Foodies in Chief, Part III

We finish up our culinary tour of the White House today.  Again if you want to read much, much more, click here. 

"Mmm...This is just the way my mom used to make it."

• Harding--Some favorites included chicken pie, waffles, knockwurst and sauerkraut.  He preferred heavy main dishes usually preceded by light salads.
• Coolidge--Cal had some strange quirks when it came to food.  He called all meals "supper", whether it was breakfast, lunch or dinner.  He was a notorious nibbler.  There's a story that he had to be slipped a plate of roast beef before the start of a state dinner so he could nibble before "supper".  He was very fond of pickles, which isn't very strange, but apparently, he was unusually fond of pickles.  He believed that chicken was only good if it was raised very near the kitchen door, so he established a chicken yard on the White House grounds.  It was said, though, that these chickens tasted a little bit strange because the chicken yard was put in the same spot as Teddy Roosevelt's mint patch.
• Hoover--Herbie demanded the best of everything when it came to his meals.  He was, however, easy to please.  And he was a big candy fan.
• F. Roosevelt--Meals in FDR's White House was a reflection of the times.  They "made do" with what was available and affordable.  The Queen of England enjoyed her first hot dog on her visit to the President.  As far as cuisine goes, he enjoyed typically American fare with soups and Eleanor's scrambled eggs two of his favorites.  Although dinner was often a family affair, he usually ate lunch at his desk.
• Truman--Harry wasn't picky--enjoying good ol' farm food: roasted or fried chicken, meat and potatoes.
• Eisenhower--Dinner for Ike and his wife was often eaten in front of the television.  Some of his detractors even supposed that they ate frozen TV dinners.  He was a big fan of garlic and apple pie (not together, I assume).  And he loved soups--some of which he cooked himself in the White House kitchen.  (His beef soup was famous among the staff.)
• Kennedy--Thanks to Mrs. Kennedy, French cuisine was a standard in the Kennedy White House.  State dinners were fancy events.  Like many presidents it seems, JFK was fond of soups.  But overall, politics came before food for him--he often had to be reminded that it was dinnertime.
• L. Johnson--Some LBJ favorites: creamed chipped beef over biscuits, Texas-style dishes, seafood, spinach.  He was known to be a very fast eater.
• Nixon--Tricky Dick was into simple American foods like salads, California fruits, cottage cheese, meatloaf, avocados.  He went "international" with spaghetti and meatballs and lasagna.  Nixon lunches were almost exclusively eaten cold.
• Ford--Gerry had a very healthy appetite as you might expect from this former athlete.  Some favorites were spareribs, spaghetti and meatballs, salads, cabbage and strawberries.
• Carter--This Georgia farmer loved his down-home Southern dishes.  Grits were served with many meals--even to visitors.  The Carters gave the staff the day off on Sundays, so the family prepared meals for themselves on that day.
• Regan--Thanks to his wife, Ronnie's meals were usually nutrition-based.  Meals were usually high in fiber, pita was served instead of regular bread.  He was allowed to have eggs just one time a week.  It wasn't all nutritious foods for him, though.  He liked desserts (especially those made with apples) and hamburger soup.  And his love of jelly beans is well-documented.
• G.H.W. Bush--Bush the Elder was known more for a food he didn't like than for those he did.  He famously denounced broccoli (and less famously, he didn't eat cauliflower or Brussels sprouts either).
• Clinton--Slick Willie single-handedly kept fast food restaurants in business (culminating in his heart surgery later in life).  Some other favorites included chicken enchiladas, tacos, BBQ ribs, cheeseburgers, lemon and peach pies, beef marinated in Italian dressing and his mom's sweet potato casserole.
• G.W. Bush--Food wasn't a priority for W.  He wanted his meals "distinct, direct, non-negotiable and quick".  When the staff found something that Bush enjoyed, they served it often--Tex-Mex, BLTs, grilled cheese with Kraft Singles and white bread, peanut butter and honey sandwiches, pretzels (sounds like the favorites of a 9-year old!).  Huevos rancheros were served for lunch pretty much every Sunday.
• Obama--Our current president is a notorious snacker--Planter's trail mix, Fran's chocolates (from Seattle).  His drink of choice is Black Forest Berry Honest Tea.  For meals, he prefers Mexican (Rick Bayless is a favorite chef), burgers, ribs, Tex-Mex.  Of course, Michelle makes sure that he eats healthy since that's her worthy cause.

"Michelle will never know..."

So that's it!  Hope you enjoyed learning a little bit about some of the interesting, boring, strange food habits of our presidents. 

Foodies in Chief, Part II

As we continue through "President's Week", here are some more food-related tidbits about our country's past leaders.

"I didn't order collard greens and grits."

