A typical breakfast eaten by Harding and his friends included grapefruit,
hot cereal, scrambled eggs and bacon, wheatcakes with maple syrup, corn muffins, toast, and the proverbial gallons of coffee...
Mrs. Harding liked waffles...As the Hardings' main dishes tended to be on the heavy side, there was frequent need on
White House menus of that day for a light first course or a light dessert..."
In 1921 President Harding was invited on the Great American Road Trip with the Four Vagabonds: Thomas Edison, Henry Ford and Harvey
Firestone. What did they eat on that trip?
"President Coolidge vastly preferred the family dinner table to formal banquets, yet it seems taht it was only in the Coolidge era
that the President, his wife, and one or two of their children dined in evening clothes in the State Dining Room--even when
there were no guests...President Coolidge had more odd ideas about food than perhaps any other White House resident. For one thing,
he insisted upon referring to all meals as supper even if they were actually breakfast or luncheon or a formal state dinner. For
another, he generally breakfasted (or supped, as it were) on hot cereal prepared in the White House kitchen by combining three
parts whole wheat and one part whole rye, cooed in its unground state. And then there was the ceaseless nibbling...Unnoticed by the guests,
a waiter would slip a plate of roast beef before the President, no matter what entree was being served officially...[Coolidge]
was inordinately fond of the pickles of his native Vermont...Grace Coolidge was enamoured of Oriental cuisines...President Coolidge hd the
usual country feeling that a chicken could not really be good unless it was raised close by the kitchen door. So he had a chicken
yard built in back of the White House and kept a small flock of Vermont chickens there. Somehow, chickens from this coop,
when prepared for the White House table, had a curiously fragrant and mysterious flavor. Investigation showed that Coolidge's
chicken-yard was built right on top of President Teddy Roosevelt's mint bed...The President himself had a favorite
Oriental dish [Curry of Veal]...it was often served during cruises on the Presidential yacht...Calvin Coolidge...used today he
never ate anything as good as his mother's pork apple pies--a dessert!...[Strawberry a la King Pie]...was reputed to be
Mrs. Coolidge's favorite dessert...."
Eggs
"The watchword had been economy while the Coolidges lived in the White House. Now it was elegance. The best of everything was
served--sometimes out of season, often imported. And this policy extended to the servants, who were apt to be cheered, when home
ill, by a basket of food and flowers sent with Mrs. Hoover's card. Mrs. Hoover never questioned the amount of food consumed or its
cost. Her only requirement was that it be of the best quality, well cooked and well served. But her interest in things culinary
was from her desk where she interviewed the housekeeper and the cook...President Hoover was an extremely rapid eater, and the
kitchen staff used to make bets as to how long it would take him to speed through a meal...Despite the formality of the
household, the Hoovers were not demanding. It has been said by members of their staff that our 31st president was one of the
easiest men in the world to please...President Hoover used to go down to Opelousas, Louisiana, to eat gumbo at a small
restaurant he particularly liked...Although an inlander, Hoover was particularly fond of lobster...President Hoover liked
[Virginia Ham] especially...In the Hoover household [Egg Timbales]...was a frequent luncheon dish. The President invariably, so we
are told, asked for a second helping...Despite world travels, President Hoover always maintained that some of the finest food
he ate in his life came from his Aunt Millie's kitchen...after his wife died...the former President...still clung to many of his
favorite dishes...He continued to nibble black cherries sent to him from Oregon...On occasion he even allowed himself the luxury of griddle
cakes or fried cornmeal mush...When he allowed himself a sweet, it was often a homemade candy, something to which he was
partial."
"Mary Rattley, for eight years queen of Mrs. Hoover's kitchen in the Hoover home in Washington, D.C. keeps her subjects gastronomically
happy. She knows the President-elect's taste down to the last 't.' Mr. Hoover's favorite dishes, and how to tickle the palates of
visitors and to tempt the fastidious and dyspeptic. As every monarch is supposed to be, Mary is queen by divine right; she
is a born cook...Many of the Hoovers' favorite dishes are Mary's own invention. Some of her recipes she keeps only for her own use,
and some she can't give out because she has never measured the ingredients. She has a native genius for putting in a little
of this and some of that and a pinch of something else and turning out a dish to make the mouth water and the hair curl...'Mr. Hoover is the
easiest man in the world to please,' she said...[he] likes corn soup and cream potato soup and roast lamb, and he is
particularly fond of Virginia ham. Yes, I made up my own recipe for baked ham. I take a mildly cured ham, wash it and soak it
overnight, and then I put it in cold water with the skin side down and add two cupfuls of brown sugar and two cupfuls of vinegar.
I let it come to a boil and then simmer slowly until the skin puckers. Then I take it off the stove and let it cool in the water.
That keeps the juices in the meat. Then I skin it and rub it all over with currant jelly. And I always make my currant jelly myself.
Then I sprinkle the ham with breadcrumbs and brown it in the oven...Meanwhile Mary dragged out of the oven a fragrant apple pie
flavored with lemon nutmeg and covered with marshmallow meringue..."
"'And here is another of Mrs. Hoover's favorite dishes. It is my own recipe and I call it 'Maryland caramel tomatoes.' Incidentally, that name is a tribute to Mary's native State, but she
spent fifty years in Washington cooking for many people prominent in national life...'You cut off the tops of the tomatoes--leave the stem--and make a cavity in the top, and fill each hole
with a good-sized piece of butter--not a stingy piece-and put a tablespoonful of sugar on each tomato. Sprinkle with salt, and put in the oven to cook until the sugar is brown and the
tomato done but not flat. Stick a sprig of parsley in the top of each tomato and serve on rounds of toast with sauce of the tomato. That makes a very pretty dish,' Mary concluded."
Modernized version:
Did Herbert Hoover coin the phrase "A Chicken in Every Pot," in his 1928 campaign?
The Great Depression, Prohibition and WWII were times best known for scarcity and "making-do." FDR was reared in the
comfort of family wealth and tradition. Eleanor was social-minded and had no problem breaking all of the rules. Their
dinner tables, both public and private, reflected the fact that opposites attract. Confusing, intriguing,
well-intentioned, sacrificing, inspired. No one knew what they were going to eat for dinner.
Hot dogs served to the Queen of
England. Often criticized by period political and culinary experts, FDR's tables were actually a brilliant reflection of his time.
Most of the food-related information published about FDR's Administration concentrates on
Eleanor Roosevelt. Sara Roosevelt, FDR's mother,
presided as the matriarch of Springwood, Hyde Park. The friction between Eleanor and Sara is well documented. We may actually never know what Franklin, the man, liked to eat.
"The Roosevelts enjoyed hearty, typically American food--like creamed chipped beef, bread puddings, and fried cornmeal mush...
Welsh rabbits (or rarebits) were a family favorite for Sunday-night suppers, and cheeses of all types were always on hand for
Roosevelt snacks or desserts. The family liked doughnuts both at breakfast and teatime...The President took his breakfast
on a tray in his room. His choice of coffee was a dark French roast, prepared in the White House kitchens from green coffee
beans. A coffee maker was placed on the President's breakfast tray so that he could regulate the brewing to his satisfaction....
Luncheon was not really a family meal for the President. Very often he would lunch at his desk from a tray...Dinner brought the
Roosevelt family together...Sunday-night suppers at the White House were intimate occasions...Supper consisted of Mrs. Roosevelt's
scrambled eggs, ham, bacon, or sausage, a dessert and coffee...Mrs. Roosevelt...redesign[ed] the kitchens, equipping them with
electric stoves and dishwashers..."
"Left to themselves, the Roosevelts were the plainest sort of people, so far as eating habits went. What we served family fashion
in the White House was the simplest of American cookery, of the standards set by Mrs. Sara Delano Roosevlet, or "Mrs. James," as
we call her, and which were preferred by her president son. Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt went along with their tastes, since hers didn't
run so much to food. But she wanted the best to be given the guests, for, after the President, the White House guest was king...
Most of the recipes used came from my own family files, because there wasn't a single recipe card, not even a cookbook, left
in the White House when I went in, along with the Roosevelt family, back in 1933. If ever humans were what their eating habits
were, it was the Roosevelts. The President and his family liked the hearty, vitamin-filled dishes that are typically America. Regularly we
served creamed chipped beef and corned beef hash and poached eggs, because they wanted these dishes, and they liked bread pudding.
They loved fried corn-meal mush with maple syrup, sometimes even as a dessert...The desserts they liked best were fruit
and cheese...I don't think Mr. and Mrs. Roosevelt would ever have ordered a canape themselves. They just weren't the hors-
d'oeuvre sort...Caviar was often sent in as gifts by the Russians, and sometimes we had presents of pate de foie gras--two
delicacies the President liked. He was also very fond of terrapin. These and heavy cream were hsi only luxurious tastes."
"There never was such a family for soups as the Roosevelts. All the years they occupied the White House we kept the big steel soup
kettles singing in the White House--clear soup for dinner and cream soup for lunch. Pretty nearly every usable variety of fish,
fowl, beast, mineral, vegetable, and condiment was used in our White House soups...Give Mrs. Roosevelt a bowl of soup and a dish of
fruit for lunch and she'd be off with recharged vitality on one of her trips. She always ordered something light for lunch if she
was going away. Cream of almond--L'Amande soup--was one of her special favorites...The President was partial to fish soups...
Among the recipes his mother gave me was the one for clam chowder...Another of his favorites was the green turtle soup, and there
was always a great fuss when it was made...I remember making it for Will Rogers and other celebrities. We served soup in the White House from
eleven in the morning on--for every meal, in fact, except breakfast....We served Fairy Toast with the White House soups. This toast
which is sliced even thinner than Melba. We also served toast fingers, which is toast cut in narrow strips, and bread sticks, and
sometimes whole-wheat crackers, and saltines."
"Birthdays, of course, were special White House occasions and we went to great pains with the cakes...We used twenty-one candles
always; no one ever grew any older than that in the White House, at least on their birthdays. We always had angel food for Mrs. Roosevelt's birthday and fruitcake for the President's, the latter made by the old English recipe
my husband's mother brought from Ireland. But the original recipe called for currants, which I consider too dry, so I
substituted chopped dates. 'Perfectly delicious,' the President always said."
"The Roosevelts liked doughnuts, either at breakfast or teatime, and I made them by the hundreds at Hyde Park. I used to make the Berliner
pfann kuchen for the Roosevelts, which are the small round cookie-sized doughnuts without holes and rolled in sugar. Once Mrs. Roosevelt
ordered twenty-four dozen of them at one time for the governor's mansion. We served them at the White House too."
"We always had angel food for Mrs. Roosevelt's birthday and fruitcake for the President's, the latter made by the old English
recipe my husband's mother brought from Ireland...Candy was always brought on with the coffee. Nuts were on the table...
Apple pie was the President's preference among pies."---ibid (p. 160-161)
"The Roosevelts liked cheese as an appetizer, in salads, for snacks, and as a main course, or a dessert, and I often thought it
was the President's favorite dessert. He liked Camembert, Roquefort, Swiss, Gruyere, and Liederkranz...along with sharp
American cheese that was the mainstay of many a meal and also had to be kept on hand for the any-old-hour sandwiches and
the Welsh rabbits made for Sunday-night suppers and family buffet."---ibid (p. 138)
"...the Roosevelts were unusually fond of fish...There was nothing the President liked better than Lake Superior whitefish,
boned and planked...Lobsters were great favorites of his, and a blessing during the rationing period. We served the cold, stuffed,
broiled, boiled, in salad, Imperial, Newburg, Thermidor...Kedigree was served over and over during the thirteen years, and Mrs.
Roosevelt liked it best of all. The President loved kippered herring for breakfast, also salt mackerel."---ibid (p. 23-24)
"If there is one cut of meat that bespeaks America to my mind it is steak. When President Roosevelt fell ill...suddenly he
spoke the words that made the skies open up again. 'I'd like a steak,' the President said."
What did Eleanor Roosevelt like to eat? According to Henrietta Nesbitt, Roosevelt cook, in her book
The Presidential Cookbook:
Dislikes
Is it true Eleanor Roosevelt ate chocolate-coated garlic pills every morning?
Eleanor Roosevelt's scrambled eggs were a legendary fixture in the Roosevelt family's Sunday suppers.
"Mrs. Roosevelt's scrambled eggs are a favorite dish with the President any time. His fondness
for them has already paid him handsomely politically, for he won a round of grins from a Southern audience recently by assuring them
that he preferred scrambled eggs to 'grilled millionaire' for breakfast. At Sunday night suppers, besides at breakfast, scrambled
eggs are the White House dish. The little ritual, with Mrs. Roosevelt fixing the eggs on a chafing dish at the supper table, has been
a family institution for years. It was inaugurated by Mrs. Roosevelt as a bride, when her brother...was a regular week-end guest, and
has been continued ever since. The chafing dish is already hot when the ceremony begins. The ingredients are at hand. A liberal
amount of butter goes into the chafing dish first, then the eggs are cracked and dropped in. Mrs. Roosevelt mixes in about half a pint of
milk or cream to a dozen eggs. She adds salt and pepper and beats the mixture vigorously with a fork while it is cooking. Care is
taken not to cook them too hard. It is all over in a few minutes. Then the members of the family or whoever else has showed up for Sunday
supper, get their scrambled eggs. For larger gatherings the eggs are broken and placed in the chafing dish before it is brought
in and placed on the table before Mrs. Roosevelt. For still larger affairs, the eggs are scrambled in the kitchen with careful
observance of the recipe, and are brought in to be served by Mrs. Roosevelt."
"Sunday-night suppers at the White House became a tradition during the Roosevelt administration. They marked the apex of the
week, when the Roosevelt family and their friends relaxed for an informal breathing space between one week's affairs and the
next. Scrambled eggs were a 'must' on these Sunday nights. Mrs. Roosevelt cooked them herself, in a silver chafing dish, and they were
particularly good because she used real cream instead of milk. Coming from Hyde Park, where they had the farm to supply them with the simpler
luxuries, the Roosevelts were accustomed to using all the cream they wanted. But when they went into the White House on the crest of the greatest
depression in history, and had to set an example of simple and substantial meals. We were closely observed...Eggs are health-giving and
easily fixed and can be made into
many different dishes. We tried them out every way possible in the White House. But through depression and war the President
and Mrs. Roosevelt clung to cream. It was about the only luxury left that could be found in sizable quantities. The President
liked cream as thick as it could be had in his morning coffee, and Mrs. Roosevelt wanted cream for the scrambled eggs that were served every
Sunday night in the White House through three presidential terms and what were enjoyed by all who came.
Presidential hot dogs?
"A guest list more distinguished than usually graces a formal White House dinner was represented today at a "hot dog" luncheon
given by President Roosevelt at his cottage, located two miles from the Summer White House. There was no particular reason for the
party except that this seemed to be the last opportunity for an al fresco picnic luncheon before the President's departure for
Washington sometime next week. As it was, the rain spoiled the picnic plans, and the party was moved into the tiny cottage...Among those
present were Bernard M. Baruch...In the meantime the facilities of the small kitchen in the house were being taxed while Mrs.
Roosevelt and a group of her friends broiled weiners, baked macaroni and prepared great bowls of mixed vegetable and tomato
salad and coffee...Since the picnic obviously could not be held on the lawn, long tables were placed on the screened-on porch of
the cottage. A table was set in the living room of the cottage, where the president and his mother, Mrs. Sara Delano Roosevelt,
who yesterday celebrated her eightieth birthday, were served. The guests, ranging from prominent ones to chauffeurs, found
paper plates, paper cups and knives and forks and filed past the serving tables in line. The various guests of honor were invited to
take turns sitting at one table and chatting with the President."
"President Roosevelt entertained Crown Princess Louise of Sweden and her party atop Dutchess Hill, the site of his future cottage
home, this afternoon, and the breezes that whistled through the encircling oaks and pines carried before them the inviting smell
of typical American fare--hot dogs and coffee...The hot dogs were served at the insistence of Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt, wife
of the president, Mrs. James Roosevelt, the President's 83-year-old-mother, who never eats the American road-side dish, had wanted
to serve pork sausages on finger rolls, but these were ruled out by her daughter-in-law, the hostess of the day. The hot dogs,
dripping with mustard, were tucked into the familiar rolls. They were washed down by beer. Although she held aloof from the hot
dogs, the President's mother clung to a glass of beer. For her, ham and chicken sandwiches were added to the picnic menu."
"Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt, wife of the President, wants to give a picnic for them [the King and Queen of England], with hot dogs
if the weather is pleasantly cool, but thermometer should register 100 degrees in the shade, in which case more appropriate
refreshments will be provided. There probably will be a picnic, over which at present, however, a 'friendly family argument' is in
progress, Mrs. Roosevelt said today."
"King George VI ate his first hot dog, was chauffeured by the President of the United States and turned his own hand motion-picture
camera against his photographers at a typical Roosevelt picnic party today on the slope of Dutchess Hill, where the Chief Executive's
new stone cottage provided an informal backdrop for a high point of the visit of the British sovereigns with the nation's First
Family...The King himself clinched the informality of the outing by going swimming with the President in the spring-fed tile pool
on the lawn of Mrs. Roosevelt's Val Kill cottage...There were no other swimmers, other guests who came from the picnic to have tea
at the Val Kill cottage remaining about the lawn...The royal visitors and the other principal guests did not have to hold
paper plates on their laps. Tables had been arranged for them about the front porch under its gently sloping Dutch
colonial roof...It was with some obvious misgivings that Mr. McDermott first conceded, in answer to questions, that the King had
eaten hot dogs at the picnic. He said that it was safe to assume that the King had done so since he had announced that he had been
looking forward to the chance of sampling the favorite American snack. Later it was ascertained that the King not only came
back for more hot-dog sandwiches but that he drank beer with them, the beer being served from a top manned by experts from
near-by Poughkeepsie. Added to the picnic fare were cold ham from various sections of the country, smoked and plain roast turkey,
lettuce and tomato salad, soft drinks, hot and iced coffee and iced tea. The orange and lime soda pop seemed the favorite beverage
of those who stood or sat about the lawn or amid the shade trees, although a number of guests followed the example of the King and
drank beer."
"Truman was not a picky eater. However, he preferred traditional farm style food like roast and fried chicken. When pushed to comment on his food preferences he
one time stated: "Never notice what's put before me. Learned in the army to eat what could be obtained and like it. In my outfit when a man kicked about the food,
he was given a chance to improve it. That soon cured the kickers and they took what was put before them and liked it."
"Like the Roosevelts, the Trumans did not care for elaborate food, but, unlike their predecessors, they demanded it better-cooked.
