A wonderfully entertaining, often surprising history of presidential
taste, from the grim meals eaten by Washington and his starving troops
at Valley Forge to Trump's fast-food burgers and Biden's ice cream--what
they ate, why they ate it, and what it tells us about the state of the
nation--from the coauthor of Julia Child's best-selling memoir My Life
in France
"[A] beautifully written book about how the presidential palate has
helped shape America...Fascinating."--Stanley Tucci
Some of the most significant moments in American history have occurred
over meals, as U.S. presidents broke bread with friends or foe: Thomas
Jefferson's nationbuilding receptions in the new capital, Washington,
D.C.; Ulysses S. Grant's state dinner for the king of Hawaii; Teddy
Roosevelt's groundbreaking supper with Booker T. Washington; Richard
Nixon's practiced use of chopsticks to pry open China; Jimmy Carter's
cakes and pies that fueled a détente between Israel and Egypt at Camp
David.
Here Alex Prud'homme invites readers into the White House kitchen to
reveal the sometimes curious tastes of twenty-six of America's most
influential presidents, how their meals were prepared and by whom, and
the ways their choices affected food policy around the world. And the
White House menu grew over time-- from simple eggs and black coffee for
Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War and celebratory turtle soup after
and squirrel stew for Dwight Eisenhower, to jelly beans and enchiladas
for Ronald Reagan and arugula for Barack Obama. What our leaders say
about food touches on everything from our nation's shifting diet and
local politics to global trade, science, religion, war, class, gender,
race, and so much more.
Prud'homme also details overlooked figures, like George Washington's
enslaved chef, Hercules Posey, whose meals burnished the president's
reputation before the cook narrowly escaped to freedom, and pioneering
First Ladies, such as Dolley Madison and Jackie Kennedy, who used food
and entertaining to build political and social relationships. As he
weaves these stories together, Prud'homme shows that food is not just
fuel when it is served to the most powerful people in the world. It is a
tool of communication, a lever of power and persuasion, a form of
entertainment, and a symbol of the nation.
Included are ten authentic recipes for favorite presidential dishes,
such as:
- Martha Washington's Preserved Cherries
- Abraham Lincoln's Gingerbread Men
- William H. Taft's Billy Bi Mussel Soup
- Franklin D. Roosevelt's Reverse Martini
- Lady Bird Johnson's Pedernales River Chili
