US presidents and comfort food
It is hard to outdo the “sushi diplomacy” rolled out for Barack Obama when he was in Tokyo last week. By this time Obama must be so used to the routine of state dinners (with sparkling crystal, fine china and heavy silverware) that the elaborate dinner held in Malacañang would not be memorable except for the coconut-lychee ice cream served in a “coconut shell” fashioned from dark chocolate.
All these fancy dinners will fade from memory except for a few, like Obama’s first dinner with Elizabeth II, where, during the toast, he missed a cue and kept speaking while “God Save the Queen” (the national anthem of the United Kingdom) played in the background and led to a very embarrassing moment he can only laugh about years after he leaves the White House. I wouldn’t be surprised if, when he writes his memoirs, he will make reference to the dinner in Tokyo at the only sushi bar in the universe with three Michelin stars.
The trappings of office make leaders stand out. In the case of Obama, arriving at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport on Air Force One, then using Marine One and then his custom-made armored limousine is truly impressive. When leaders step down from office, they become ordinary, they become human again in our eyes.
Some people still frown on my fascination for the dishes our heroes ate, but these are what remind those who forget that heroes and great men are human, too. Surfing the Internet for state dinner menus, I was rewarded with a fascinating list compiled by Sarah Marshall (https://www.theawl. com/2012/06/all-the-presidents-menus) of the everyday food that gave comfort to US presidents from Washington to Obama.
There were many unfamiliar names on the list, so I focused on presidents whose mug shots are on US bank notes:
• George Washington (USD1) liked: “Madeira wine, hazelnuts, sliced tongue and toast for breakfast, hoe cakes, rice waffles, macaroons, gingerbread, cream trifle, lettuce tart, mutton, assorted wild game, and beer.”
• Thomas Jefferson (USD2) liked: “Waffles, macaroni, parmesan, figs, ragout, soufflés, and anchovies (all of which he developed a taste for during his travels in Europe), pineapple, turnip greens, Virginia ham, crab, shad, oysters, partridge, venison, and Madeira wine.”
• Abraham Lincoln (USD5) liked: “Apples, coffee, bacon, milk, johnnycakes, honey, and chicken. Mary Lincoln set a table at the White House, which included such food as aspic of tongue, pâté 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.”
• Andrew Jackson (USD20) liked: “Tenderloin with jezebel sauce (not to be confused with the teleserye Mermaid!), corn cakes, lamb chops and leg of lamb chops with rosemary, hoppin’ John, rabbits, oysters, wild duck and goose, fried ham, fried apple pie, leather britches, ‘Old Hickory’ nut soup, Daniel Webster’s punch, and French wines.”
• Ulysses S. Grant (USD50) liked: “For breakfast, Spanish mackerel, steak, bacon, fried apples, flannel cakes, and strong coffee. For lunch and dinner, roast beef, wheat bread (which he liked to roll into balls and shoot at his children, pretending they were ammunition), hominy, and rice pudding, which he preferred to all other desserts.”
I was also curious about two men who lived in Manila before they occupied the White House. The first was William Howard Taft, who is best remembered for being the heaviest of all US presidents. “For breakfast he ate grapefruit, partridge (both potted and grilled), venison, waffles, hominy, rolls, and bacon (at least once in the same meal) as well as steak, oranges, and tremendous amounts of coffee throughout the day; smelts, lamb chops, salted almonds, deviled almonds, lobster stew, lobster a la Newburg, salmon cutlets, tenderloin, cold tongue and ham, terrapin soup, Billi Bi, salads (especially peach), baked possum, and persimmon beer.”
The second was Dwight D. Eisenhower, who liked: “Roast stuffed breast of veal, beef stew, oxtail soup, chicken noodle soup, rare steak, quail hash, trout, corn pudding, string beans, succotash, fluffy turnips, and prune whip.”
Modern US presidents have kitchen staff that can prepare everything from the most complicated dishes to food they remember from home or their childhood. Being president of the United States means you can probably order anything from the White House kitchen, and the staff can make it happen. Obama is said to be partial to “nachos and guacamole, chili, burgers, Green Dragon and Black Forest Berry Honest Tea, Planter’s trail mix, pistachios, almonds, water, Dentyne Ice, Nicorette, MET-Rx protein bars, apples, broccoli, and spinach.”
All these made me remember Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin’s 1825 book “The Physiology of Taste,” where he said: “Tell me what you eat and I shall tell you what you are.” Knowing what the US presidents ate can provide an insight into why they were the way they were. Surely, Manolo Quezon and his happy gnomes in the Malacañang Communications Office can compile a list of comfort food of Philippine presidents from Aguinaldo to Aquino. It can be another window to peek into yet another area in Philippine political history.
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