Mrs. Truman was a very good cook and she expected good cooking on her table...she brought with her to the White House Vietta Carr, the family
cook from Independence, who would sometimes prepare special back-home dishes the family particularly liked...The President's
breakfast menu remained nearly constant: orange juice, grapefruit, or tomato juice; hot cereal in winter and cold cereal other times;
whole-wheat toast and milk--sometimes buttermilk. The staff had to learn how to make coffee for the Trumans...This attention to detail
was typical of Bess Truman's attitude toward food. She gained the reputation of serving the best of home-cooked food, even
for guests...President Truman described himself as a "meat and potatoes man," though he was actually a light eater...At one time when
the White House was giving a luncheon for Prime Minister Churchill...the President ordered the menu...oysters soup, celery
hearts, assorted olives, filet mignon with mushrooms, watermelon pickles, asparagus hollandaise, grilled tomatoes, hard rolls,
hearts of lettuce salad with Roquefort dressing, strawberry shortcake...Special family "receipts" were guarded in the
"Confidential File."...Harry S. Truman was a Senator long before he was President, and he carried his fondness for [Senators' Bean Soup]
from one position to the other...Occasionally the Trumans would bring back from trips home to Missouri some sorghum molasses.
It was a family favorite served on cornbread...Cornmeal Dumplings with Turnip Greens...was enjoyed many times at Truman family
private suppers."
Need to make something for class? Many of Mrs. Truman's family recipes are online:
1,
2 &
3.
Ozark Pudding
"The Eisenhowers never acquired the reputation for being gourmets. Mrs. Eisenhower was happy to be
with her husband alone at every meal, and many times the President and First Lady took their dinner on
trays while watching television. Gossips say the trays contained frozen TV dinners. When the President's
health made state dinners too exhausting, elaborate lunches were substituted as the official entertainment
for a visiting head of state and his wife...Soup were a favorite dish of the Eisenhowers. The president
himself sometimes cooked them...A cold weather favorite of President Eisenhower was...oxtail soup, a
truly hearty military dish... [NOTE: chicken noodle soup and cream of celery-clam soup Rysavy are also
mentioned.]...
General Eisenhower was a frequent guest at the Biddle home in both London and Paris. Three of the
distinguished dishes he particularly enjoyed when dining with the Biddles deserve a place in the annals:
Biddle boeuf a la mode, boeuf a la mode en gelee, and...cream of artichoke soup...An old Kansas favorite
that President Eisenhower remembered from his early Midwest days, and asked for from the White House
kitchen, was succotash...President Eisenhower left the running of the house to his wife, with one
exception. He was very fond of cooking an occasional dish of a homely variety. Beef soup was one of his
specialties, and he would leave the soup simmering on the stove in the kitchen for hours, causing much
mouth-watering among the kitchen staff. As the President and Mrs. Eisenhower differed on the subject of
onions (he loved them, she hated them), this was his chance to indulge one of his favorite tastes..The
President loved garlic...One of President Eisenhower's favorite desserts was prune whip...Just like every
red-blooded American, President Eisenhower was fond of apple pie...Ike preferred his rice pudding
cooked the British way, which takes longer than making it from cooked leftover rice...A pitcher of heavy
cream passed with dessert is almost an Eisenhower trademark."
"We know that General Eisenhower was a hero to his valet because a few years ago Sgt. Mickey said so in a book...Now ex-Sgt.
Marty Snyder comes up with another angle: Ike at the groaning board as military and Presidential gourmet. Eisenhower endeared
himself to his mess sergeant because he knew and liked good food. Mess Sergeant Snyder first encountered Lieutenant Colonel
Eisenhower during the Louisiana maneuvers in '41. The colonel inspected the sergeant's kitchen. Snyder was breaking rules by
attempting to make the food tasty. Eisenhower approved the use of the spices that Snyder had bought out of his own pocket. Thus
began a friendship and an effort on Snyder's part to become the general's personal chef. He did so in 1944 and discovered a human
side to the general that was ennobling. Ike loved to cook himself, to eat simply but experimentally, and to see always that the
men on the lower levels were doing okay on the chow line. There are a number of neat anecdotes about Eisenhower's knowledge of
food and where it comes from. For instance, when a cow was 'captured' and the mess hall men were trying to milk it unsuccessfully,
the general came along and in a few moments at the controls filled a large bucket. 'You city slickers have a lot to learn,' Ike
said."
"Eisenhower had several favorite recipes that he cooked for close friends at Camp David and other places of rest and relaxation. I have on
cripst White House stationary an original Eisenhower recipe titled 'President Eisenhower's recipe for old-fashioned beef stew.'
Alex Wiley, a senator from Wisconsin in the 1950s, sent this original recipe to my dear friend chef Milton F. Schoenbaum in Milwaukee...I have
taken the liberty of elaborating somewhat on the Eisenhower original by giving more exact measurements than
'bunch small carrots' or 'assorted spices.' But the recipe is authentic. In fact, it's unusual in that it starts with 'washed
meat' and adds the roux toward the end--but the result is a good stew, and that's what counts.
Thanks to Mrs. Kennedy, official White House Kennedy tables compared favorably to Jefferson's: classic French cuisine
reigned supreme. Trendy Americans embraced everything French. James Beard and Julia Child taught us how to cook. This makes us wonder: did our 35th president truly love French food (as Jefferson),
or did he prefer something different when dining in private?
"We can not verify that this was President John F. Kennedy's favorite breakfast, but he did prefer orange juice, poached eggs on toast, crisp broiled bacon,
marmalade, milk and coffee. For lunch, President Kennedy was particularly fond of soup--New England Fish Chowder was a favorite. He has been described as
a "soup, sandwich and fruit" man for lunch--always soup though. For dinner there were no particular favorites, although he did like lamb chops, steak, baked
chicken and turkey (white meat) and don't forget mashed potatoes. He also was fond of seafood and baked beans. According to chefs who worked in the White
House, President Kennedy liked corn muffins too---so did Calvin Coolidge. For dessert, if he had it, it would likely be chocolate. President Kennedy was a small
eater; he often had to be reminded that it was dinner time... politics always took preference over food."
"A bowl of vichyssoise and chicken in champagne sauce are what President John F. Kennedy orders most often in New
York restaurants. Fred
Decre of La Caravelle restaurant has prepared those dishes many times for Mr. Kennedy, who also asked the chef to
pack them for two of his airplane trips during the recent campaign. Mr. Kennedy's taste in food is relatively sophisticated."
About Mrs. Kennedy's entertaining style
"Not since the days of Dolley Madison had the White House been the scene for such brilliant entertaining as was done by First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy and her
history-conscious husband, John F. Kennedy - and not since the days of Thomas Jefferson, America's first gourmet of renown, had more serious thought been
given to White House standards of food and drink....Mrs. Kennedy had a distinct preference for French cooking, and soon after moving into the White House,
began looking for a chef to add the inimitable French touch.
She subsequently lured Rene Verdon, the French expert, away from the Carlyle Hotel in New York to preside over the White House kitchens. The French flavor
he added to state dinners was an instant success."
"Mrs. Kennedy...had tastes as cosmopolitan as my own...The President's tastes were somewhat heartier, when he was permitted to
indulge them...Mr. Kennedy was very fond of the tiny quiches he had for his lunch...President Kennedy...did enjoy...cold beer. Mrs. Kennedy
favored the daiquiri."
"Soup was a dish close to the heart of President Kennedy, since it gave him an opportunity to be served the fish for which his
New England background had given him a special appreciation. He dearly loved Boston clam chowder, and asked me to prepare it for
him on many occasions...I did everything I could to satisfy Mr. Kennedy's New England liking for good fish cookery. Quite naturally, as a
Catholic, he had it every Friday...I suspect the President also would have liked to have had another favorite, Boston
baked beans, served to him in the White House, but as I have pointed out, the demands of a more formal cuisine would not
permit it."
"At the White House...the Kennedys were not especially fond of the more elaborate egg dishes. Mrs. Kennedy's customary
breakfast was orange juice, scrambled eggs, two strips of bacon, a little honey and a glass of skimmed milk. Occasionally she had
tea or coffee instead. Little John often had breakfast with her, and usually ate all her honey and bacon, but she did not seem to mind...
she was not in any case a large eater. The President's breakfast seldom varied. Nearly every day he had a large glass of
orange juice, toast with jam, two four-and-a-half minute eggs, some strips of broiled bacon and coffee with cream and sugar.
...Mr. Kennedy shared his wife's liking for souffles, especially at luncheon."
"A favorite chicken dish of the Kennedys in their family dining room...was Poulet a l'Estragon--that is, chicken with
tarragon."
"Nothing could be more unpretentious than the spectacle of the first family at luncheon on the occasional days when there was no
state function. They had it in their quarters, often from trays. Typically, the luncheon might consist of cups of consomme, and cold
beef or grilled cheese sandwiches."
"Barbecue meals come in every size, shape and form...to come up with a menu that will never do you wrong, the veal I would choose is
the one that President Johnson likes best...Texas Beef Barbecue with Natural Gravy, Smoked Ranch Beans, Cooked Country
Corn, Country Potato Salad, Texas Cole Slaw, Sliced Dill Pickle Spears, Spanish Sweet Onions, Modern Day Sourdough Biscuits,
Fried Apple Pies, Six-Shooter Coffee, Soft Drinks. Over and above this basic meal, the President usually has some add-ons. He likes
these to be served as snacks before the main feed...Barbecue Spareribs, Barbecue Shrimp, East Texas Hot Guts (a sausage)...the
President likes the spareribs best of all."
LBJ's favorite foods
courtesy of the LBJ Library and Museum.
"The typical morning meal prepared in the White House for president Jonson consisted of his favorite chipped beef covered with
cream, and a cup of hot tea...Mrs. Johnson loved breakfast foods, including eggs and omelets, pancakes and waffles, even grits...
Mrs. Johnson can be credited with bringing back old-fashioned home-style cooking to the White House. She was a strong advocate
of serving home-baked bread...The family's affinity for plain biscuits led Mrs. Johnson to include Hot Biscuits on breakfast, lunch,
and dinner menus...President Johnson enjoyed snacking on Hot Biscuits stuffed with ham or his favorite deer sausage...
President Johnson liked his Texas-style dishes...President Johnson liked [Beef Stroganoff] along with other soft-textured meat
dishes such as...lamb hash, chicken chow mein, and chop suey...Seafood Creole..as one of President Johnson's favorites, as he really
loved seafood...Spinach was one of President Johnson's favorite vegetables. He especially enjoyed vegetable dishes prepared in
unusual forms, such as light spinach souffle...President Johnson preferred his salad chopped so fine that he could eat it with
a spoon. He was a very rapid eater...This hard-working President was grateful for dishes he could eat quickly and still enjoy...
President Johnson was very fond of tapioca pudding...He preferred his pudding cold, served without any topping...Spanish Cream...
was a real favorite of President Johnson...As long as a dessert tasted sweet, President Johnson would eat it...Even though the
American public seemed to believed that the Johnsons dined on Texas-style food on a daily basis, the family typically
reserved tacos, chalupas, and nachos for dinner parties and special events. The Johnsons liked to share their own regional
cooking with their guests...The Johnson administration was noted for barbecues, but it was the quality of the food served--
rather than the number of events conducted--which was the real reason for the reputation. In fact...they were the first
family to conduct a cookout at the White House...[President Johnson] was exceptionally enthusiastic about Eggplant
Nicoise..."
"...with the Johnsons steak of all foods, reigns supreme. It is served for breakfast, for lunch, and for state dinners (though
certainly not all in the same day)...In fact, at the Presidential inaugural luncheon, Texas heart of filet mignon was served...
the dinner before the big inaugural ball was a private one, in which bouillon, sirloin, spinach, potatoes, mixed green salad, and
Baked Alaska were served...The President's food preferences seem to veer toward simple classics, well prepared by the family cook
of twenty-odd years, Mrs. Zephyr Wright...When a huge Texas steak isn't on the table, Southern fried chicken often is, along with
spoonbread, popovers, or other home-baked rolls. Mrs. Wright makes brownies frequently, but the President's very favorite dessert
is an old-fashioned homemade ice cream...Lady Bird favors simple dishes, and is partial to deer bacon, pickled okra, turkey
dressing, and spareribs. All the Johnsons are great milk consumers. After the blessing at the beginning of each meal, Mrs.
Johnson usually asks "Sweet milk or buttermilk?" and pours from the appropriate pitcher. It is almost a ritual. LBJ himself is a
buttermilk addict..."
"No president except Jefferson relished a greater variety of flavors in cookery than Lyndon B. Johnson. He liked every style of
cooking, and there was a saying in the White House kitchen that BJ 'will eat anything toat doesn't bite him first.' He was especially
partial to German food, Southern style cooking and French haute cuisine, but his greatest love was special Mexican foods. At receptions
at the White House, Lady Bird Johnson would sigh and shake her head as she saw her husband break his diet and reach into a bowl
of fiddle-faddle. He simply could not resist the combinations of nuts and popcorn held together by syrup...Only a person like
Johnson could have got away with entertaining a visiting chief of state at a giant outdoor barbecue, as he did German Chancellor Ludwig
Erhard, and made it appear a perfectly natural thing to do...It as said around the White House that to LBJ, a week without chili in some form was
a week wasted."
Lyndon B. Johnson's Pedernales River Chili
"Ranch Apple Fried Pies
Lady Bird Johnson's recipes. Poppy Cannon's The Presidents' Cookbook offers these recipes: Pompano Moro (fish dish).
Barbeque Spareribs A La Lady Bird, Texas Fried Chicken, LBJ's Pedernales River Chili, Ranch Turkey and Lady Bird's Cornbread
Dressing, Lady Bird's Lima Bean Specialite, Lady Bird's Spinach Souffle, Asparagus Bari, Western Salad, Zephyr's Old-Fashioned Fruit
Ice Cream, and LBJ's Double Divinity Fudge. Henry Haller's The White House Family Cookbook adds Chipped Beef on Toast, Hot
Biscuits, Chili Con Carne, Deer Sausage, Beef Stroganoff, Seafood Creole, Spinach Souffle, Dilled Okra, President Johnson's
Chopped Garden Salad, Tapioca Pudding, Lynda and Luci's Brownies, Texas-Style Barbecued Ribs, Flowerpot Sundaes (favorites of
Luci & Lynda) and recipes for both daughters' wedding cakes. Get the books at your local public library or ask us to scan/send.
The Nixon family preferred modest American fare: fresh salads, California fruit, cottage cheese and yes, of course,
THE meatloaf.
It is possible these choices reflected Mr. Nixon's Quaker heritage.
"[Nixon] likes ketchup on his cottage cheese but his favorite food is meat loaf...His breakfast is served by Fina Sanchez, wife of Manolo, both
Castillians who came to New York via Cuba and live in the servants' quarters of the Nixon apartment. Nixon's breakfast fare is always
the same: Fresh orange juice, half a grapefruit, cold cereal and skim milk and coffee. Sometimes Mrs. Nixon...joins him for
coffee...The President-elect's working suite at the Pierre consists of a large drawing room, a bedroom, dressing room, bath, office
study and entrance foyer. The first thing Nixon does after depositing his coat in the closet is ring for a cup of coffee--his
second of the morning. He is not a chronic coffee drinker, a staff aide explained, but he does offer coffee to his visitors
throughout the day and he, of course, drinks a cup with them. As he drinks his first cup at the office, he goes over the things
on his desk...He is never without a tape recorder within reach on which to record his thoughts and ideas on whatever subject
pops into his mind or comes up in a conversation...'The ideas he dictates into the machines and the memos are fantastic,' says
Rose Mary Woods, his long-time, loyal secretary...Nixon...is a weight-watcher but he does it unconsciously, says Miss
Woods. His watching is most evident at lunch when he eats at when he eats at his desk. He has cottage cheese and fruit--it varies from
day to day--peaches, pears or oranges--from the hotel's kitchen. Occasionally he deviates and has a hamburger and a cup of
coffee. Once a week, he goes out for luncheon, usually with a long time personal friend and perhaps one or both of his
daughters. A favorite place for these occasions is the chic La Cote Basque Restaurant...Occasionally he works at his office
right through dinner. When he does, Manolo fixes him a late dinner at home that Fina has left in the refrigerator or on the stove. More
often, he leaves the Pierre at 6:30 p.m. and enjoys the less-than-five-minute walk in the evening air to his apartment. Once there, he turns on the
stereo and keeps music of all types--particularly show tunes he especially likes--playing until he retires hours later. Sometimes
he goes to the den and mixes himself a drink, his first of the day. 'He drinks very infrequently,' a staff aide said...Nixon is
ready for dinner by 7 p.m. and the family dines by candlelight in the large formal dining room with soft music in the
background. The menu is totally unimportant to the President-elect. 'Dick eats everything but he likes meatloaf,' Mrs. Nixon said.
Her meatloaf recipe calls for half beef and half pork. 'I have never seen him turn anything down. If he is particularly pleased with what he
has, he'll call Fina and Manolo in to tell them how good it is.'"
"A few weeks before their arrival, the Nixons sent advance men to the White House to discuss the new First Family's needs, likes and
dislikes, and life-style...The new First Family liked simple American foods and ethnic dishes...The entire [Nixon] Family was partial to dishes made with fresh produce from California and Florida, including ripe avocados...
In the summer time, Mrs. Nixon liked a salad in which slices of the smooth-skinned Florida avocado were alternated with fresh
grapefruit sections to make a light luncheon plate...Mrs. Nixon...was very conscious of her diet and chose to eat healthful
meals...During the humid Washington summers, the Nixons preferred luncheon menus built around cold foods. They enjoyed cold soups like
gazpacho, cold cucumber and other mousses, cold poached salmon, and especially cold seafood plates. With cold shrimp and crab, the
Nixons liked a special red cocktail sauce made with catsup...The Nixons were also fond of another seafood dish, the
Mississippi Platter, which was made with fresh tuna or shrimp, lobster, and crab served on a bed of iceberg lettuce and garnished with
sliced hard-boiled eggs and tomatoes, radish roses, and crisp coleslaw...President Nixon liked to lunch on ...spicy Pepperoni
Salad...president Nixon ate small portions, avoided snacking, and made up for immoderate eating at gourmet State Dinners with
light menus for subsequent meals...President Nixon often requested a light luncheon tray served in his office. A cottage
cheese plate because his regular noontime meal, served with Rye Crisp and sometimes fresh fruit in season...If the President
ever doused his cottage cheese with catsup, I never saw him, and doubt he ever did. Yet the rumored "recipe" became rather popular
with the dieting American Public...For breakfast, the President liked fresh fruit, wheat germ with nondairy creamer, and
coffee...The whole family liked light luncheons, often salads...Desserts were typically reserved for special family
occasions and meals attended by guests. Family dinner menus followed Mrs. Nixon's preferred pattern: meat or chicken, potato
or pasta, vegetables and/or salad, dessert by request. A first course was waived--except for the family's favored Baked Grapefruit and
occasionally a fresh fruit cup or clams on the half shell. Desserts, if any, consisted of fruits native to California and Florida. Dinner
was served promptly at 6:00P.M....One of the Nixons' favorite dinner meals was the boiled corned beef and cabbage dish...On the
evening of the President's inauguration, Mrs. Nixon phoned the Main Kitchen to order the First Family's first White House diner:
four steaks...and 'just a bowl of cottage cheese. The kitchen had been warned about the First Family's fondness for steak, so a selection
of prime cuts was already on hand. But no one had alerted the White House about the Nixons' penchant for cottage cheese...
