Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
A wonderfully entertaining, often suprising history of presidential taste, from the grim meals eaten by Washington 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 nation--from the coauthor of Julia Child's best-selling memoir My Life in France The American presidents have hosted some of the most significant moments in our history over meals at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. During such occasions, they've understood the value of breaking bread with both friends and foes--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 d tente 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-five of America's most influential presidents, how their meals were prepared and by whom, and what their food policies say about the presidents themselves, our nation's shifting diet, global trade, religion, war, race, gender, and much more.
Prud'homme also pulls back the curtain on overlooked figures like George Washington's enslaved chef, Hercules Posey, who narrowly escaped to freedom, or pioneering First Ladies, such as Dolley Madison and Jackie Kennedy, who used food to build political and social relationships. As he weaves these stories together, Prud'homme reveals 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
- Franklin D. Roosevelt's Reverse Martini
- and Lady Bird Johnson's Pedernales River Chili.
Synopsis
A sumptuous narrative history of presidential food--from Washington starving at Valley Forge to Trump's well-done steaks with ketchup--from the co-author of My Life in France. 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is perhaps the most important house in the world, which gives the food on the Commander-in-Chief's table unprecedented significance. What our leaders choose to eat, how the food is prepared and by whom, and the context in which these meals are served speaks volumes not only to the country, but often to the world at large. These gustatory messages touch on everything from personal taste (Jefferson's love of eggplant, FDR's terrapin stew, Nixon's daily lump of cottage cheese topped with barbecue sauce, Obama's arugula) to local politics, national priorities, global diplomacy, climate change, and war--not to mention race, gender, class, money, and religion. In The First Kitchen, Alex Prud'homme explores the fascinating stories of first families through the food they ate and served, and in doing so paints a unique picture of the institution of the presidency--and its place in American history.