Fountaindale Public Library

Dinner with the president, food, politics, and a history of breaking bread at the White House, Alex Prud'homme

eng

Includes bibliographical references and index

collective biography

illustrations

index present

non fiction

Dinner with the president

dictionariesbibliography

1369178030

Alex Prud'homme

food, politics, and a history of breaking bread at the White House

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 TucciSome 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 CherriesAbraham Lincoln's Gingerbread MenWilliam H. Taft's Billy Bi Mussel SoupFranklin D. Roosevelt's Reverse MartiniLady Bird Johnson's Pedernales River Chili"Perhaps the most significant meals in the world have been consumed at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue by the presumptive leaders of the free world. Thomas Jefferson had an affinity for eggplant and FDR for terrapin stew. Nixon ate a lump of cottage cheese topped with barbecue sauce every day and Obama regularly had arugula. Now, Alex Prud'homme takes us to the dining tables of the White House to look at what the presidents chose to eat, how the food was prepared and by whom, and the context in which the meals were served, making clear that every one of these details speaks volumes about both the individual president and the country he presided over. We see how these gustatory messages touch on not only sometimes curious personal tastes, but also local politics, national priorities, and global diplomacy-not to mention all those dinner-table-conversation-taboos: race, gender, class, money, and religion. The individual stories are fascinating in themselves, but taken together-under the keen and knowledgeable eye of Prud'homme-they reveal that food is not just food when it is desired, ordered, and consumed by the President of the United States"--, Provided by publisher

Introduction: At the president's table -- George Washington : the first kitchen -- John Adams : the first host -- Thomas Jefferson : America's founding epicure -- James Madison : to Jemmy's health, and Dolley's remorseless equanimity -- Abraham Lincoln : corn, gingerbread, and Thanksgiving -- Ulysses S. Grant : the drunken tanner, the military genius, and the first state dinner -- Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft : two bears -- From Wilson to Coolidge and Hoover : heartburn, hard cheese, and a hail of rotten tomatoes -- Franklin D. Roosevelt : the gourmet's lament -- Harry S. Truman : bourbon, Berlin, and the comforts of fried chicken -- Dwight D. Eisenhower : the president who cooked -- John F. Kennedy : Camelot and clam chowder -- Lyndon B. Johnson : how barbecue led to diplomacy and chili led to civil rights -- Richard M. Nixon and Gerald Ford : the unlikelist gastro-diplomat and the instant president -- Jimmy Carter : in search of grits and peace -- Ronald Reagan : jelly beans, weight-loss, and glasnost -- George H. W. Bush : the yin and yang of broccoli -- William J. Clinton : torn between renunciation and appetite -- George W. Bush : tee ball, freedom fries, and changing of the guard -- Barack Obama : the president with the global palate -- Donald Trump : the food fighter -- Joseph R. Biden : we finish as family -- Conclusion: Eating together

adult

Food, politics, and a history of breaking bread at the White House