An adventurous member of the kitchen crew volunteered to drive a White House limo around...in search of cottage cheese. Fortunately,
the mission was a success...Italian dishes were always a favorite on the Nixon's family dinner menus, with lasagna a close
second to spaghetti. Since the Nixons liked beef, meatballs and/or meat sauce always adorned their pastas. Warm Italian bread, a
green salad and a good red wine typically rounded out the meal...The Nixons also enjoyed other ethnic fare, including Chinese
and Mexican food...On the rare occasions when he did indulge, President Nixon consumed his very favorite, very rich foods, such
as Beef Stroganoff, Beef Wellington...Duckling a l'Orange...Homard a l'Americaine (lobster sauteed in oil and tomatoes...President Nixon loved the taste of macadamia
nuts..."
The Meatloaf
"In the eyes of the American public, barbecued beef was supplanted by mundate meat loaf when the Nixons replaced the
Johnsons in the nation's First Home. Although the Presidents' personal tastes have often been exaggerated, President Nixon was
quite fond of his wife's meat loaf, and meat loaf appeared about once a month on the family dinner menus. As soon as the
public became aware of this fact, the White House was inundated with inquires for the recipe that so pleased the presidential
palate. To ease my burden, Mrs. Nixon's meat loaf recipe was printed on White House stationery to be sent in response to the thousands
of requests...other recipes that proved popular with the public included Mrs. Nixon's Continental Salad with Sesame Seed
Dressing, Tricia's Chicken Divan, Tricia's Chicken Imperial, Julie's Spanish Eggs, Mrs. Nixon's Chestnut and Apple Stuffing,
Apricot Nut Bread, Ham Mousses, and Barbecued Chicken."
Peking, 1972
"Throughout an eight-course three-hour banquet in President Nixon's honor a band mingled
Chinese folk songs with such Americana as "Home on the Range,"...During the sumptuous
banquet in the Great Hall of the People, Premier Chou En-lai sat between Mr. and Mrs. Nixon at a
huge circular head table beneath enormous floodlit flags of the United States and the People's
Republic of China. A battalion of white-jacketed waiters served. The President seemed more
deft in manipulating the ivory chopsticks than he did in holding aloft the successive glasses of
crystal-clear, mao-tai, the sorghum-based Chinese liqueur...Each place there was a set of
chopsticks as well as a knife and fork, although most of the Americans used the chopsticks.
There was a constant rotation of dishes of blue and white in the traditional Chinese style. Each
person had something like two dozen pieces passed to him. The head table was the only one that
had 20 people at it--all the others had 10. The center was decorated with a field of grasses with
kumquats planted on them. The Menu: Hors d'oeuvres (including aged eggs, bacon and small
carp in vinegar sauce and other delicacies), Spongy bamboo shoots ad egg-white consomme,
Shark's fin in three shreds, Fried and stewed prawns, Mushroom and mustard greens, Steamed
chicken with coconut, Almond junket, Pastries, Fruits (north China tangerines)."
"You couldn't tell much from the terse menus at the two banquets the Nixons have
attended this week in Peking. So, at first some people thought the Presidential party was getting
short shrift--simple dishes and too few courses....an American who has been at both state
dinners, Max Frankel, the New York Times Washington Bureau chief, has cleared up a great deal
of conclusion. During a telephone call yesterday from Peking, he reinforced the always logical
view that the foremost kitchen in China knows how to cook Chinese food. According to Mr.
Frankel, the food at both meals in the Great Hall of the People was of consistently high quality
and many more dishes were served than were included on the official menus. Politically and
professionally impartial sources in this country have also stressed that the much maligned first
banquet, hosted by Premier Chou En-lai, was a perfectly legitimate example of that rarified area
of Chinese gastronomy--classic cuisine. With few exceptions, the dishes the Nixons ate that first
night are never served in America. The banquet stressed purity and elegance of taste and,
particularly, texture. Shark's fin and almond junket are two examples of this, basically bland
foods, which, like the ancient eggs also served, delight the ultra-refined Chinese palate by their
feel and subtlety rather than the pyrotechnics of their preparation. "The food is vastly more
interesting and delicate than the kind of mixture you tend to get in the United States"..."
President Nixon also liked ice cream!
Need to make something for class?
Makes 50 cookies
1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) butter, softened
"...President Ford had a healthy appetite and simple tastes. For breakfast, the President usually consumed...freshly squeezed orange juice,
a piece of fresh fruit such as melon, one or two toasted English muffins with margarine and jam, and hot tea. Sunday
breakfast was...a special meal...with the President's favorite: Golden Brown Waffles served with "the works"--strawberries and
sour cream....The entire family joined the President in his enthusiasm for the hearty breakfast dish we called the German Apple
Pancake...Mrs. Ford requested that the kitchen serve bread baked fresh each day from her own recipe...Mrs. Ford's recipe yields a
dense white bread that is perfect for toasting...[crab] soup became a favorite on the Ford family's dining table. The Fords often requested
simple luncheon of soup and homemade bread...The menu for the Fords' first family dinner in the White House--prime rib, parsleyed
new potatoes, green beans, salad, and ice cream-served as a reliable indicator of the meal that would follow. The Fords
preferred plain all-American food, simple dishes that were hearty and nutritious...President Ford preferred a salad made with
crisp Boston lettuce and finely sliced red onion, tossed with a small quantity of a peppery French dressing...family dinner
favorites included...spareribs with sauerkraut, spaghetti and meatballs, burgers wrapped in bacon, liver and onions, and various
casseroles. Dinner was typically served with a lightly cooked vegetable and a tossed salad. The Fords usually skipped a first
course and included dessert only by request, for which the White House kitchen kept...fresh fruit and ice cream on hand...
One of President Ford's favorite vegetables was cabbage...The Fords liked very lean pork chops simmered in red wine and served
midwestern-style with braised red cabbage and apples...President Ford requested that the sugar bowl be removed from the dining table
as a symbol of their support for public protest against inflated sugar prices. One of the Fords' few dessert requests was for...
lemon-flavored pudding...Susan's favorite treat was...Strawberry Shortcake...President Ford was very fond of fresh strawberries..."
Down-home southern style family fare. Interesting and unpretentious. What better way to describe the Carter family table?
"When the Carters lived in the White House, the President usually arose around 5:30A.M., sipping on some freshly squeezed juice
and hot coffee before heading for the Oval Office. After a few hours at his desk, President Carter was served a light breakfast,
typically fresh fruit and buttered toast...[Amy and Mrs. Carter] liked to share fruit juice, scrambled or poached eggs, and toast.
Breakfast cereals were served alternately with the eggs, plus fresh fruit in season from time to time...One of the Carters' favorite
[Sunday] breakfast menus included Country-Style Ham with Redeye Gravy, scrambled eggs and baked grits, freshly baked Corn
Bread and hot Fried Apples...For the most part, the Carters preferred simple, wholesome, down-home dishes. They were not "big
eaters," but they were not "picky" about their food either...In adjusting each menu plan to suit her family's schedule and personal
tastes, Mrs. Carter often took the time to describe a family favorite, so that the kitchen staff would prepare these dishes just
the way the Carters liked them. One of the Carters' favorite Southern-style side dishes was "red and white," or Red Beans and Rice...
...When they were first married, Jimmy Carter taught Rosalynn some of his favorite recipes. Mrs. Carter became an
enthusiastic cook, and the young couple often prepared dishes together as a form or relaxation...The Carters liked homemade soups,
especially when served with sandwiches or warm homemade breads...Two of the family [sandwich] favorites included country ham
with cheddar cheese, and grilled cheddar with bacon and tomato. Amy's favorite sandwich was cold meat loaf on white bread, which she
often requested as part of her school lunch...Amy carried her lunch to school in a paper bag...[Amy's] favorite foods included
hamburgers and pizza, ice cream and cookies...Whether dining alone or with family
and friends, the Carters preferred simple dinners that included lots of vegetables...They liked their vegetables served plain, raw
or lightly steamed. The Carters also enjoyed eating salads...President Carter was not partial to rich sauces, nor did he like most
commercial condiments...One of President Carter's favorite dishes was a chicken and vegetable stew...The Carters continued to enjoy Southern-style
barbecues as White House residents...President Carter preferred serving spicy spare ribs...On Sunday nights, the entire White
House kitchen staff was off-duty. To cut some expenses and give the staff a break the Carters prepared their own supper
that night, typically an informal meal consisting mainly of leftovers, usually sandwiches. President Carter was fond of
Pork chops with corn bread stuffing...Plain chicken dishes turned out to be some of the Carters' favorite menu selections for
family dinners. President Carter was especially fond of baked chicken breasts stuffed with cheddar cheese, and fried chicken made
"Southern-style"....Butternut squash, zucchini, butter beans, vine-ripe tomatoes, and fried corn were some of President Carter's
favorite vegetables. He also liked greens such as collards and kale, and he even enjoyed a number of dishes made with okra...But
eggplant was undoubtedly Jimmy Carter's favorite vegetable. The President liked fresh eggplant straight out of the garden, thinly
sliced and batter-fried, or baked in a souffle or casserole...Peanuts were the Carters' family symbol long before they became White
House residents. They enjoyed eating peanuts, plain or as an ingredient...but no more than the typical family."
The Grits Factor
What else was served at the White House? Selected Menus
for State Dinners during the Carter Administration.
Need to make something for class?
Need more recipes? We recommend: Miss Lillian and Friends: The Plains, Georgia, Family Philosophy and Recipe Book, as told to
Beth Tartan and Rudy Hayes [1977]. Your local public librarian can get you a copy. NOTE: The Carter family is often associated
with peanuts. DO NOT BRING PEANUTS TO CLASS UNLESS YOUR TEACHER SAYS IT'S OKAY. Some people are very allergic to peanuts and
they can get very sick if exposed.
"The Reagans typically eat breakfast together at 7:45 A.M., and their menu is as consistent as it is sensible. The nutrition-conscious First lady is aware
of the importance of including adequate amounts of fiber-rich foods in the diet, and of minimizing intake of fat and cholesterol.
Therefore, the Reagans start the day with bran cereal, skim milk, fresh fruit, and decaffeinated coffee. Once a week, eggs are
served--scrambled, poached, or soft-boiled for our minutes--a single egg for each of them. The President usually supplements his
morning repast with whole wheat toast or a home-made muffin...Monkey Bread is a heavy, sweet loaf that serves as a Reagain family
tradition...Reserved for special occasions and holidays, Monkey Bread is a definite deviation from the lighter fare preferred by
the First Lady...When bread is included on the Reagan family dinner menus, it is most often in the form of wedges of pita...
Ronald Reagan...retained an appetite for simple, home-style meals. Even in the White House, Ronald Reagan prefers the plain
foods of his early days...These include such homey dishes as Macaroni and Cheese, Meat Loaf, and Hamburger Soup...The President
usually has lunch in the Oval Office, and he prefers a light meal such as soup, bread, and a fruit dessert. He likes
minestrone with a wedge of fresh Italian bread, lentil soup with sliced frankfurters, navy bean or black beans soup, and Scotch broth
made with barley. His favorite soup...is a home-style hamburger soup made with beef broth, lean ground beef, fresh tomatoes, and
hominy. Served with a slice of toasted French bread and perhaps a medly of fresh fruit for dessert...Sunday night fare typically
consists of a simple main dish, fresh vegetables, salad and fruit. The Reagans are fond of hash made with chicken, but the
President's favorite is an old-fashioned roast beef hash. Sometimes they enjoy a hearty dinner of roast beef with Yorkshire Pudding.
They are also fans of a California favorite, steak with chili. Mrs. Reagan likes her meat cooked medium-well, while the
President prefers his well-done...Dinner menus at Rancho del Cielo are similar to the hearty meals served at Camp David...Although
the Reagans prefer chicken, veal, and fish to beef, several of their best-liked dishes do feature lean beef. Beef and Kidney Pie is one...
...Osso Bucco...is a favorite of the Reagans and is served for both family dinners and special meals. Other veal dishes favored
by the Reagans include veal scallopini in Marsala, Veal Piccata, and Veal Parmigiana...President Reagan is especially fond of
broiled swordfish napped with lemon butter. Mrs. Reagan is fond of a number of fish dishes, including salmon mousse, grilled
halibut steak, broiled trout with kiwi fruit, and swordfish Veronique...the Reagans ...enjoy some sort of light dessert after
most every meal. Fruit desserts are especially popular, including a wide array of apple dishes...The President is fond of honey-baked
apples, and Mrs. Reagan's favorite is an old-fashioned Apple Brown Betty..."
---The White House Family Cookbook, Henry Haller [Random House:New York] 1987 (p. 327-365)
The jelly bean factor?
Why this president munched jelly beans, National Archvies, Ronald Reagan Presidential Library & Museum.
Need to make something (easy, delicious, portable) for class? We suggest:
Monkey Bread.
Some Presidents are famous for enjoying fine food; others are noted for preferring "down home" simple fare.
Mr. George Herbert Walker Bush is probably the only President best known for disliking a particular food. That would be
broccoli.
"George Bush, still harboring a childhood grudge against broccoli, escalated the rhetoric today in his one-man war against the vegetable.
"I do not like broccoli and I haven't liked it since I was a little kid and my mother made me eat it and I'm President of the United States and I'm not going to eat any more broccoli," Bush proclaimed to cheers and laughter at the close of an outdoor news conference.
Bush's forthright stand has brought howls from broccoli growers, who are shipping 10 tons of the green, flowery vegetable from California to the nation's capital to feed the hungry.
"Now, look. This is the last statement I'm going to have on broccoli," Bush said. "There are truckloads of broccoli at this very minute descending on Washington. My family is divided."
But the President admitted that at least one member of the Bush family likes broccoli.
"For the broccoli vote out there: Barbara loves broccoli. She has tried to make me eat it. She eats it all the time herself," Bush said. "So she can go out and meet the
caravan of broccoli that's coming in."
""Broccoli every day." That was my mother's slogan, and we got it every day, like oatmeal and soft-boiled eggs. But in those days broccoli came packed in mud-or
so it seemed-and you got grains of dirt with every bite no matter how many rinses or how much hosing they got. No wonder President George Bush hates broccoli.
If I were the President of the United States, I probably would too, remembering only the bad old days."
What about other vegetables?
"A debate is under way among close associates of George Bush over the favorite snack of the President. Mr. Bush has long shown a fondness for pork rinds, so
much so that Congressional leaders recently brought him some as a good-will gift. But some longtime Bush friends, such as Don Rhodes and Vic Gold, insist that
his true love is popcorn.."
"Ten years ago the recently inaugurated George Bush was making his favorite foods known. For a black-tie $1,500-a-plate inaugural dinner what did he choose? A baked bean and scrod dinner to commemorate the great state of his birth, Massachusetts? Oysters a la Connecticut to note the days of his youth? A messy Texas barbecue from his adopted home state? Or, from his Kennebunkport summer home, Maine lobsters?
Instead George and Barbara Bush for the first of many presidential dinners designed a meal around the taste buds of George Washington and called it "From
George to George." Here are two recipes from that feast.
Corn Pudding
Apple-Cranberry Brown Betty
Most Americans today love (or have a secret love) for fast food. Mr. Clinton just happened to get caught.
For the record:
Popular media expanded this list:
"THE good news is, my husband loves to eat and enjoys it," Hillary Clinton said. "The bad news is, he loves to eat, even when things are not always right for him."
Visits to nine restaurants here that his friends say are among Bill Clinton's favorites, as well as sightings around the country, confirm his wife's description of his
eating habits. From Sims Bar-B-Q to Juanita's, from Doe's Eat Place to Hungry's Cafe, President-elect Clinton prefers the stuff with fat in it: jalapeno
cheeseburgers, chicken enchiladas, barbecue, cinnamon rolls and pies. But no chocolate-chip cookies...
Mr. Clinton must get his calories in other forms because he is allergic to chocolate and to milk...
The President-elect's taste in food reflects the kind of diet most people his age and older grew up eating: heavy on the meat, dessert at every meal and tiny amounts
of vegetables, the tinier the better.
This information may send current and future White House chefs into paroxysms of fear. But they need not worry. Anyone capable of making a good hollandaise
should have no trouble with an enchilada. And no one in the White House will have to bother with barbecue; Sims will gladly deliver.
Mr. Clinton's battle of the bulge is one most people can sympathize with, especially if they have to eat irregular meals on the road. By the time of the New York
primary in April, Mr. Clinton weighed more than 200 pounds, a gain of about 30 pounds...
"Bill's partial to chicken enchiladas," Mr. Abernathy said. "We're somewhat famous for them." He described them in loving detail: "They're made with Smooth
Melt Cheese, which is similar to Velveeta but not cheese food. It's real cheese."...
Mr. Clinton is also partial to soft tacos and to Clausthaler, a nonalcoholic German beer. He drinks very little alcohol, friends and restaurateurs say, preferring a soft
drink or iced tea.
Now that the President-elect causes traffic to stop whenever he goes out, he's been eating a lot of carryout, from Juanita's and elsewhere.
Often it includes chili con queso made with three kinds of cheese and three kinds of peppers, a dip Mr. Abernathy says is addictive.
Sims Bar-B-Q, in a rundown little shack that draws a cross-section of Little Rock's people, has been run by the Sims-Settlers family for 60 years, and the family
members certainly know how to smoke meats.
Mr. Clinton is partial to sliced pork barbecue, baked beans and slaw, sliced beef, potato salad and sweet potato pie....To pay a bet he lost on an Arkansas-Georgia football game, Mr. Clinton sent some of Sims's barbecued chicken this fall to Gov. Zell Miller of Georgia.
All those visits Mr. Clinton has made to McDonald's notwithstanding, the President-elect doesn't eat there much.
At least not anymore. In a "Saturday Night Live" skit a few weeks ago Phil Hartman, the actor impersonating Mr. Clinton, was seen in a McDonald's with his
Secret Service agents, one of whom said to him, "Mrs. Clinton told us not to let you into any fast-food places." Despite the warning, he snatched food from people's
plates as he talked to them.
In fact, all the President-elect gets at McDonald's these days is a glass of water and a cup of coffee.
"When he's not on a diet," one of the counter people said, "he has an Egg McMuffin."
Once or twice a week, when he was Governor, his jogging took him by the Community Bakery, where he would get a cup of coffee and a bagel, plain or cinnamon.
No sweets for Mr. Clinton? "A lot of times he'd get cake doughnuts," said John Sproles, the manager, "but I don't know if he ate them."
Ann Ward, owner of Hungry's Cafe, seemed far more knowledgeable -- or forthcoming. "He'd stop twice a week when the Legislature was in session," said Ms.
Ward, whose restaurant serves a lunch of "one meat, two veg., bread, tea, Kool-Aid or coffee" for $4.50. One meat means hamburger pepper loaf, smothered
steak, fried chicken or chicken fried steak.