• Pierce--Frankie wasn't much of a food fan.  It was said that state dinners during his administration were "not up to par."
• Buchanan--This was our only bachelor president and the only one from Pennsylvania.  His young niece acted as First Lady and hosted a bunch of extravagant parties in the White House.  And, although he was partial to French food, Buchanan was also a big fan of Pennsylvania Dutch cooking. 
• Lincoln--By many accounts, Abe tended to be a bit to preoccupied to be into food.  You could say that he had a lot on his plate.  Still, he apparently ate well--no matter what was served to him.
• A. Johnson--Very particular about his dairy products, he established a dairy to specifically stock the White House kitchen.  He was partial to cooking from his home state of Tennesee, especially duck, wild turkey and sweet potato dishes.
• Grant--The former general was a simple eater, but brought an army cook with him to the White House.  It turned out that he wasn't that great a cook.  So Mrs. Grant brought in an Italian to cater with top-of-the-line food.  Big breakfasts were a favorite of Grant.
• Hayes--In short, Hayes' food mantra was "everything in moderation".
• Garfield--He LOVED lasagna.  Oh, sorry. Wrong Garfield.  This one was partial to squirrel soup and apple pie.
• Arthur--Beside Tom Jefferson, Chet Arthur was our most foodie president ever.  He ate light meals, but always wanted it prepared well and served with style.
• Cleveland--When entertaining, the Cleveland era was filled with Victorian style.  In private, he preferred comfort food--corned beef and cabbage was a favorite.
• B. Harrison--Ben Harrison enjoyed all sorts of food, but was partial to soups.  He also loved simple comfort foods as long as they were well prepared.
• McKinley--This president enjoyed plain foods in very large quantities.
• T. Roosevelt--As you might expect, Teddy was an adventurous eater.  And he loved to eat.  He was wealthy, so he could afford pretty much anything that he wanted: seafood, beef, ham, all sorts of game.  He was also a big coffee drinker.
• Taft--As you might expect with Big Howie, he liked all kinds of food--and lots of it.  Some favorites were turtle soup, seafood, peach salad, salted almonds.  Just don't serve him eggs.  He couldn't stand them.
• Wilson--In contrast to his predecessor, Woody didn't eat much at all.  In fact, his doctors were often worried about his low weight.  If he had a favorite food, it would probably be strawberry ice cream.

Tomorrow, we'll finish up with Harding through Obama.

Foodies in Chief

In honor of President's Day, I thought I'd do a little research about the relationship of our Commanders in Chief and food.  Some are obvious--Reagan liked jellybeans, Bush the Elder didn't like broccoli, Jefferson liked gourmet food and Taft liked pretty much anything that was put in front of him.  But there is a lot that you don't know about.

I'll just give a few interesting tidbits, but if you want to read more--much more--click here.

I'll follow the lead of car companies and other retailers that have "President's Week" sales and spread my history lesson over a few days.  So here they are starting with Numero Uno.

"I'm in the mood for hot wings. 
How 'bout you guys?"

• Washington--George and Martha enjoyed simple meals--like many people of the time.  Their home, Mount Vernon, was completely self-sufficient in raising and growing food for the family.  He saw himself as a farmer above all.
• J. Adams--Adams spent a lot of time abroad and developed a taste of fine food from living in England and France.  At home, however, simple New England fare was the norm.
• Jefferson--Of all of our presidents, TJeff (as his friends would call him these days) was our biggest foodie.  He had a very adventurous palate--much of it developed from his traveling abroad.  He loved French cuisine especially, but was also a fan of traditional Southern cooking, among others.  At his home, Monticello, he raised a huge amount of fruits and vegetables and had one of the first successful wineries in the new country.
• Madison--Not much is known about Madison's tastes, but his wife, Dolley, was known as the Hostest with the Mostest during their time in the White House with lavish dinner parties consisting of Virginian and French foods.
• Monroe--It was said that Monroe "loved" food, but not much else has been recorded.  He was partial to French cuisine from his days spent in France.
• J. Q. Adams--Simply said, the son of our 2nd president had little interest in food.
• Jackson--Andy loved foods--all types and cuisines.  Some of his favorites: spiced round of tenderloin with mini biscuits, roasted lamb with rosemary, French-style rabbit, "Old Britches" (green beans cooked with bacon), duck, goose, "Old Hickory" nut soup.
• Van Buren--Marty was known as a foodie, second only to Jefferson to this point.  He demanded a perfectly set table for his meals.  He also avoided sweets, eating fruit for desserts.
• Harrison--He was only president for about a month, so there isn't much recorded about his culinary likes and dislikes, but it was said that he did enjoy good food.  And he was also very fond of hard cider.
• Tyler--Married twice, Tyler had 14 children (7 from each marriage), so it was said that desserts were very popular in his household.  State dinners during the second half of his administration were elaborate and full of all sorts of foods.
• Polk--Plain eating was the name of the game for James K.  Ham and corn pone (a sort of skillet cornbread) were staples for him.  When he really wanted to get crazy, he went with a tomato omelet.
• Taylor--Zach was said to have been partial to the spicy and complex tastes of Creole cooking.  But he also made it known that plain food was fine, too.  As long as it was prepared well.
• Fillmore--Millard made culinary presidential history by installing the first iron cookstove in the White House (previous to this, cooking was done in a colonial era "walk-in" fireplace).  But Fillmore wasn't much of a foodie.  He preferred plain farm food--meat/potatoes/veg. 

More tomorrow--Franklin through Woodrow.