The restaurant looks the way any place called Hungry's should look: a stamped-tin ceiling, dark green walls with chipped paint, linoleum on the floor worn by thousands of scraping chairs and footsteps, and a different oilcloth pattern on every table.
"Mr. Clinton often had cinnamon rolls," Ms. Ward said, rolls nearly as big as hubcaps. In a bow to his cholesterol count, he smeared them with margarine, she added.
None of Mr. Clinton's favorite restaurants ever gained the fame reserved for Doe's Eat Place, where Mr. Clinton often held important political events. Decorated in Early Attic, it exudes legend. Ersatz legend. The place is only four years old. Some of the patina that has rubbed off on it is from its namesake in Greenville, Miss., which is legendary: it opened 50 years ago. The Little Rock Doe's pays a fee to the Greenville restaurant to use the name.
Tim Jones, a waiter at Doe's, calls it "vegetarian hell."
"We have potato and one kind of salad," he said, "but most people come here for a greasy cheeseburger or a two-pound steak." Mr. Clinton has had his share of
both...
The restaurant's cook, Lucille Robinson, has been feeding Mr. Clinton for 15 years, starting at a place called the Band Box, whose owner, George Eldridge, also owns Doe's. Mr. Eldridge plans to open a place similar to Doe's in Washington under the name George & Lucille's.
"The Governor always eats jalapeno cheeseburgers, lettuce, tomato, mayonnaise, pickles and onions," Ms. Robinson said. "But last time he was in he had tamales and French fries. He has to cut back every now and then."
Notes from the Governor's Mansion in Little Rock, Arkansas confirms Mr. Clinton appreciated quick access to portable food. This is not exactly the same thing as "fast food."
"Some of Governor Clinton's favorite foods were corn pudding, fried chicken, roast beer and carrot cake...I can't remember Governor Clinton ever sitting down to eat a
normal meal during the time he was governor. He would walk through the kitchen, get...some kind of sandwich, and go to his office to work. He loved roast beef
sandwiches."
Recipes & memories: White House Chef/Walter Scheib and Andrew Friedman.
Distinct, direct, non-negotiable & quick.
"Because food wasn't much of a priority for the Bushes, whenever a dish met with Mrs. Bush's approval, the inclination among her
staff was to have it served as often as possible. There's no better example of this than a fresh pea soup with mint we served one
day...President and Mrs. Bush didn't eat only Tex-Mex food...One of their favorite things was warm biscuits...They also appreciated a
rich, homemade chicken pot pie...For all the differences between them, Mrs. Bush seemed to quite enjoy the repertoire of lunch dishes
...created for Mrs. Clinton--the healthful salads, soups, wraps...Like Mrs. Clinton, Mrs. Bush enjoyed a one-course lunch, relatively low in protein
and fat...Of course, there was tweaking to do. Mrs. Bush loved beets...She favored spicier food over mild food, so we livened
up the dishes with chiles and hot sauces whenever it made sense. And, of course, she liked to be served Tex-Mex and Southwestern
food as often as possible...There was a handful of things that the President wanted for lunch, and he almost never deviated from
that list. There was a BLT...He liked his grilled cheese sandwiches made with Kraft Singles and white bread...He also enjoyed peanut
butter and honey sandwiches, and occasionally a burger, cooked between medium and medium rare, on a bun with lettuce and tomato on
the side...There was one more thing the President insisted on: he wanted his food to be prompt. President Bush does not like to be
kept waiting, and is legendary for this...Not only did the President like to start right away, but he liked to finish his meals
quickly as well...On most Sundays, if the Bushes weren't at Camp David...the President wanted the same thing for lunch: A
post-church meal of huevos rancheros...Another popular weekend snack for the President, according to Mrs. Bush herself, was deviled
eggs..."
What does our 44th president like to eat? We're just beginning to find out!
"Every president has his favorite stuff. And it doesn't take long for the nation to become enamored with a president's pet things and habits, particularly a celebrity president such as Barack Obama.
With Ronald Reagan, it was jelly beans. Jimmy Carter munched peanuts. And George W. Bush is a pretzel lover. The election of Obama will bring a new cadre of often-upscale brand names to the White House.
For marketers, it's the chance of a lifetime. Among the brands Obama has worn, sipped, eaten or driven in public: Hart Schaffner Marx suits, Black Forest Berry
Honest Tea, Fran's Chocolates, Planters Trail Mix and the Ford Escape hybrid SUV.
He also drinks lots of bottled water...
Key Obama family brands:...
*Snacks. Obama tries to snack healthy. He likes Planters Trail Mix: Nuts, Seeds and Raisins. Planters has White House links dating to former president
(and peanut farmer) Carter, as a sponsor of the Plains, Ga., Peanut Festival, says Laurie Guzzinati, a Kraft Foods spokeswoman.
For sweets, the Obamas eat Fran's Chocolates, an artisan chocolate brand from Seattle. The president-elect prefers Fran's Smoked Sea Salt Caramel in Milk
Chocolate ($24 for a 16-piece box); wife Michelle prefers dark chocolate, says Sean Seedlock, Fran's marketing chief.
*Drinks. Obama is a fan of Black Forest Berry Honest Tea. "It raises the profile of our brand and all organic products," says Seth Goldman, CEO of Honest Tea.
"We'd love for it to be the official drink of the new administration.""
"We believe that a candidate's taste in food is a more reliable indicator of character than the carefully strained statements issued in this atmosphere of gotcha and
gotcha back. So we have worked our sources and come up with the names of the candidates' favorite restaurants in their home states...The Obamas' favorite spot for a night out in Chicago is the alta cocina Mexican restaurant Topolobampo, said Michelle Obama spokeswoman Katie McCormick Lelyveld.
Chicagoans know Topolobampo as the quieter, slightly classier sister restaurant of Frontera Grill, both owned by award-winning chef Rick Bayless. Sun-Times restaurant critic Pat Bruno has praised its "creativity and quality."
For a simpler bite, the Obamas turn to RJ Grunts, a cartoony Lincoln Park emporium of burgers, ribs and Tex-Mex standards, the spokeswoman says. On her
own, Michelle Obama has favored the more cutting-edge food at Sepia in the West Loop neighborhood...Obama's idea of a fast meal is to order from a scruffy
minimall pizza place near his South Side house called Italian Fiesta Pizzeria...Much more interesting on the Obamas' dining list is Topolobampo, Rick Bayless' superb little shrine to the full panoply of Mexico's cuisine. We have eaten there
happily for years, enjoying its authentic, even scholarly versions of classic dishes such as chilaquiles and Yucatecan roast pork. Topolobampo is one of the reasons we think Chicago is arguably America's top eating city, with fewer high-end addresses than New York but a more stellar, dramatic pantheon.
From its diverse and creative menu, Topolobampo says, Obama often orders sopa azteca, a dark broth flavored with pasilla chilies, grilled chicken, avocado,
Meadow Valley Farm handmade Jack cheese, thick cream and tortilla strips."
Barack Obama's Inaugural luncheon menu is said to have been inspired by Abraham Lincoln's 2nd
inaugural menu (scroll down for menu).
Looking for favorite foods of other famous people?
About culinary research & about copyright
George Washington's cherry tree chopping story has long been debunked by historians as nationalistic myth. Not unsimilar to the mid-19th century accounts detailing the first thanksgiving feast. A nation divided needed to forge a unified history if it was going to survive. It worked. Or we would not be here discussing this today.
Cherries were well known in the Old World. Recipes for them (preserves, pies, tarts, wine) were familiar to early Americans.
Martha Washington's Booke of Cookery (transcribed by Karen Hess) contains several instructions for
preserving cherries, in the English culinary tradition. It does not offer any recipes for cherry pie or cake.
Prunus Padus Sylvatica [Virginiana]...Bird or Cluster Cherry
Prunus Racemosa...Dwarf Bird Cherry
Prunus Pumila...Sand cherry
Prunus Serotina...Black cherry
..."Bartram's Garden Catalogue of North American Plants 1783," Journal of Garden History: An International Quarterly, Volume 16, Number 1, January-March 1996 (entire issue).
Martha Washington's Booke of Cookery, transcribed by Karen Hess
We may never know. Details abound regarding General Washington's first presidential residence in New York City. Only a scant
description from a guest survives about this first national meal. We do know the dinner was held at the executive mansion, No. 10 Cherry Street, New York City, Thursday, May 29, 1789. It was a small, informal dinner served family style. We find no evidence of a menu or bill of fare. The only description of the meal we find was recorded by one of the attendees, Mr. Wingate of New Hampshire. The only food he mentions is boiled leg of mutton. We can surmise subsequent repasts were better equipped. The retainer of one Samuel Fraunces assured that result.
---Washington After the Revolution, William Spohn Baker [J.B. Lippincott Company:Philadelphia] 1898 (p. 138)
---Washington's Lady, Elworth Thane [Dodd, Mead:New York] 1960 (p. 281-282)
---George Washington, Douglas Southall Freeman, Volume VI: Patriot and President, 1784-1793 [Charles Scribner's Sons:New York] 1954 (p. 199-200)
---George Washington, Douglas Southall Freeman, Volume VI: Patriot and President, 1784-1793 [Charles Scribner's Sons:New York] 1954 (p. 211)
---George Washington and the New Nation: (1783-1793), James Thomas Flexner [Little Brown:New York] 1969 (p. 201-202)
---Early American Taverns: For the Entertainment of Friends and Strangers, Kym S. Rice for Fraunces Tavern Museum [Regnery Gateway:Chicago] 1893 (p. 131-132)
John Adams
---The Presidents' Cookbook, Poppy Cannon & Patricia Brooks [Funk &
Wagnalls:New York] 1968 (p. 40-42)
[NOTES: (1) This book contains far more information than can be paraphrased here.
If you need more details, ask your librarian to help you find a copy. (2) This book also
contains several modernized recipes illustrative of John Adams' foods. They include:
Codfish cakes, Baptist cakes, Cream of corn soup, Green turtle soup, New England
poached salmon with egg sauce, New England clam chowder, Johnny cake, Old-fashioned Welsh apple butter, Scootin-long-the-shore (like New England boiled
dinner), Eleven fish roasted on a plank, Summer and Winter succotash, Plymouth
succotash, Indian (corn) pudding, New England gingerbread, Apple pan dowdy,
Apple treats, Flummery (fruit/bread pudding), Floating Island (boiled custard with
whipped cream on top), Hasty pudding, Pumpkin pie, Gooseberry fool, New England
cider cup. This book states President Adams drank a large tankard of cider every
morning as soon as he got out of bed (p. 55).]
"Apple Pan Dowdy
Apples, like molasses, were a standby in New England Desserts. John Adams showed his preference for Apple Pan Dowdy by having it on
Independence Day...
Flour
Salt
Shortening
Ice water
Melted butter
Sugar
Cinnamon
Nutmeg
Apples
Molasses
To make the pastry: Sift 1 1/2 cups flour with a dash of salt. Blend in 1/2 cup shortening until the mixture is mealy. Sprinkle a little ice
water over the mixture, just enough to hold the dough together. Roll the pastry out, brush with 1/4 cup melted butter, and cut pastry in
half. Place the halves on top of each other and cut again. Repeat until you have 16 separate but equal pieces of pastry piled on top of
each other, then chill them a full hour. Roll the pastry once again, cut in half, and line the bottom of the baking dish with one half. Save the other
half for the top. Keep both on ice while making the filling.
---Presidents' Cookbook (p. 51-52)
Thomas Jefferson
---The Presidents' Cookbook, Poppy Cannon & Patricia Brooks [Funk &
Wagnalls:New York] 1968 (p. 57-64)
[NOTE: recipes included in this book are Old-Fashioned Coffee Cake, Dutch Waffles, Capitolade of Chicken, Batter Cakes,
Soup a la Julienne, Gumbo, Potato Soup, Mexican Black Bean Soup,Okra Soup, Jambalaya,
Noodles a la Jefferson, Macaroni and Cheese Pudding, and Bachelor Buttons (cookies).
---The First Ladies Cook Book: Favorite Recipes of All the Presidents of the United States, Margaret Brown Klapthor [Parents Magazine Enterprises:New
York]1982 revised edition(p. 33-38)
[NOTE: recipes include Boeuf a la Mode, Stuffed Boned Capon, and Chartreuse (vegetable mold)]
Luncheon at 'Monticello'
April 13, 1913
Jefferson Cocktails, Potage, Shad Roe Grilled, Monticello Sauce, New Potatoes, Virginia Roast Turkey, New Beans, Corn Bread, Tomato
and Lettuce Salad, Toasted Crackers, Cheese, Ice Cream, Assorted Cakes, Coffee, Burgundy, Champagne.
This luncheon was given by Hon. Jefferson M. Levy of New York at his country home. 'Monticello,' Virginia, to commemorate the one
hundred seventieth anniversary of the birth of Thomas Jefferson, 'the greatest Democrat of them all,' who lived, died, and is
buried at 'Monticello.'"
---The Economy Administration Cook Book, Susie Root Hodges and Grace Peter Hopkins editors [W.B. Conkey Company:Hammond IN] 1913 p. 633)
James Madison
---The Presidents' Cookbook, Poppy Cannon and Patricia Brooks [Funk & Wagnalls:New York] 1968 (p. 79-84)
[NOTE: This book offers modernized recipe for the following items favored by the Madisons: Dolley Madison's Bouillon (soup), Chicken and Okra Soup, Pickled
Eggs, Crab Omelet, Croquettes (like meatballs), Corn Oysters (like corn bread muffins), Puff Pops (popovers), Orange and Cranberry Relish, Cranberry Chutney
(a relish), Virginia Potatoes (with ham & onions), Fairy Butter (hard boiled eggs, orange-flower water, powdered sugar, butter), Dolley Madison's Layer Cake,
Caramel, Seed Cake (caraway seeds), Dolley Madison's Soft Gingerbread, Ginger Pound Cake, Cinnamon (Woodbury) Cake, Cinnamon Cakes (cookies), Dolley
Madison Cake (spice cake), Apricot Ice Cream, Pink Peppermint Ice Cream, Cranberry Sherbet, Hen's Nest (a type of custard), A Yard of Flannel (alcoholic
drink composed of ale, eggs, sugar, nutmeg, ginger, rum or brandy.]
---The First Ladies Cook Book: Favorite Recipes of All the Presidents of the United States, Margaret Brown
, historical text [GMC Publishing:New York] 1982 (p. 43-37)
[NOTE: this book offers three modernized period recipes: Macaroni Soup a la Napolitaine, Madison Cakes (yeast-based potato rolls), and Williamsburg Pound
Cake.]
---James Madison: A Biography, Ralph Ketcham [MacMillan:New York] 1971 (p. 519)
"The students, tutors, and sometimes the president of Princeton ate together in the dining hall, which was managed by a steward who supervised the living quarters
as well. The students drank tea and coffee at breakfast, and at dinner "almost all the variety of fish and flesh other country here affords, and sometimes pyes were
served." "Small-beer and cyder" were the usual table drinks, though milk was provided at supper. Variety and wholesome nourishment were promised, by
prospective students were warned not to expect "luxurious danties, or costly delicacies," and private meals were not permitted in student chambers. Some "young
gentlemen," however, were allowed "to make a dish of tea in their apartments, provided it be done after evening prayer [and does] not interfere with hours of
study.""
---James Madison: A Biography, Ralph Ketcham [MacMillan:New York] 1971 (p. 33)
"The Madisons spent three winter seasons in Philadelphia...'They breakfasted at nine o'clock on ham or salt fish, herring,....coffee or tea, and slices of toast or
untoasted bread spread with butter. At about two o'clock they dine without soup. Their dinner consists of broth, with a main dish of an English roast surrounded by
potatoes. Following that are boiled green peas...then baked or fried eggs, boiled or fried fish, salad [of] thinly sliced cabbage...pastries, sweets to which they are
excessively partial and which are insufficiently cooked...The entire meal is washed down with cider, weak or strong beer, then white wine...They keep drinking
[Bordeaux or Madeira] right through dessert, toward the end of which any ladies who are at the dinner leave the table and withdraw by themselves, leaving the men
free to drink as much as they please...In the evening, round seven or eight o'clock (on such ordinary days as have not been set aside for formal dinners), tea is
served,...but without meat. The whole family is united at tea, to which friends, acquaintances and even strangers are invited.""
---James Madison (p. 383-384)
"...the Madisons had, for a large company, 'An excellent dinner. The round of Beef of which the Soup is made is called Bouilli: It had in the dish spices and
something of the sweet herb and Garlic kind, and a rich gravy. It is very much boiled, and it still very good. We had a dish with what appeared to be Cabbage
much boiled, then cut in long strings and somewhat mashed [water or land cress]; in the middle a large Ham, with the Cabbage around. It looked like our country
[New England] dishes of Bacon and Cabbage, with the Cabbage mashed up, after being boiled till sodden and turned dar. The Dessert gook; much as usual,
except two dishes which appeared like Apple pie, in the form of the half of a musk-melon, the flat side down, tops creased deep, and the color a dark brown"
Though Foster, used to European formality, criticized the Madison table for being "more like a harvest-home supper, than the entertainment of a Secretary of
State," Dolley Madison made no apology."
---James Madison (p. 429-430)
"Madison's daily routine began as he was dressed and attended to by his personal valet...After breakfast at eight or nine, Madison relaxed for a time on the portico
with his guests...At two in the afternoon, before dinner, the Madisons visited the rooms of Nelly Madison [Mr. Madison's mother], who usually took her meals
separately...After this filial call, the Madisons dined with their company about four o'clock, in a meal that usually lasted two hours...The ned to make a living, as well
as Madison's agrarian convictions about the good life, required him to remain an active farmer..."
---James Madison (p. 619-621)
Nothing. Scholars examine primary documents from different angles with specific agendas. Some come close; others take liberties. The War of 1812 was
complicated. We examined primary, secondary, and presidential culinary history sources for this particular question. While they generally cite the same primary
sources, they return conflicting accounts; some of
which do not make sense.
"President's House, 11 P.M., Wednesday, August 24. [Robert] Ross need not have placed the order for food. Moving on to the President's House, the British walked unmolested through the front door and found the mansion deserted, but ready to host visitors. The table in the state dining room was set for dinner for forty. Plate holders by the fireplace were filled with dishes; knives, forks, and spoons were laid out; and fine wine poured into cut-glass decanters was chilling on ice on the sideboard. Unfamiliar with Dolley Madison's hospitality, the British assumed the Americans had prepared a victory banquet. The sight tickled Ross's Irish fancy. 'So unexpected was our entry and capture of Washington, and so confident was Madison (President of the States) of the defeat of our troops, that he had prepared for supper for the expected conquerors; and when our advance party entered the president's house they found a table laid with 40 covers.' he delightedly wrote his brother-in-law, Ned Glascock. 'The fare, however, which was intended for Jonathan was voraciously devoured by John Bull, and the health of the Prince Regent, and success to His majesty's arms by sea and land, was drunk in the best wines, Madison having taken to his heels and ensured his safety on the opposite bank of the river...' Exuberant toasts were offered: 'Peace with America--war with Madison, ' proposed Ross. 'Nor was Mr. Madison's health forgotten, in his own best claret, for being so good a fellow as to leave us such capital supper,' recalled Major Norman Pringle, commander of the 21st Regiment Grenadier Company. Lieutenant Scott, exhausted and feverish with heat and thirst, picked up a crystal goblet of madeira and gulped it down. He pronounced it 'super-excellent,' The men, including a company of hungry Fusiliers, wolfed down the food."
---Through the Perilous Fight: Six Weeks That Saved the Nation, Steve Vogel [Random House:New York] 2013 (p 178-179)
---The Scorching of Washington: The War of 1812, Alan Lloyd [Robert B. Luce Co.:Washington] 1974 (p. 171)
---1812: A Nation Emerges, Sidney Hart & Rachel L Penman [Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press:Washington DC] 2012 (p. 165)
?
"In 1814, when the British were advancing on and burning the Capitol City, she was among the last to leave. Finally, at the frantic urging of servants, she came down from from the roof
of the White House, her spyglass in hand, gathered together valuable state papers, ordered the Stuart portrait of Washington taken from the wall, wrote a letter to her sister, and, dressed as
a farmer's wife, left the city in a wagon and spent the night in an army tent."
---The White House Cookbook, edited by Janet Halliday Ervin [Follett Publishing Company:Chicago IL] 1964 (p. 323)
[NOTE: Dolley Madison did have a spyglass but she was across the river at a friend's house, not on the White House roof.]
"The legendary Madison entertaining gave rise to the story that even when the British were descending on Washington, about to set it afire during the War of 1812, Dolley was in the midst of plans for a dinner party. An English writer, Gleig, said that the British troops arrived at the Executive Mansion and 'found a bountiful dinner spread for forty guests. This they concluded was for the American officers who were expected to return victorious from the field at Bladensburg.' One assumes that if the report is true, the British consumed the meal before plundering and burning the White House. While this is an intriguing story, there is nothing on record that substantiates it. The White House was burned August 24, 1814, and Dolley's letter of August 23 to her sister indicates that she had dozens of things on their mind--but not a dinner party. What perhaps gave currency to the feasting-while-the-capital-burns story was a book published in 1865 called A Colored Man's Reminiscences of James Madison. The author was Paul Jenings, a slave of Madison's, and in the book he corroborated Gleig's report of the dinner. Jenings was there at the time and wrote: 'I set the table myself.' Still, he wrote many years after the incident had supposedly occurred, and memory in an old man plays tricks."
---The Presidents' Cookbook, Poppy Cannon and Patricia Brooks [Funk & Wagnall's:New York] 1968 (p. 83)
[NOTE: This information was also published in the book In and Out of the White House/Ona Griffin Jeffries [Wilfred Funk:New York] 1960 (p. 60, 62)
---Poltroons and Patriots: A Popular Account of the War of 1812, Glenn Tucker, Volume 2 [Bobbs-Merrill Company:Indianapolis IN] 1954 (p. 563-564)
"Well, on the 24th of August, sure enough, the British reached Bladensburg, and the fight began between 11 and 12. Even that very morning General Armstrong
assured Mrs. Madison there was no danger. The President, with General Armstrong, General Winder, Colonel Monroe, Richard Rush, Mr. Graham, Tench
Ringgold, and Mr. Duvall, rode out on horseback to Bladensburg to see how things looked. Mrs. Madison ordered dinner to be ready at 3, as usual ; I set the table
myself, and brought up the ale, cider, and wine, and placed them in the coolers, as all the Cabinet and several military gentlemen and strangers were expected."
---A Colored Man's Reminiscences of James Madison, Paul Jennings [1865]
[NOTE: No mention here of number of place settings, food, or kitchen cooking.]
Background from the White House, including links to selected primary documents,
here
...includes primary documents from Jennings & Gleig.
Hard to say. In this case, primary documents/eyewitness accounts support different national agendas. Scholars generally agree that neither James nor Dolley Madison were on White House (President's house) grounds the night of the fire. If a table was set for dinner (at 3, the normal time for formal main meal of the day), it makes no sense it would be sizzling in the kitchen ready-to-go when the British torchers arrived at 11PM, especially when the President & his wife were not at home. The story of finding the table set for 40 covers may be plausible because it might have been standard protocol at that time. The idea of ransacking arsonists sitting down to a nicely prepared feast before completing their assignment is a stretch. On the other hand, if food was out, hungry soldiers would have done a grab & go. The story of British soldiers consuming Madison's bar is very believable.
"Dolley Madison's Soft Gingerbread
...Preserved in White House files, the recipe has been used by many another First Lady, right up to our day...
Molasses
Beef drippings (or lard)
Baking soda
Hot water
Flour
Ground ginger
Ground cinnamon
Powdered sugar.
Mix 1 cup molasses (Dolley's "receipt" specified New Orleans molasses) with 2/3 cup fresh beef drippings. Add 1 1/4
teaspoons baking soda dissolved in 1/4 cup hot water. Sift your dry ingredients: 2 1/4 cups flour, 4 teaspoons ginger, and
1 tablespoon cinnamon. Next pour 3/4 cup hot water which has almost reached the boiling point into the molasses mixture
alternately with the flour mixture. Beat thoroughly with a rotary or electric beater. The dough should be soft enough to
pour. Bake in a shallow, well-greased baking dish in a preheated medium (350 degrees F.) oven 25 to 30 minutes, or until a
toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Delicious served warm, sprinkled with powdered sugar."
---Presidents' Cookbook (p. 90)
...a Madison tea would often include Cinnamon Cake...
Butter
Sugar
Flour
Baking powder
Cinnamon
Milk
Cream 2 tablespoons butter with 1 cup sugar. Add 2 cups sifted flour mixed with 1 teaspoon baking powder and 2 tablespoons
cinnamon. Add milk and beat together thoroughly. Bake in a large pan at 350 degrees F. 20 to 30 minutes, or until done."
---Presidents' Cookbook (p. 91)
...This recipe for layer cake was a Madison specialty, frequently served to guests...
Egg whites
Butter
Sugar
Milk
Cornstarch
Flour
Vanilla
Beat the whites of 8 eggs until stiff and in peaks. Put aside. Cream 1 cup butter with 2 1/2 cups sugar. Add 1 cup milk
slowly, mixing well. Add 3/4 cup cornstarch and 3 cups sifted flour to the butter-egg mixture. Mix well and add 2 1/2
teaspoons vanilla. Fold in the egg whites carefully. Bake in 4 layer pans, well-greased. Bake in a medium (350 degrees F.)
oven 30 to 35 minutes, or until the cake springs back when touched lightly. Cool on racks and frost with Dolley Madison's
Caramel
Brown sugar
Light cream
Butter
Vanilla
Mix well 3 cups brown sugar, 1 cup cream, and 2 tablespoons butter. Put mixture in the top of a double boiled and cook
gently for 20 minutes. Just before removing from the stove, after the caramel has thickened, add 1 teaspoon vanilla, stir
constantly. Remove and cool. Fill the layers of the cake and put icing on top as well."
---Presidents' Cookbook (p. 89)
---Strength and Honor: The Life of Dolley Madison, Richard N. Cote (p. 362-363).
[NOTES: (1) this book is accessible via GoogleBooks; (2) the Arnett book is Mrs. James Madison; the Incomparable Dolley.]
---NARA.
James Monroe
---The Presidents' Cookbook, Poppy Cannon & Patricia Brooks [Funk &
Wagnalls:New York] 1968 (p. 97-103)
Monroe Family recipes. If you
need more choice the Presidents' Cookbook offers Chicken Pudding, Chicken Fried with Rice, Tomatoes and Eggs, Spoon Bread, Cry Babies
(molasses cookies), Sponge Cake, Chess Cakes (sweet cheese cakes),and Little Fine Cakes (aka sugar cookies).
Monroe Family Recipes: Used At Ash Lawn-highland/Judith E. Kosik offers additional recipes. We have a copy & are
delighted to share. Let us know which course you are serving. This booklet also contains a menu for James Monroe's 229th Birthday
Celebration.
John Quincy Adams
[NOTE: Recipes offered up for JQ Adams are not noted as his favorites, but typical New England dishes of the day. They include
Green Corn Pudding, Boston Baked Beans, and Black Walnut Cake.]
Andrew Jackson
1/2 cup sugar
2 large egg whites
For the mousse:
1/4 cup creme fraiche or whipping cream
creme anglaise
6 ounces bittersweet (not unsweetened) chocolate, shaved
assorted berries
Meringue: Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray six 1/2 cup muffin cups with oil spray. Whisk sugar and egg whites in a large metal bowl. Set bowl over saucepan of simmering water, and whisk egg-white mixture until thermometer inserted into mixture registers 160 degrees, about 5 minutes. Remove bowl from over water. Using electric mixer, beat meringue until soft peaks form. Reserve 1/2 cup meringue in bowl.
Cover and chill. Spoon remaining meringue into prepared muffin cups, dividing equally. Smooth tops with knife. Place muffin cups in large glass baking dish. Pour enough hot water into dish to come halfway up sides of muffin cups. Bake until meringue is set but still moist, about 25 minutes. Remove muffin cups from dish. Cool to room temperature. Cover; chill.
Make mousse: Place 3 ounces chopped chocolate in medium bowl. Bring cream to simmer in heavy small saucepan. Pour cream over chocolate. Stir until chocolate melts and mixture is smooth. Let chocolate mixture stand at room temperature until cool to touch but not set, about 30 minutes. Beat creme fraiches in another medium bowl until soft peaks form.
Fold creme fraiche and reserved 1/2 cup meringue into chocolate mixture. Leaving meringue in each muffin cup, scoop out center of each meringue, forming cup with 1/2-inch-thick bottom and sides. Fill meringue cups with mousse. Cover and chill until set, at least 1 hour.
Spoon creme anglaise onto plates.
Run a small sharp knife around sides of meringue cups. Carefully turn meringues out. Place atop sauce. sprinkle shaved chocolate over. Garnish with berries.
Note : Mandle's variation will offer lemon and raspberries.
- Menu created
and prepared by Gena
Mandle, caterer; based
on selections submitted
by Terry Ford,
food historian."
SOURCE: Jackson Sun: http://m.jacksonsun.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081023/NEWS01/810230301/1002&template=wapart
[NOTE: as of 1.4.2009, this article is no longer free from the newspaper.]
Martin Van Buren
Dutch Apple Cake
Fond as President Van Buren was of apples in any form...
Mix together 1/4 cup butter, 1/2 cup sugar, and 1 egg. Add 1/2 cup milk, 1 1/2 cups sifted flour, and 2 teaspoons baking powder.
Peel and slice several tart apples. Spread the dough into a round greased baking dish. Place the apples in rows on top. Sprinkle with
cinnamon and sugar. Bake in a moderate oven (350 degrees F.) oven about 35 minutes."
---President's Cookbook (p. 158)
William Henry Harrison
---The Presidents' Cookbook, Poppy Cannon & Patricia Brooks [Funk &
Wagnalls:New York] 1968 (p. 162-166)
---The First Ladies Cook Book: Favorite Recipes of All the Presidents of the United States, Margaret Brown Klapthor [Parents Magazine:New York] 1982 edition (p. 121-123)
(p. 73-33)
Tough assignment. Original Burgoo (squirrel stew) is probably not an option. We suggest you bring
regular (non-alcoholic) apple cider. Use this beverage to highlight the key accomplishments of the "Hard Cider Candidate."
When you're finished, ask the class to raise a toast in Mr. Harrison's honor.
John Tyler
---The Presidents' Cookbook, Poppy Cannon and Patricia Brooks [Funk & Wagnalls:New York] 1968 (p. 167-171)
[NOTE: this book contains several recipes in the Tyler chapter, these two puddings among them.]
"Tyler Pudding-Pie
Of all our Presidents, John Tyler had the most children--seven by his first wife, seven by his second, for a
grand total of fourteen. No wonder pudding was a popular dessert at the Tyler table. This modified pudding-in-piecrust was
a particular favorite of the family.
Eggs
Granulated sugar
Heavy cream
Fresh coconut, grated
Unbaked puff pastry
Cream 1/2 cup butter with 6 cups sugar. Then add 6 well-beaten eggs, along with 1 cup heavy cream and 1
grated coconut. Mix well, and then pour into 4 pie pans lined with puff pastry. Bake in a hot (450 degrees F.)
Oven for 10 minutes, until pastry sets. The reduce the heat to 350 degrees F. And cook another 25 to 30
minutes, or until the pudding-pie is firm. Makes 16 servings."
---ibid (p. 177)
...A special favorite was this Grateful pudding, an old English pudding similar to bread pudding but with
considerable flour and raisins and currants added.
Flour
Eggs
Milk or cream
Raisins
Currants
Sugar
Ginger, ground
Grate a 1 pound loaf of white bread and add to it 1 pound flour. Beat 8 egg yolks and 4 egg whites until light
and mix them with 1 pint cream (much better than milk, if available). Stir in the bread-flour mixture. Mix well.
Add 1 pound seedless raisins, 1 pound currants, 1/2 pound sugar, and a dash of ground ginger. Mix thoroughly,
pour into a greased baking dish, and bake in a moderate (350 degrees F.) Oven. Cook until it sets, about 1/2
hour. Serves 8."
---ibid (p. 177-8)
James Polk
---The Presidents' Cookbook, Poppy Cannon and Patricia Brooks [Funk & Wagnalls:New York] 1968
(p. 182-188)
"Corn Pone
Sift 2 cups (white)cornmeal with 1/4 teaspoon baking soda and 1 teaspoon salt. Work 4 tablespoons shortening
(or lard) into the dry ingredients. Blend well. Add 3/4 cup boiling water and continue blending. Slowly add 1/2 cup buttermilk until a
soft dough is formed. The buttermilk should be added very slowly, making sure the dough retains enough consistency to be molded into
small flat cakes. Grease a skillet, heat it, then place the cakes in it and bake them in a preheated medium-hot (350 degrees F.) oven
for 1/2 hour or 40 minutes, until lightly browned and done. Makes approximately 12."
---President's Cookbook, (p. 185-186)
Zachary Taylor
---The Presidents' Cookbook, Poppy Cannon and Patricia Brooks [Funk & Wagnalls:New York] 1968 (p. 189-201)
"Calas-Tous-Chauds
These delicious little cakes are great favorites in New Orleans with morning coffee, as indeed they were in the days of Zachary
taylor. Well acquainted with the Creole delicacies, he brought them back to Washington with him...
Dissolve 1 yeast cake in 1/2 cup lukewarm water. When dissolved, stir into 2 cups cooked rice. Let rise overnight. Next morning, beat
2 eggs until light and lemony, add 4 tablespoons salt. Combine mixture and blend in 4 cups flour. Let dough rise 1 hour. Drop by
tablespoons into deep fat that has been heated to a medium-hot temperature (360 degrees F.). Fry until browned lightly. Drain
and serve piping hot, either with cane syrup or sprinkled with powdered sugar. Excellent either way. Makes 50 fritters."
---President's Cookbook, (p. 192-193)
Millard Fillmore
---The Presidents' Cookbook, Poppy Cannon and Patricia Brooks [Funk & Wagnalls:New York] 1968 (p. 202-208)
Franklin Pierce
---Presidents' Cookbook, Poppy Cannon and Patricia Brooks [Funk & Wagnalls:New York] 1968 (p. 212)
[NOTE: Pierce recipes include White Mountain Rolls, Fried Clams or Fannie Daddies, Daniel Webster's Chowder, Sparking' Pie,
Apple Pan Dowdy, and New Hampshire (benne/sesame) Seed Cookies.]
"New Hampshire Fried Pies
This regional specialty was as much a favorite with the Pierce family as the state's ubiquitous maple syrup...
Dried apples
Sugar
Nutmeg
Butter
Flour
Salt
Baking Powder
Eggs
Allow 1 quart dried apples to soak in cold water overnight for 5 to 6 hours. Drain, put into a saucepan, cook, with just enough water
to keep from burning, into a thick applesauce. Add 1 cup sugar and 1 teaspoon nutmeg. Set aside. make a pie crust of 1/2 cup butter
or other shortening, 2 1/2 to 3 cups flour, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon baking powder. Dough should be firm and have body.
Roll it out and cut it into pieces each as wide as a butter plate. Beat 2 eggs into the applesauce and place 4 tablespoons applesauce
in the center of each crust portion. Fold the dough over (like a turnover) and press the edges firmly. Bring deep fat to heat in a deep
kettle. Drop the pies into the boiling fat (360 degrees F.) and cook 4 to 5 minutes, turning so the whole pie is well browned. Best served
hot, but may be reheated. Makes 16 pies."
---ibid (p. 215) [NOTE: boiling fat is very dangerous. Adult supervision is strongly recommended .]
James Buchanan
---The First Ladies Cook Book: Favorite Recipes of All the Presidents of the United States, Margaret Brown Klapthor [Parents Magazine Enterprises:New
York]1982 revised edition (p. 104-105)
[NOTE: Recipes included in this book: Pennsylvania Dutch Stuffed Shoulder of Pork, Mashed Potatoes,
Gooseberry Tart, & Cinnamon Apples.]
---Presidents' Cookbook, Poppy Cannon and Patricia Brooks [Funk & Wagnalls:New York] 1968 (p. 220-224)
[NOTE: Recipes included: Terrapin a la Gautier
(turtle soup), Boiled Lobster, Calf's Head Dressed as Terrapin, Pannhas (Scrapple), Sauerbraten, Chicken Salad, Duck un Kraut, Pennsylvania Dutch Succotash,
Pennsylvania Red Cabbage, Jeff Davis Pie, Confederate Pudding, Confederate Sauce, Moss Rose Cake, Peach Charlotte, Charlotte Russe, Apees & Muscadine
(grape) Pie.]
"Confederate Pudding
Pennsylvania-born-and-bred Buchanan was no Confederate...but he did enjoy some of the rich and elegant desserts for which the South was justly famous...
Bread
Butter
Jelly or Jam
Milk
Eggs
Sugar
Sweet cream
Cornstarch
Nutmeg
Slice homemade-type bread extra thin. Butter 12 slices well and cover with jelly or jam of your choice. Butter a glass baking dish and fill it with the bread. Pour
over the bread 1 pint milk, mixed well with 2 beaten eggs. Allow to stand until the milk-egg mixture has soaked the bread thoroughly. Bake in a medium-low
(325 degrees F.) oven untl the pudding is firm. Serve lukewarm with Confederate Pudding Sauce. Serves 6.
.
Mix 2 cups sugar with 1 cup sweet light cream. Add 1 beaten egg and 1 tablepsoon soft butter. Add 1 teaspoon cornstarch and a dash of nutmeg. Mix all
ingredeints well and cook over low heat until the mixture has the consistency of thick syrup. Remove from the heat, add another dash of nutmeg, and serve hot over
the pudding."
---Presidents' Cookbook (p. 227-228)
This mid-century favorite couldn't help pleasing President Buchanan, who liked the subtle flavor of almond in many dishes.
Sugar
Eggs
Milk
Almond flavoring
Cake flour
Beat together 2 cups sugar with 4 eggs for 12 minutes. Heat 1 cup milk to the boiling point, then add 1/2 teaspoon almond flavoring and set aside. Stir 2 cups
sifted cake flour into the egg-sugar mixture. Slowly add the warm scalded milk. Beat vigorously for 3 minutes, or until all ingredients are well mixed. Grease and
flour two layer-cake pans. Pour mixture into the pans evenly. Bake in a moderate (375 degrees F.) oven 20-25 minutes. Delicious as is, with vanilla ice cream, or
with a coconut-orange frosting."
---ibid (p. 228)
...it is certain that [these cookies] were much enjoyed by Pennsylvanians such as James Buchanan...
Flour
Butter
Sugar
Grated nutmeg
Milk
Blend 3/4 cup flour with 1/2 pound butter, cutting the butter into the flour carefully as you would with pie dough. Gradually add 1/2 pound sugar and 1 teaspoon
nutmeg. Mix well, and stir in a little milk gradually, using only enough to make a firm dough...Knead the dough, roll it into sheets, and cut into designs with a cooky
cutter. Butter a cooky sheet, place the cookies on them far enough apart to prevent touching. Bake in a medium (350 degrees F.) oven until very lightly browned.
Makes 48."
---ibid (p. 229-230)
Abraham Lincoln
---"Fast Gourmet: Honest Abe's favorite Food," Poppy Cannon, Chicago Daily Defender, February 8, 1968 (p. 22)
---The Presidents' Cookbook, Poppy Cannon and Patricia Brooks [Funk & Wagnall's:New York]
1968 (p. 236-7)
---ibid (p. 239)
[NOTE: This book contains modernized recipes for
Lincoln's favorite foods: Nob Creek Kentucky Corn Cakes, Rail Splitters (corn muffins),
Nancy Hanks' Steamed Potatoes, Rutledge Tavern Squash Pie, New Salem Fruit Pies, Gooseberry
Cobbler etc. Happy to scan/send.]
"The 'gingerbread story,' which [Lincoln] had mentioned without telling, in one of the debates with Douglas, touched young and old.
...'When we lived in Indiana,' he said, 'once in a while my mother used to get some sorghum and ginger and make some gingerbread.
It wasn't often, and it was our biggest treat. One day I smelled the gingerbread and came into the house to get my share while
it was still hot. My mother had baked me three gingerbread men. I took them out under a hickory tree to eat them. There was
a family near us poorer than we were, and their boy came along as I sat down. 'Abe,' he said, 'gimme a man?' I gave him one.
He crammed it into his mouth in two bites and looked at me while I was biting the legs off my first one. 'Abe,' he said, 'timme the onter'n.'
I said to him, 'You seem to like gingerbread.' 'Abe,' he sais, 'I don't s'pose anybody on earth likes gingerbread better'n I do--and gets
less'n I do.'"
---Abraham Lincoln: The Prairie Years, Carl Sandburg [Harcourt, Brace:New York] 1926, Volume 2, (p. 290)
Mary Todd Lincoln was born to a wealthy family in Lexington, Kentucky. As such, she was well schooled in the fine aspects of social etiquette rather than the
practical arts of domestic life. Her biographers note Mary's early frugality and preference for simplicity. Her entertainments were well attended and, as one might
expect, grew lavish in the White House period. She was especially fond of strawberries, and enjoyed giving strawberry sociables, where these fine fruits were
combined with cake and ice cream.
---Mary Todd Lincoln: A Biography, Jean H. Baker [W.W. Norton:New York] 1987 (p. 109-113)
[NOTE: Miss Leslie's 75 Recipes
for Pastry, Cakes, and Sweetmeats [1832] is online.]
...modernized recipes "doable" for elementary & secondary school students
...offers general notes on Lincoln-style entertaining, and photos of Lincoln's china/glassware, but no notes on
foods or menus. Recipes for Fricasseed Chicken, White Fracassee of Chicken, Scalloped Oysters and Election Cake are included.
...modernized version
...this historic cookbook has been reprinted recently by Image Graphics,
Paducah, Kentucky. Your librarian can help you obtain a copy. Please note: most of these recipes
are not simple "frontier" food. They are most likely the foods enjoyed by Mrs. Lincoln's family.
"Mary Todd's Courting Cake
"Several of Lincoln's biographers mention the burnt sugar cake Mary Todd prepared for him when he came courting. Many recipes
purport to be Mary's own. This one...can actually be traced down through the Todd family to Mary Hosford, a granddaughter of one
of Mary's cousins, who included it in her Missouri Traveler Cookbook. [FT Editor Note: This recipe appears in
a chapter titled "Jane," p. 16-19 of The Missouri Traveler Cookbook. "Jane" is an African-American cook. Ms. Hosford states the
recipe is "Jane's," She does not mention Mary Todd Lincoln anywhere in the book, which strikes us as odd since the book is
liberally sprinkled with family ("Grandma Hebel") and celebrity references (Tommy Dorsey).]
Sugar
Caramelized sugar syrup
Egg whites
Butter
Baking powder
Cake flour
Salt
Vanilla
One begins by 'burning' the sugar. Melt 1/2 cup sugar in a heavy iron skillet. Heat slowly, stirring continuously with a wooden
spoon, until the sugar becomes a very dark brown. Then add 1/2 cup hot water and stir until sugar dissolves. This is the caramelized
sugar you will use in the cake. Now beat 3 egg whites until very stiff, adding to them a little ast a time 1/2 cup white sugar.
Set aside. In another bowl, cream 1/2 cup butter with 1/2 cup white sugar. Add 2 teaspoons baking powder to 1 1/2 cups cake
flour, along with a dash of salt. Sift together then add to the butter-sugar mixture, alternating with the caramelized sugar
syrup--first a little flour, then a little syrup, until all have been used. Fold in the stiffly beaten egg whites. Flavor with 1
teaspoon vanilla and bake in 2 greased and floured 8-inch cake pans. Bake about 45 minutes in a preheated moderate (350 degree F.)
oven.
Melted butter
Dark brown sugar
Milk
Powdered sugar
Black walnuts (optional)
Melt 1/2 cup butter in a heavy saucepan. Add 1 cup dark brown sugar and cook over low heat for 2 or 3 minutes, stirring constantly.
Remove from the heat, add 1/3 cup milk and bring to a boil again. Cool to lukewarm and stir in gradually 2 cups powdered sugar.
Beat vigorously until mixture is smooth. This makes enough frosting to cover the top and sides of an 8-inch layer cake. If you like,
even though it isn't strictly authentic, sprinkle black walnuts over the frosting. Delicious even if not Toddian.
There are reports attributable to President Lincoln that this cake of his wife's was the best he ever ate...This delicious cake was the invention of
Monsieur Giron, a Lexington [KY] caterer, who created it in honor of the visit to that city in 1825 of his fellow Frenchman,
Lafayette. The Todd family acquired the recipe and cherished it ever after. The baking powder must have been added at a later date.
Sugar
Butter
Flour
Baking powder
Milk
Blanched almonds
Egg whites
Vanilla (or almond extract)
Cream together 2 cups sugar with 1 cup butter. Sift 3 cups flour and 3 teaspoons baking powder three times and add to the butter-sugar
mixture alternately with 1 cup milk. Chop 1 cup blanched almonds until very fine and add them to the mixture. Beat vigorously, then
fold in 6 stiffly beaten egg whites carefully. Add 1 teaspoon vanilla, then fold in 6 stiffly beaten egg whites carefully. Add
1 teaspoon vanilla (almond extract if you prefer) and pour the mixture into a greased and floured angel-cake pan. Bake in a preheated moderate (350 degree F.) oven for approximately 1 hour, or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the
cake's center. Turn the cake out on a wire rack and allow to cool before frosting it. This makes a very large cake. If you
prefer, you can bake it in 2 9-inch layer-cake pans. The cake may be made without the almonds and is a splendid plain white
cake, very light and good.
Egg whites
Sugar
Water
Vanilla (or almond extract)
Salt
Candied pineapple
Crystallized cherries
Beat 2 egg whites until very stiff. Set aside for a moment. Beat together 2 cups sugar and 1 cup water until the syrup spins
a thread about five inches long. Then slowly fold into the egg whites, a spoonful at a time, very slowly, beating well with an
electric beater as you add. Beat at top speed (very hard if you use a hand beater) until all the syrup is used and the mixture forms
peaks when dropped from a spoon. When stiff, slowly add 1 teaspoon vanilla or 1/2 teaspoon vanilla and 1/2 teaspoon almond
extract. Fold into the mixture 1/2 cup diced candied pineapple and 1/2 cup crystallized cherries cut in half. Spread between the layers
and over the top and sides of the vanilla almond cake. If desired, the candied fruit may be eliminated. The frosting is delicious
without them."
---The Presidents' Cookbook, Poppy Cannon and Patricia Brooks [Funk & Wagnalls:New York] 1968 (p. 256-258)
Abraham Lincoln's second Inauguration was recounted in several magazines and newspapers by a variety of reporters. The New York
Times reporter was not named. Just noted as "Special Correspondence." We wonder who he (or she) was? Clearly, the meal was a
disaster.
Oyster stews, terrapin stews, oysters pickled; beef--roast beef, filet of beef, beef a la mode, beef a l'anglais; veal--leg of veal,
fricandeau, veal Malakoff; poultry--roast turkey, boned turkey, roast chicken; grouse--boned and roast; game--pheasant, quail, venison,
patetes, patetes of duck en gelee, pate de fois gras; smoked ham, tongue en gelee, tongue plain; salades, chicken, lobster;
ornamental pyramids--nougate, orange, caramel with vany cream candy, coconut, macaroon, croquant, chocolate; three cakes--cakes
and tarts, almond sponge, belle alliance, dame blanche, macaroon tart, tart a la Nelson, tarte a l'Orleans, tarte a la Portuguese, tarte a
la Vienne, pound cake, sponge cake, lady cake, fancy small cakes; jellies and creams--calf's foot and wine jelly, Charlotte a la
Russe, Charlotte a la vanilla blanc mange, creme Neapolitiane, creme a la Nelson, creme Chateaubrand, creme a la Smyrna, creme a la
Nesslefored, bombe a la vanilla, ice cream, vanilla, lemon, white coffee, chocolate, burnt almonds, maraschino, fruit ices, cranberry,
orange, lemon; dessert--grapes, almonds, raisins &c., coffee and chocolate.
[NOTES: (1) The word "toilet" in this period meant personal grooming. This could be makeup, hair, scent, and cleanliness. (2)
Actual copy of the original menu here.]
"Was it Circe who could change men into pigs? If so, she must have been present at the inaugural ball which was held Monday, March
6, 1865, to close the ceremony of President Lincoln's second inauguration. The president's own disgust at what he saw during the opening
moments of the banquet was so marked, so pronounced, that he could express it in no other way than by taking an
abrupt departure. This he did."
---"Lincoln Leaves Second Ball When Dancers Mob Supper," The Washington Post, March 4, 1933 (p. IE15)
[NOTES: (1) We wonder if the president was whisked off by guards for his own safety. (2) This article provides additional
details: The cost of a ball ticket was $10.00. (3) The article the author of the original 1865 eyewitness account was a woman. It does
not reveal her identity.]
Andrew Johnson
---The Presidents' Cookbook, Poppy Cannon and Patricia Brooks [Funk & Wagnalls:New York] 1968 (p. 260-275)
"Red Rice
In spite of exposure to some of the fanciest foods of his day, Andy Johnson preferred the simple farm food of his early life, such
plain 'vittles' as this rice dish.
Red Rice
Bacon, Onions, Garlic, Tomatoes canned, Tomato paste, Rice
Fry lightly 6 strips bacon until lightly crisped. Set aside. Use the bacon fat to saute 2 sliced onions and 1 clove minced
garlic. Slowly add 1 large can of tomatoes, with the juice. Stir well, then add 1 can tomato paste. Simmer 5 to 8 minutes over
low heat, then sprinkle 1 cup rice and the 6 slices cooked bacon. Cover skillet and steam until the rice is tender. (If the rice is not fully
covered by the tomato liquid when you first begin steaming it, add just enough boiling water to cover.)...In Johnson's day, red rice was
a meal in itself for humble folk. Serves 6."
---Presidents' Cook Book (p. 267)
Besides teaching her husband to read and write and encouraging him in his political career, Eliza Johnson proved herself a
capable homemaker and a splendid cook. She knew how to make do in the hard days before her Andy became President. For a make-do
recipe, this is a delicious dessert.
To be authentic, you must bake this pudding slowly in a heavy iron skillet. First, melt 1/2 cup butter. Set aside. Mix 4 cups grated raw
sweet potatoes with 1/2 cup sugar, 1 cup raisins, 1 teaspoon each cinnamon and allspice, 1/2 teaspoon cloves, 1/2 cup chopped
nuts, and 1 cup cane syrup or molasses. Add 3 eggs and mix all together well. Pour into the hot skillet with the butter in int, and
stir until all the mixture is heated. Put the skillet into a moderate (325 degrees F.) oven. When a crust forms around the edge and
the top, turn the puding under, allowing crust to form again. Repeat this after a while. Pudding takes about 30 to 40 minutes to bake. The
iron skillet is an important ingredient in making this pudding authentic, as it causes the pudding to be dark in color, similar to a
plum pudding. Traditionally, the pudding is served with Damson preserves accompanying it. Otherwise plain cream is used. No
Southerner worth his salt (or sweet potato) would top the pudding with whipped cream. But as Northern outsiders, we find it equally
delicious all three ways. Serves 8."
---Presidents' Cookbook (p. v273-274)
Ulysses S. Grant
---The Presidents' Cookbook, Poppy Cannon and Patricia Brooks [Funk & Wagnalls:New York] 1968 (p. 276-280)
---The First Ladies Cook Book: Favorite Recipes of All the Presidents of the United States, Margaret Brown Klapthor [Parents Magazine:New York] 1982 edition (p. 121-123)
"Rice Pudding Melah
No dessert at Delmonico's, no matter how special, ever pleased President Grant as much as simple rice pudding. The Grants' Italian steward Melah regarded this homey
concoction as a challenge to his ingenuity and tried to vary it from time to time. No matter how he embellished it, Grant liked it and had it as often as possible when the
family dined alone. When the inventive Melah experimented with rice pudding, however, it was good enough to be served at official functions--and actually was.
Milk
Butter
Eggs
Sugar
Almonds
Cinnamon and nutmeg
Measure 3/4 cup long-grain rice into a saucepan. Add 1 1/2 quarts milk and simmer very slowly until the rice is soft. Add 3 tablespoons butter, remove from heat, and
cool. Meanwhile, beat 5 eggs well and stir them into the rice mixture. Add 1/2 cup sugar and mix carefully. Pour the mixture into a large greased baking pan and add
1/2 cup slivered almonds, mixing them gently into the pan. Bake in a medium-warm (325 degrees F.) oven until the custard sets. Remove from the oven, sprinkle a
mixture of cinnamon and nutmeg over the top and serve. Delicious either warm with cream or chilled. Serves 8."
---Presidents' Cookbook (p. 290)
Apples
Flour
Sugar (powdered)
Egg Yolks
Lemon juice
Butter (optional)
Bacon Cinnamon
Peel, core, and slice 8 medium-large, tart apples. make a batter of 1/2 cup flour, 1/2 cup powdered sugar, and 3 beaten egg yolks. Squeeze the juice of 1/2 lemon and add it
to the batter. Dip the apple slices, which should be about 1/2 inch thick to keep their shape in cooking, and then dust them lightly with flour. Fry the apple rings in a skillet
in hot melted butter until browned lightly. (If you prefer, you may fry the bacon first, set aside, and then fry the apples in the bacon drippings.) In a separate skillet fry 1
pound bacon. When serving, pile the bacon in the center of a large platter and surround the bacon slices with apple rings sprinkled with cinnamon. Serves 8."
---Presidents' Cookbook (p. 284)
When the newly married Grants were entertaining for the first time--having four or five of Ulysses' fellow officers to dinner--Julia was terrified. She had come from a
slave-holding Missouri family and had been brought up with no knowledge at all of cooking. Her husband reassured her, telling her that he could 'run up a savory mess
himself, if need be. He had roasted apples at West Point and had even been known to cook a fowl.' Julia survived the ordeal of that first company dinner and went on to
become a respectable cook, as this recipe will testify. It was one of her favorites, later given to the Galena Presbyterian Church.
Grated bread
Butter
Onion
Salt and pepper
Eggs
Cloves
Here it is, in Julia Grant's own words: 'Slice as large pieces as you can get from a leg of veal; make a stuffing of grated bread, butter, a little onion, minced, salt, pepper,
and spread over the slices. Beat an egg and put over the stuffing; roll each slice tightly and tie with a thread; stick a few cloves in them, grate bread thickly over them after
they are put in the skillet, with butter and onions chopped fine; when done lay them in a dish. Make their gravy and pour over them. Take the threads off and garnish with
eggs, boil[ed] hard, and serve. To be cut in slices.'."
---Presidents' Cookbook (p. 285)
Rutherford B. Hayes
---The Presidents' Cookbook, Poppy Cannon and Patricia Brooks [Funk & Wagnalls:New York] 1968 (p. 293-301)
Some of Lucy Webb Hayes
recipes are online.
James Garfield
---First Ladies Cook Book: Favorite Recipes of All the Presidents of the United States, Margaret
Brown Klapthor, historical text (p. 137)
[NOTE: This book has several *favorite recipes*, not for squirrel but for bread--your librarian
can help you find this book]
---Destiny of the Republic, Candice Millard [Doubleday:New York] 2011 (p. 175)
[NOTE: This book does not reveal whether or not President Garfield liked this sandwich.]
---ibid (p. 217)
Garfield Pie
This delicious pie was a favorite of President Garfield's...
Sour apples (or canned apple slices or apple-pie filling, Egg yolks, Butter, Lemon juice and rind, Sugar, Flour, Unbaked pie shell.
---Presidents' Cookbook (p. 306)
Chester A. Arthur
---The Presidents' Cookbook, Poppy Cannon and Patricia Brooks [Funk & Wagnalls:New York]
1968 (p. 302-319)
[NOTES: (1) Recipes included for Mr. Arthur include Newport [RI] Pound Cake, Devil's Food Cake (a popular new dessert, and Nesselrode Pudding. Charlotte
Russe is also mentioned as very popular during Arthur's administration. (2) Recipes for Mutton Chops and Baked Salmon are offered
in the First Ladies Cookbook, (p. 144-145)]
Grover Cleveland
---The Presidents' Cookbook, Poppy Cannon and Patricia Brooks [Funk & Wagnalls:New York] 1968 (p. 320-328)
[NOTE: Recipes include Boeuf Vorne au Cabeau (aka corned beef & cabbage!), brown bread (Mrs. Cleveland's personal recipe), and
Snickerdoodles (New England-style spice cookies).]
---The First Ladies Cook Book: Favorite Recipes of All the Presidents of the United States, Margaret Brown
Klapthor, [Funk and Wagnalls:New York] 1982 revised edition (p. 146-151)
[Note: recipes in this book include Turban of Chicken, Cleveland Style, White Cake and Chocolate Frosting.]
Benjamin Harrison
---The Presidents' Cookbook, Poppy Cannon and Patricia Brooks [Funk & Wagnalls:New York] 1968 (p. 329-343)
[NOTES: (1) Recipes found here are Corn Chowder, Amber Soup, Scalloped Oysters with Macaroni, Mrs. Harrison's Sausage Rolls,
Chicken Salad with Homemade Mayonnaise, Spicy Macaroni, Presidential Fig Pudding, and Pecan Cake. (2) We do not yet own a copy of
Mrs. Harrison's cookbook. Some of the recipes above are reprinted from this source.]
Birthday Bonbons
Egg whites
Cold water
Powdered sugar
Seedless dates
Blanched almonds
Candied cherries
Form a stiff dough with 2 egg whites beaten together with an equal quantity of cold water and enough powdered sugar to give body
(about 2 pounds powdered sugar will be needed). Set dough aside while preparing the fruit. Fill seedless dates with the dough and cover
with it. Cover blanched almonds with it. Form the dough into round or small oblong balls and put a cherry on top (English walnuts may be
used too).
William McKinley
---The Presidents' Cookbook, Poppy Cannon and Patricia Brooks [Funk & Wagnalls:New York] 1968 (p. 344-350)
Theodore Roosevelt
---The Presidents' Cookbook, Poppy Cannon and Patricia Brooks [Funk & Wagnalls:New York]
1968 (p. 352-3)
[NOTE: recipes in this book include Fat Rascals (biscuits), Sagamore Hill Sand Tarts, Corn Chowder with Bear's Paw Popcorn, Chilled
Senegalese Soup, Fiddlehead Fern Salad, Teddy Roosevelt's Edible Leaves (salad), Wilted Dandelion Greens, Cream of
Cucumber Salad, Stuffed Cucumbers, Creamed Oysters, Pigs in Blankets, Broiled Shad with Creamed Roe, Sagamore Hill Liver and
Bacon, Kidney Stew (Breakfast specialty), Annie the Cook's Simple Sugar Wafers, Snow Ice Cream, Milk Ice, Teddy Roosevelt's
Baked Indian Pudding, Picket Fence Pudding. "Princess" Alice' Jumbles, Teddy Roosevelt's Milk Punch, Mint Tea, Catawba May Wine,
Rooseveltian Julep, and Coffee a la Roosevelt.]
---The President's Table: Two Hundred Years of Dining and Diplomacy, Barry H. Landau [HarperCollins:New York] 2007
Second Course: Green Turtle Soup, Clear Celery Olives Sweet Sherry
Third Course: Timbale of Peanut Ham
Fourth Course: Crab Flake la Newberg
Fifth Course: Fillet of Beef, Dickinson Green Peas Fresh Mushrooms sous Cloche (under glass)
Sixth Course: Quail & Bread Sauce Salad Roman Punch
Dessert Cakes Confectionary Biscuit Tortoni
Coffee Appropriate Wines with each Course
---"What the President Eats: Mr. Roosevelt Corrects and Epicurean Syndicate Story," Washington Post, June 26, 1906 (p. 6)
Fat Rascals
Additional notes regarding TR's White House entertaining style can be found in The First Ladies
Cook Book: Favorite Recipes of All the Presidents of the United States/Margaret Brown
Klapthor [recipes for Roast suckling pig, Indian pudding, and Clove cake]
In Edith Roosevelt's most cherished cookbook, which now rests on a shelf in the parlour of Sagamore Hill, is this recipe for hot
biscuits. Served right from the oven, with butter on them, they make a delicious coffee-klatch or teatime snack. We like to
serve them as well at breakfast, as a change from coffee cake or rolls. One taste and you will see why Teddy Roosevelt enjoyed
breakfast so much--eggs, coffee, and rolls....
Flour
salt
Sugar
Baking powder
Butter
Currants
Milk
Sift 4 cups flour with 1 teaspoon salt, 1/4 cup sugar, and 4 teaspoons baking powder. Mix well. Cut in 1 1/2 cups butter. Then stir in 1 pound
dried currants. Mix well again and add 1 cup milk, little by little. With each addition, mix with a fork until a soft dough
forms. Roll the dough approximately 1/2 inch thick on a lightly floured board. use a 2-inch round cutter to shape the biscuits.
Bake biscuits on an ungreased cooky sheet until nicely browned. Bake in a hot (450 degrees F.) oven about 12 minutes. When done,
remove from oven, split and butter each biscuit, and serve piping hot. Makes approximately 2 dozen."
Sweets, especially cookies, were a Roosevelt weakness. The President gobbled cookies such as these sand tarts as fast as they
appeared on the plate. This recipe, particularly cherished one in the family, was found on the inside cover of one of Edith
Roosevelt's many cookbooks. The family offered these cookies to friends who dropped in Christmas morning. Served with hot coffee...
Butter
Sugar
Eggs
Vanilla
Flour
Cream 1 cup butter until it is as smooth as mayonnaise. Then add 2 cups sugar and cream until light and fluffy. Add 2 eggs, one by
one, beating after each addition. Beat in one additional egg yolk and 2 teaspoons vanilla. Stir in 4 cups sifted flour. Mix again well.
Roll the dough on a lightly floured board until quite thin. Cut with a 2 1/2-inch cooky cutter. Then beat remaining egg white
just enough to stir it up a bit. Brush the egg white on top of the cookies. Sprinkle with a cinnamon-sugar mixture and bake on a
greased cooky sheet in a moderate (350 degrees F.) oven for about 8 minutes. Makes 6 dozen."
---Presidents' Cookbook, (p. 357-358)
William Howard Taft
A classic "Steak and Potatoes" man who enjoyed contemporary fine dining.
Broiled Steak
Pattie Ellicott, Washington Post, October 31, 1935 (p. 12)
Select a T-Bone, tenderloin or sirloin. Wipe the meat dry, remove the outside skin and some of the fat if there is a large quantity
of it. Then, with some of the removed fat, grease the broiler. Place the steak on the broiler over a clear fire or under the gas
flame; sear quickly on both sides to prevent the juices escaping. Turn again and cook on both sides until done, 10 to 15 minutes
for a medium thick steak if desired rare; allow a few minutes longer if steak is preferred well done. Remove to hot platter, sprinkle with
salt and pepper and spread with soft butter."
---"Favorite Foods of Famous Folk,"
---The Presidents' Cookbook, Poppy Cannon and Patricia Brooks [Funk & Wagnalls:New York]
1968 (p. 370-382)
---"Atlanta Greets President Elect," Daily Record [Morristown, NJ], January 15, 1909 (p. 4)
"Deviled Almonds
One of Taft's weaknesses was salted almonds. He nibbled on them whenever he had the chance...Fixed this way, the almonds made
especially tempting nibblies for Taft...
Blanched almonds
Butter
Cayenne
Salt
Put 1/2 pound blanched almonds into a preheated skillet with 2 ounces of butter. Saute the nuts until they are a light brown.
drain on absorbent paper. Then place the nuts in a cake pan, sprinkle cayenne and salt lightly over them; shake well, so the
seasoning is spread evenly around the nuts. Serve hot. One half pound almonds was, as far as President Taft was concerned, too much
for one, not enough for two."
---The Presidents' Cookbook (p. 386)
Woodrow Wilson
---The Presidents' Cookbook, Poppy Cannon and Patricia Brooks [Funk & Wagnalls:New York]
1968 (p. 383-393)
(Woodrow's favorite)
Put into a kettle one ounce of gelatin, one quart of water, one-half pint of milk, one pound of sugar, yolks of four eggs
and four spoons of sugar. When these ingredients are well mixed pour them upon the yolks and scald them--stirring all the while; then
strain it through a sieve and pour it while hot on the four whites which must first be beaten to a froth. Stir it constantly--when
it is cold, add a syllabub prepared as follows: One-half pint of cream, the remainder of the sugar, churn it, then lay it upon a sieve
so that all the milk may drain out. Stir constantly until cold.
Editors' Note--The 'Woodrow' referred to the the Wilson Family Cook Book was inaugurated twenty-eighth President of the United States,
March 4, 1913."
---The Economy Administration Cook Book, Susie Root Rhodes editor [W.B. Conkey Company:Hammond, IN] 1913 (p. 27)
[NOTE: This source contains a general history of the Wilson Family Cook Book and several recipes from its pages.]
Inaugural luncheon arranged by the retiring mistress of the White House
First Wilson family dinner served in the White House.
First Wilson family breakfast at the White House
Served to President Woodrow Wilson's relatives--twenty-five in number--brought together in Washington D.C. for the
inauguration.
Dinner served in the state dining room, White House, to the Wilsons--thirty-three in number--assembled for the inauguration of their
kinsman, twenty-eighth President of the United States."
---The Economy Administration Cook Book, Susie Root Rhodes editor [W.B. Conkey Company:Hammond, IN] 1913 (p. 50-51)
Mrs. Wilson's Clam Dip
1 small can clams
Drain off juice, mince clams, add onion (grated), salt and pepper. Blend.
Mrs. Wilson's 'Angels on Horseback'
Small raw oysters
Bacon
Tartar sauce
Bread slices in oval shape
Wrap oysters in three-inch strips of bacon. Fasten with toothpicks. Broil in oven until bacon is crisp. Remove toothpicks and serve on toasted bread ovals spread with tartar sauce.
Mrs. Wilson's 'Hot Peppered Nuts'
Into an iron skillet over a low flame put a pound of shelled paper-shell pecans, halved. Add two or three lumps of butter the size of walnuts. Stir frequently and when almost toasted add salt and cayenne pepper generously. Place in a warm oven to keep hot until served."
---"A Wilson Reception," Washington Post, April 29, 1971 (p. C3)
Warren G. Harding
---The Presidents' Cookbook, Poppy Cannon and Patricia Brooks [Funk & Wagnalls:New York]
1968 (p. 394-402)
"Chicken Pot Pie
Another Midwestern country favorite...is this authentic chicken pie brought to the White House by Mrs. Harding...
Stewing chicken (fowl), Bay leaf, Potatoes, Onions, Butter, Salt, pepper, Biscuit dough or pie crust, Egg.
Simmer a large fowl with bay leaf in water to cover until thoroughly tender. Remove meat from bones, separate into fairly
large pieces. Retain chicken stock. Boil 8 to 10 small peeled potatoes and 6 or 8 small white onions in the stock until tender.
Grease a deep baking dish with butter; combine chicken, potatoes, and onions. Pour in thickened stock--enough barely to cover
the other ingredients--season with salt and pepper to taste, and top with biscuit dough or pie crust. Paint top with slightly
beaten egg, bake in medium (350 degree F.) oven until top is nicely browned. Serve with remainder of stock., slightly thickened, in
gravy boat. Resist the temptation to add cream or milk to the sauce. Country folks never do. Serves 4 to 6."
---Presidents' Cookbook (p. 398-399)
Calvin Coolidge
---The Presidents' Cookbook, Poppy Cannon and Patricia Brooks [Funk & Wagnalls:New York]
1968 (p. 403-418)
[NOTE: favorite Coolidge recipes include Vermont Country Pickles, President Coolidge's Curry of Veal, Mrs. Coolidge's
Chicken Chop Suey, Chicken Chow Mein, Pork Apple Pie, Coolidge Custard Pie, Maple Walnut Cookies, and Mrs. Coolidge's Lemon
Pie.]
"Cornmeal Muffins
Nowhere was the
Coolidge fastidiousness more apparent than in the constant struggle and failure to get the kind of cornmeal muffins the Vermont
President wanted. He and Mrs. Coolidge were both fond of these country favorites but had trouble getting the White House kitchen to
turn them out to perfection. So Mrs. Coolidge sent off to the inn at Northampton for the recipe, adapted it somewhat, and this was the
way cornmeal muffins were finally made at the White House during the Cooidge years there.
Milk
Cornmeal
Flour
Sugar
Baking powder
Salt
Beat 2 eggs, add 1 scant cup milk. Blend 2 cups cornmeal, 1 cup flour, 4 tablespoons sugar, 2 tablespoons baking powder, and 1/4
teaspoon salt, and mix into egg-milk mixture. Put into well-greased muffin tins and bake in hot (450 degrees F.) oven for
25 to 30 minutes. Makes 2 dozen 2-inch muffins."
---The Presidents' Cookbook (p. 407)
Herbert Hoover
---The Presidents' Cookbook, Poppy Cannon and Patricia Brooks [Funk & Wagnalls:New York]
1968 (p. 419-429)
---"Secrets from the Hoover Kitchen," Galveston Daily News [TX], March 23, 1929 (p. 6)
---"Secrets from the Hoover Kitchen," Galveston Daily News [TX], March 23, 1929 (p. 6)
[NOTE: Mary Rattley added: "Mrs. Hoover likes souffles and Caramel Tomatoes; Mr. Hoover likes Corn Soup, Virginia Ham and Watermelon!"]
Classic
"Maryland Caramel Tomatoes
8 ripe tomates of equal size
1 tablespoon salt
white pepper
1 1/2 cups brown sugar
1/4 cup butter
Skin the tomatoes. Carefully cut off the tops. Place them in a buttered baking dish suitable to serve them in. Sprinkle with salt,
pepper, and brown sugar. Dab each of the with butter. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F, and bake for 1/2 hour. The remove to the
top of the stove, and over a low flame, reduce the juice until it is a thick syrup. Then once again bake them in a hot oven (400 degeres F) for
1/2 hour. Serve hot."
---The First Ladies Cook Book: Favorite Recipes of All the Presidents of the United States, Margaret Brown Klapthor [Parents Magazine Enterprises:New
York]1982 revised edition(p. 190)
Franklin Delano Roosevelt & Eleanor Roosevelt
---The Presidents' Cookbook, Poppy Cannon and Patricia Brooks [Funk & Wagnalls:New York]
1968 (p. 430-440)
[NOTE: Details on Mrs. Nesbitt, FDR's cook may be found in "Home Cooking in the FDR White House," From Hardtack to Home Fries: An Uncommon
History of American Cooks and Meals, Barbara Haber (p. 107-130)]
---The Presidential Cookbook: Feeding the Roosevelts and Their Guests, Henrietta Nesbitt [DoubleDay & Co.:Garden City NY]
1951 (p. 1-2)
---ibid (p. 8-9)
---ibid, (p. 160)
---The Presidential Cookbook: Feeding the Roosevelts and Their Guests, Henrietta Nesbitt [Doubleday & Company:Garden
City NY] 1951 (p. 141)
---ibid ((p. 50-51)
Likes:
1. Favorite fish dish: Kedgeree
2. Fresh salads (mixed vegetable, fruit, German potato)
3. Favorite lunch: bowl of soup and dish of fresh fruit
4. Favorite supper dish: scrambled eggs in chafing dish, cooked tableside
5. Roast beef, good steaks, chops, roast duck, roast chicken
6. Doughnuts (Berliners) & fresh bread
7. Angel food cake (Eleanor's standard birthday cake)
1. Brussels sprouts
2. Rich desserts, preferring fruit and cheese to finish her meal.
Yes, but we do not know when she started the practice. In her own words:
"Today I still feel that I am largely responsible for keeping myself in good health. My physician, Dr. David Curewitsch, seems to
expect his patients to have a certain amount of common sense. I take the vitamin pills he prescribes and also some chocolate-coated
garlic pills which are supposed to have a beneficial effect on the memory which is nothing to brag about."
---"Where I get my energy," Eleanor Roosevelt, Harper's Magazine, January 1959 (p. 46)
[NOTE: On the Internet this quote is incorrectly reported as "chocolate coated balls" or "chocolate covered garlic cloves."]
"The Franklin Roosevelts had a Sunday night ritual that involved the First Lady and was greatly enjoyed by guests who were made
to feel a part of the family because of it. Mrs. Roosevelt made a chafing dish of scrambled eggs right at the table as guests and
family sat talking. But there was a bit more to the menu than that:
(Done at table in chafing dish_
Cold Cuts--Ham, Bologna, and Liverwurst
Shoestring Potatoes
Mixed Vegetable Salad
Fruit, Cheese, Crackers
Coffee"
---A Treasury of White House Cooking, Francois Rysavy [G.P. Putnam's Sons:New York] 1957 (p. 254)
---"For Gourmets and Others: Fine Points of Egg Dishes," S. Wright, New York Times, January 15, 1939 (p. D7)
"Scrambled Eggs in Chafing Dish Mrs. Roosevelt's
1 tablespoon butter
6 eggs
3 tablespoons cream
1/2 teaspoon salt
Melt butter in pan, stir in lightly eggs and cream beaten together. Don't overcook. Two eggs to each portion."
---The Presidential Cookbook: Feeding the Roosevelts and Their Guests, Henrietta Nesbitt [Doubleday & Company:Garden
City NY] 1951 (p. 92-93)
[NOTE: If you would like more recipes from this book please let us know. Mrs. Nesbitt was the Roosevelts' cook. Her recipes are
punctuated with personal notes and family favorites.]
Kedgeree
1 cup any boiled whitefish, flaked
1 cup boiled rice
2 hard boiled eggs, cut in quarters
2 tablespoon butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
dash pepper
Mix fish and rice, moisten with cream or fish stock if dry, and saute lightly in melted butter. Must be fluffy. Add salt, pepper,
and eggs. Heat thoroughly, and serve. All the family liked this dish, especially Mrs. Roosevelt, and we served it over and
over. Serves 4."
---The Presidential Cookbook: Feeding the Roosevelts and Their Guests, Henrietta Nesbitt [Doubleday & Company:Garden
City NY] 1951 (p. 28)
Fact: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt served hot dogs to dignitaries visiting the Summer White House (Springwood, Hyde Park NY) as early as 1934.
Fact: Some people thought Eleanor purposely served hot dogs in Hyde Park to undermine the authority of Sara, her mother-in-law.
Fact: The King and Queen of England were served hot dogs at FDR's Summer White House on June 11, 1939.
Fact: The Royal couple was not offended by the menu.
You decide: Was the real heat behind the alleged "royal hot dog" incident sparked by jealous family flames
or was this a brilliant gesture hoping to unite everyone facing hard economic times?
---"President is Host at 'Hot Dog' Feast," New York Times, September 23, 1934 (p. N1)
---"Roosevelts Treat Guests to Hot Dogs," New York Times, July 3, 1938 (p. 1)
---"Roosevelts Plan Hot Dogs for King," New York Times, May 18, 1939 (p. 21)
---"King Tries Hot Dog and Asks for More," New York Times, June 12, 1939 (p. 1)
Harry Truman
---Harry S. Truman Library and Museum
---The Presidents' Cookbook, Poppy Cannon and Patricia Brooks [Funk and Wagnalls:New York] 1968
(p. 449-454)
[NOTE: Senate Bean Soup recipe]
"Bess Truman's Ozark Pudding recipe. This is the copy of the recipe as it was sent out to people who requested it. It comes from the Social Correspondence
Office Files of the Truman Papers.
1 egg
3/4 cup sugar
2 Tablespoons flour
1 and 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped nuts
1/2 cup raw apples, finely chopped
1 teaspoon vanilla
Beat egg and sugar a long time until very smooth. Mix flour, baking powder, salt, and stir into sugar-egg mixture. Add apples, nuts, and vanilla. Bake in a buttered
pie pan in a 350 degree over for 35 minutes. Serve with whipped cream or ice cream."
SOURCE: Archivist, Harry S. Truman Presidential Library and Museum
Dwight D. Eisenhower
President Eisenhower was an accomplished cook who enjoyed preparing food for family and guests. His
personal cookbook and favorite foods
(with selected recipes), courtesy of the Eisenhower National Museum and Archives.
---The Presidents' Cookbook, Poppy Cannon and Patricia Brooks [Funk and Wagnalls:New York] 1968 (p.
466-482)
[NOTE: this book contains recipes for all of the items listed above, and more. Your librarian can help you
find a copy of this book if you need more details. ]
---"Mess-Hall Politico," book review, My Friend Ike by Marty Snyder, review by Herbert Mitgang, New York Times, February
19, 1956 (p. BR12)
[NOTE: Mr. Snyder's obituary (New York Times, July 2, 1974 (p. 38) mentions he also prepared meals for Winston Churchil, Ge. Charles de
Gaulle and was named "the best mess sergeant" by Stars and Stripes, the Army newspaper. After the war he opened the Headquarters
Restaurant (Nyack NY) and later formed Sergeant Marty Snyder Foods, a packaging concern.]
President Eisenhower's Old-Fashioned Beef Stew
To make a meal of it, start with something light, such as a half a grapefruit, and follow with a good piece of Midwestern cheese and a fine
pear or apple.
2 pounds beef round, cubed
2 (12-ounce) cans consomme
Water
3 tablespoons shortening
3 scant tablespoons flour
1 pound small red potatoes, peeled
2 cups 1-inch carrot pieces
12 small onions
1 cup chopped peeled tomatoes or 1 (8-ounce) can stewed tomatoes, drained and chopped
Salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon MSG (optional)
1/2 teaspoon thyme
2 bay leaves, crumbled
1 clove garlic, halved lengthwise
1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns, bruised
1/2 teaspoon white peppercorns, bruised
2 sprigs parsley or 1/2 teaspoon dried
Wash beef cubes. While still wet, place in large heavy pot over medium heat. Cover and cook about 5 minutes. Stir, cover, and continue
cooking. Meanwhile, blend consomme with 2 1/2 cans water. Set aside. In saucepan heat shortening. Add flour and stir over medium
heat until mixture turns medium brown. Remove from heat and add 1 cup consome water mixture, stirring to blend. Add 1 to 1 1/2
cups more liquid until roux is smooth. Set aside. Add potatoes, carrots, onions and tomatoes to meat. Stir in salt to taste, pepper and
MSG. Make bouquet garni by tying thyme, bay leaves, garlic, black and white peppercorns and parsley in square of cheesecloth with
long string. Add bouquet garni to pot along with remaining consomme. Cover and simmer 30 to 45 minutes until beef and vegetables are
tender. Into roux stir some of hot liquid from stew pot until smooth and liquid. Stir warmed roux mixture into stew. Cover and cook over low heat another
30 minutes. Serve with crusty French bread. Makes 6 to 8 servings.
WINE TIP: It was never much of a secret that Eisenhower enjoyed a glass of red wine with his favorite food, beef. It tried but
could not discover his favorite wine. But as I understand it, he preferred burgundy types."
---"An Eisenhower Favorite: Getting into a Hot Political Stew," Louis Szathmary, Los Angeles Times, March 10, 1983
(p. N41)
[NOTE: Chef Szathmary's impressive culinary archives is housed by the
Univeristy of Iowa Libraries. His presidential collection is at
Johnson & Wales Library Providence RI.]
John F. Kennedy
---John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum
---"Food News: Done to the Tastes of the Presidents," June Owen New York Times, January 21, 1961 (p. 22)
---JFK Library & Museum
---The White House Chef Cookbook, Rene Verdon [Doubleday:Garden City NY] 1967 (p. 22-24)
[NOTE: We own this book. Very happy to scan/send anything you want. We also own Verdon's French Cooking for the American
Table (c. 1974).]
---ibid (p. 50-51)
---ibid (p. 69)
---ibid (p. 112)
---ibid (p. 206)
"President Kennedy's New England Fish Chowder
2 pounds haddock
2 cups water
2 ounces salt pork, diced
2 onions, sliced
4 large potatoes, diced
1 cup chopped celery
1 bay leaf, crumbled
1 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 quart milk
2 tablespoons butter
Simmer the haddock in the water for 15 minutes. Drain. Reserve the broth. Remove the bones from the fish. Saute the pork until
crisp, remove from pan, and set aside. Saute the onions in the pork fat until golden brown. Add the fish, potatoes, celery, bay
leafy, salt, and pepper. Pour in fish broth, plus enough boiling water to make 3 cups liquid. Simmer for 30 minutes. Add the
milk and butter, and simmer for 5 minutes. Serve the chowder sprinkled with pork dice. Serves 6."
---A Treasury of White House Cooking, Francois Rysavy [G.P. Putnam's Sons:New York] 1972 (p. 210-211)
Lyndon B. Johnson
LBJ was famous for bringing Texas-style barbecue to the White House.
---Walter Jetton's LBJ Barbecue Cook Book, Walter
Jetton with Arthur Whitman [Pocket Books Inc.:New York] 1965 (p. 9-10)
[NOTE: Walter Jetton was the LBJ's caterer.]
---The White House Family Cookbook, Henry Haller [Random House:New York] 1987 (p. 3-67)
---The Presidents' Cookbook, Poppy Cannon and Patricia Brooks [Funk & Wagnalls:New York]
1968(p. 510-513)
---A Treasury of White House Cooking, Francois Rysavy [G.P. Putnam's Sons:New York] 1972 (p. 194-195)
4 pounds coarsely ground chuck or round steak
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
5 shakes liquid hot sauce (or more, to suit taste)
1 teaspoon ground oregano
1 teaspoon comino seed
6 teaspoons chili powder (more if needed)
2 No. 2-1/2 cans tomatoes
2 No. 2-1/2 cans kidney beans
2 cups hot water
Salt to taste
Put meat, onion, and garlic in large heavy boiler or skillet. Sear until light-colored. Add hot sauce, oregano, comino, chili
powder, tomatoes, beans and hot water. Bring to a boil, lower heat, and simmer about 1 hour. Add salt and more liquid hot sauce, to
taste toward end of cooking. As fat cooks out, skim. Serve with a side dish of jalapeno peppers if you want to eat them LBJ's favorite
way, but they might be too strong if you tend toward ulcers. Sometimes the President ordered the chili made without beans to
cut calories. Serves 8 to 10. Another chili recipe that President Johnson relished was one made by a family friend--Scooter
Miller."
---A Treasury of White House Cooking, Francois Rysavy [G.P. Putnam's Sons:New York] 1972 (p. 50)
[NOTE: Scooter's Dallas Jailhouse Chili appears on p. 195. Happy to scan/send if you like.]
President Johnson likes these and so does just about everybody else....
1 pound dried apples
1 pound butter
1 pound sugar
1/2 cup orange, sliced thin
1/4 lemon, sliced thin
Tough pastry, rolled out
Cover apples, orange and lemon with water and cook over the fire for about 15 minutes--until they are tender. Remove from the heat and
add butter and sugar, mixing well. Let the ranch apple mixture chill. Now roll out your pastry and cut it in 4-inch circles. Add
2 tablespoons of the apple mixture to each circle and fold it over. Press the edges together and fry in deep fat until
brown."
---Walter Jetton's LBJ Barbecue Cook Book, Walter
Jetton with Arthur Whitman [Pocket Books Inc.:New York] 1965 (p. 77)
Richard M. Nixon
---"How Nixon Lives, What He Likes," Marie Smith Washington Post, January 17, 1969 (p. B1)
---The White House Family Cookbook, Henry Haller [Random House:New York] 1987(p. 71-149)
---ibid (p. 84-85)
"Pat Nixon's meatloaf
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup finely chopped onions
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 slices white bread
1 cup milk
2 pounds lean ground beef
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon salt
Ground black pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram
2 tablespoons tomato puree
2 tablespoons bread crumbs
---ibid (p. 85)
Several banquets celebrated Nixon's visit to China in 1972. Some were hosted by the Chinese
government; others by the American nationals. The New York Times published a general
description of the banquet given by Premier Cho En Lai for President Nixon on February 21,
1972. This article included a basic menu:
---"Home on the Range Spices the Three Hour Banquet," New York Times, February 22, 1972 (p.
A15)
---"The Menus at Peking Banquets Didn't Do Justice to the Foods," Raymond A. Sokolov, New
York Times, February 26, 1972 (p. 34)
[NOTE: This article also describes the menu hosted by the Nixons.]
"President Nixon lived it up at one of Florida's best fish restaurants, and he enjoyed himself so much that he stopped on the way home for an
ice-cream sundae. The President, accompanied by confident Charles (Bebe) Rebozo and special counsel Charles Colson, dined on Florida stone crabs, pompano, crab-meat pate,
asparagus, broccoli and baked potato shells at the Hasta, in Coral Gables, and washed down his dinner with a good French chablis. On the way home, he sent Rebozo out to an
ice-cream store to get him a coconut-ice cream sundae, topped with pineapple. While Rebozo was getting the sundae, the President stood beside his car, passing out
autographed cards and chatting with proprietor Paul Bleustein, who said he had voted for Mr. Nixon. 'Is business good?--it should be,' asked the President.
'It's slow this year,' replied Bleusteikn. 'Your spirit has got to be up--up, up, up,' said the president."
---"Nixon Lives it up in Florida," Washington Post, December 2, 19727 (p. A10)
White House chef Henry Haller confirmed the Nixons loved fresh California and Florida fruits. Fruit salad is perfect. The book contains dozens
of tasty recipes. Desserts are generally the most portable. The Nixon section of the White House Family Cookbook offers recipes for
these family favorites: Sponge Cake, Apple Charlotte, Boston Cream Pie, Tricia's Chocolate Chip Cookies, and Sequoia
Brownies. Francois Rysavy's A Treasury of White House Cooking offers these family favorites: Broiled Grapefruit,
Pat's Corn Souffle, Pat Nixon's Angel Pie, President Nixon's Favorite Tamale Pie, Pat Nixon's Avocado Salad, and Glorified
Rice A La Nixon. Your local public librarian will be happy to help you get a copy of this book. If you have a really short deadline
(due tomorrow?) let us know which recipe you want. We can fax or scan.
"Tricia's Chocolate Chip Cookies
After the pastry chef learned that Tricia Nixon often craved cookies, the White House kitchen was continually stocked with several
different kinds of freshly baked treats...Tricia delighted in sampling everything baked by the White House pastry chef...
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 egg white
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups cake flour
8 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease baking sheets and dust lightly with flour.
2. In a mixing bowl, cream butter with sugar. Beat in egg, egg white, and salt.
3. In a small bowl, dissolve in water; add to batter, and stir in vanilla.
4. Stir in flour until well-blended.
5. Fold in chocolate chips; do not overmix.
6. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto prepared baking sheets; leave 1 1/2 inches between cookies to allow for spreading.
7. Bake on lower shelf of preheated oven for 15 minutes, or until golden.
8. Let cool on wire racks before serving; store in an airtight container."
---White House Family Cook Book,(p. 116-117)
Gerald Ford
---The White House Family Cookbook, Henry Haller [Random House:New York] 1987 (p. 153-225)
Jimmy Carter
---The White House Family Cookbook, Henry Haller [Random House:New York] 1987(p. 230-323)
"Even before they had settled into the White House, reports in the press began to highlight the Carters' Southern style of
life. The public was forewarned that the White House would soon serve grits to guests...For the Carters' first breakfast in the White House, grits were included on the menu. A staple dish for the Carters and their
Southern visitors, grits soon became standard fare for White House guests from all over the world. The White House kitchen had
quickly realized that many of the Carters' distinguished visitor really expected to be served grits, and most were pleasantly
surprised to discover they actually liked the taste of the ground hominy dish...President Carter liked grits baked with cheese, so the dish was
often included on the family's weekend breakfast menu."
---The White House Family Cookbook, Henry Haller [Random House:New York] 1987(p. 229-230)
Henry Haller's White House Family Cookbook offers dozens of tasty choices. Corn bread is portable and easy to make (p. 277-278):
"Carters' Corn Bread
Makes 9 squares
1 cup flour
1/2 cup white cornmeal
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 egg
1 cup warm milk
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, melted
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Butter inside of an 8-inch square baking pan.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, yellow and white cornmeal, baking powder, salt and sugar.
3. In a smaller mixing bowl, beat egg with warm milk, using a wire whisk. Stir in melted butter.
4. Pour over dry ingredients and mix with the wire whisk until smooth. Let stand for 15 minutes. (It is important to let batter rest
before baking so that the cornmeal absorbs the liquid and the resulting texture is smooth, never grainy.)
5. Scrape batter into the prepared pan. Bake on lower shelf of preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until top is golden and toothpick
inserted near center comes out clean.
6. Let pan stand on a wire rack for 10 minutes before cutting into squares. Serve warm, with whipped butter, if desired."
Ronald Reagan
George Herbert Walker Bush
---"Bush's Broccoli Hatred Flowers Into Presidential Proclamation," Los Angeles Times, Mar 22, 1990, (p. 2)
---"Broccoli Tops the Favorite Vegetable List, Hands Down Nutrition: Despite what the President might think, there are several delicious ways to
prepare broccoli so that it tempts even the most stubborn of taste buds," ROSE DOSTI, Los Angeles Times,Mar 29, 1990 (p. 37)
"Vice President George Bush won't eat cauliflower. Or Brussels sprouts.
Barbara Pierce Bush, the vice president's wife of 41 years, revealed these tidbits from "the life of the wife of the vice president" at a breakfast in Irvine on Monday for 500 Republicans.
The vice president's dislike for vegetables came up as Mrs. Bush spoke of the 145 or so letters she receives each week and then entertained the crowd by reading a sample of her favorites.
"Dear Mrs. Bush, would you please send me the vice president's favorite recipes? Never mind the vegetables," one fan wrote.
"They obviously knew George Bush," Mrs. Bush said. "The day he was 60, he said to me: 'I am never going to eat broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower or
cabbage again.' And he hasn't!"
---"Or a Vegetarian Second Lady's Role Not for a Bush-Leaguer," LANIE JONES, Los Angeles Times, May 6, 1986 (p. 1)
---"WASHINGTON TALK: BRIEFING; Presidential Snacks," Berke, E.J. Dionne Jr. and Richard, New York Times, Feb 16, 1989 (p.B14)
(6 servings)
4 strips bacon, cut into small pieces
3/4 cup onions, chopped
1 sweet bell pepper, diced
1 cup milk
1 cup heavy (whipping) cream
2 tablespoons butter
3 eggs, beaten
1 cup white corn kernels
2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons flour
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
Salt and white pepper to taste
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
In a frying pan, cook the bacon until crisp. Remove the bacon and set aside. Add the onions to the pan and saute them until transparent. Add the bell pepper and cook for 3 minutes. Set aside.
Heat the milk and cream over low heat until warm. Add the butter and heat until the butter melts. Remove from the heat and slowly add the milk mixture to the beaten eggs, whisking lightly to combine. Add the corn, flour, thyme, parsley, cooked bacon, onions and peppers and salt and pepper to taste. Stir to combine.
Pour the mixture into an ungreased 1 1/2-quart oval baking dish and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes until golden brown..."
(10 servings)
This is good with a little cinnamon or vanilla ice cream on the side.
Butter and sugar for preparing the souffle dish
10 Granny Smith apples
1 teaspoon lemon juice
6 tablespoons butter, plus additional 1/2 cup melted
3 tablespoons sugar
2 cups fresh cranberries, washed and dried
1 cup golden raisins, soaked in warm water for 15 minutes then squeezed dry
Zest of 2 oranges
1 cup light brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon mace
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 cups stale white-bread crumbs, crusts removed>br?
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Butter a 2-quart straight-sided glass souffle dish and then sprinkle with sugar.
Peel, core and quarter the apples, then cut each quarter into 3 chunks. Reserve in a bowl. Sprinkle the lemon juice over the apples and toss to combine.
In a large frying pan, heat 2 tablespoons of the butter until hot and add 1/3 of the apple pieces. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of the sugar and saute over high heat until the apples are lightly caramelized. Remove the apples from heat and reserve in a large bowl. Repeat process until all the apples are cooked. Combine the apples with the cranberries, raisins, orange zest, brown sugar, mace and cinnamon and mix well.
Mix the bread crumbs with the remaining 1/2 cup melted butter. Line bottom of souffle bowl with 1/3 of the bread-crumb mixture. Add 1/2 of the apple-cranberry mixture, then sprinkle with 1/3 more of the bread crumbs. Add rest of apple-cranberry mixture, then top with the remaining bread crumbs.
Bake in the preheated oven for 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 hours."
---"RECIPE EXCHANGE," The Washington Post, Feb 3, 1999 (p. M.2
Bill Clinton
"Favorite Food: Chicken Enchiladas, Bananas, Apples, and Vegetable Beef Soup"
White House for Kids/NARA
"Bill Clinton's favorite foods include chicken enchiladas, tacos, barbecued ribs, cheeseburgers, lemon chess pie, peach pie, beef tenders marinated in Italian dressing and
his mom's sweet-potato casserole..."
---"Bill and His Diet," New York Times, January 17, 1993 (p. SM50)
---
"Bill Clinton and Food:Jack Sprat He's Not," Marian Burros, New York Times, December 23, 1992
---Conversations, Bill Clinton and Janice F. Kearney (p. 250)
[NOTE: text accessed from Google Books.]
George W. Bush
---White House Chef, Walter Scheib and Andrew Friedman [John Wiley:Hoboken NJ] 2007 (p. 215-236)
Barack Obama
---"Obama family favorites likely to get brand boost," Bruce Horovitz, USA TODAY Nov 6, 2008 (p. B4)
---"McCain and Obama's favorite restaurants: What McCain and Obama's favorite
restaurants say about the candidates," Raymond Sokolov, Chicago Sun Times, July 28, 2008
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