Like Water for Choclate uses Magical Realism to capture the transformative qualities of everyday food and drink into something more. Also consider reading (and enjoying) Joanne Harris' amazing Chocolat.
So here’s the creative menu developed by the White House’s talented Executive Chef Cris Comerford, who deftly blended the cuisine of these two countries together - nations that have long been allies and friends during the best and the worst of times:
First Course:Crisped halibut with potato crust, served on a bed of braised baby kale from the White House garden. Shaved Brussels sprouts, Applewood smoked bacon
Salad Course:Spring garden lettuces with shallot dressing and shaved radish, cucumbers and avocados
Main Course:Bison Wellington, pairing the pastry case created for the British soldier and statesman, the Duke of Wellington with American buffalo tenderloin from North Dakota, instead of beef. Red wine reduction, French beans, cipollini onion
Dessert:Steamed lemon puddingwith IdahoHuckleberry Sauce and Newtown Pippin apples
And the setting couldn’t have been better – a beautiful spring evening in a tent under the sparkling stars on the White House's South Lawn. Well done and bravo!
Your Culinary World copyright Ana Kinkaid/Peter Schlagel 2012
Currently the American Republican Party is embroiled(pardon the pun) is a cauldron of issues that seem better suited to a Mad Men script set in the 1960s then a critical election of the modern era.
Most recently the Republican spokesperson Rush Limbaugh, who now claims he’s only an entertainer, has decided to defame a law student from Georgetown University (more about 'George' in just a moment) who spoke up for women’s health issues before the American Congress.
Instead of honoring the courage of Sandra Fluke, Limbaugh decided to slander this individual with such vile sexual language and imagery, it simply isn’t worth repeating here.
Starting with the President down to the average person on the street the response has been shock and outrage to such a vilification and a growing demand for an authentic apologyfrom this nationally popular radio commentator.
Limbaugh in short, who claims to speak for liberty and freedom, does not.
One has only to remember the standards by which George Washington himself lived – it’s no small irony that Ms. Fluke attends a University whose name has come to be identified with America’s first president and who risk his own life and fortune to defend the young nation and its laws.
No book better highlights the high standards of civility, that Limbaugh has chosen to discard, than in the new book Dining with the Washingtons. Far more than a mere recipe book, this outstanding text edited by Stephen A. McLeod, lays forth for readers the feast of courtesy that George Washington and the first First Lady offered to all.
Those who dined at Washington’s Mount Vernoncountry estate represented the best and the brightest of their era– no matter their nation, political belief or sex.
French gentlemen dined with rebel soldiers and ladies spoke freely to the country’s leaders on matters of concern to the nation.
Diversity was accepted and encouraged – both in cuisine and conversation. And though the sad question of slavery was still to be resolved, Washington was proud of the talents of the nation’s first celebrity chef, Hercules.
Dining with the Washingtons is a must-have visual treasure and historical guide for any true culinary professional or informed reader.
It is a return, in these turbulent times, to a gentler and perhaps wiser age when civility’s value was better understood as a necessity and not a mere social frill.
Every action done in company ought to be with some sign of respect to those that are present.
Use no reproachful language against any one; neither curse nor revile.
Let your conversation be without malice or envy.
Mock not nor jest at anything of importance.
Speak not evil of the absent, for it is unjust.
Those of us who are lucky enough to be in the hospitality industry understand these principles by heart. Indeed, our very industry is named after the concept of graciousness – a graciousness that turns no one away, a philosophy that welcomes all, just as the first President of America did to his hilltop home.
In these difficult times, our hotels and restaurants should echo that understanding - that democracy is a feast that welcomes all and excludes none.
The dishes served at that feast of freedom may differ, given the history and heritage of each nation, but that fact should never alter the right of all to join in the feast to which each human is inalienably invited.
One can only hope that persons such a Rush Llimbaugh pause and consider the bitter fare of their words before they sour and soil their own souls.
There is a better wiser feast to serve, one Washington knew well – one of fellowship, respect and cooperation. The future is before us – let us never dine on or serve to others dishes created from past hates or future fears.
Your Culinary World copyright Ana Kinkaid/Peter Schlagel 2012
In a strange twist of fate, this year’s holiday model of the White House crafted from gingerbread and white chocolate, echoes the reality of the U.S. President Obama. As of today, the President is there alone in the beautifully decorated White House (except for the family dog Bo) waiting for conservative members of the House of Representative to address the much desired payroll tax cut.
Perhaps the beauty of this year’s amazing gingerbread White House, created by the Executive Pastry Chef Bill Yosses with the thoughtful guidance of First Lady Michelle Obama, will offer him some additional holiday cheer.
Working from the original architectural drawing for the White House, Chef Yosses has created yet another stunning holiday masterpiece – this time weighing over 400 pounds!
Gingerbread house construction bgean in late September when sheets of gingerbread were baked using the traditional gingerbread recipe long used by the White House kitchen (see recipe below). This allowed ample time for the gingerbread sheets to harden before they were cut into wall and floor panels ready for assembling.
With Assistant Pastry Chef Susie Morrisonacting as a supervising construction contractor in the famed China Room, where the various presidential china collections are displayed, the model began to take form. When finally completed this year’s culinary wonder was displayed on a marble-topped console table in the State Dining Room.
At the suggestion of First Lady Michelle Obama, the 2011 replica included chocolate models of the White House culinary garden complete with beehives and sheltered vegetables rows.
Their thoughtful display was a wonderful way to say yet once again that healthy eating should be something all American shoould focus on each and enjoy every day.
Made with ample royal icing, his addition to the scene surely brought a smile to the over 85,000 pre-Christmas Day White House visitors. Now that’s a full house any hotel would envy!
Yet come Christmas Day, it’s currently unclear if the President of the United States will be joining his wife and daughters in Hawaii as he waits in Washington DC for the conservative Republicans of the House to address the nation’s urgent needs.
Perhaps those hesitant members of the House should remember what every great chef knows by heart and something so clearly declared to Scrooge by the ghost of his deceased business partner in Charles Dickens' memorable morality story, A Christmas Carol:
We in the hospitality industry craft, not with laws and legistation, but in sugar and with cuisine and service, but these are only a means of expression.
The true meaning of our profession hinges on the quality of our choices, the depth of values that we choose to express though our everyday actions. That said, may we all, like the newly enlightened Scrooge, keep that spirit of compassion within our hearts all year long as we serve and create!
Happy Holidays!
White House Holiday Gingerbread Cookies with Royal Icing
Ingredients for the Cookies
8 oz (2 sticks) butter, soft 2 cups dark brown sugar 2 eggs, large 1 cup molasses 7 cups All Purpose flour ¼ tsp ginger ground ¼ tsp cinnamon, ground 1 tsp baking soda ¼ tsp baking powder 1/4 tsp salt Lemon zest from 1 lemon Orange zest from 1 orange
Method 1. Cream butter and sugar in an electric mixer for a minimum 5 minutes. 2. Add eggs one by one, then molasses. 3. Put mixer on slow, sift spices, salt, baking powder and baking soda with flour then add these dry ingredients in three increments and scrape bowl each time. 4. Add zests and mix until incorporated, but do not over mix. 5. Remove dough from bowl and place on plastic wrap and spread to 1" thickness over wrap and cover with another sheet of plastic wrap. Refrigerate overnight. 6. Remove dough from refrigerator and roll out a small piece on a floured surface. This dough is very wet, so add flour when necessary to prevent sticking and turn over often. 7. Roll out to 1/8 to ¼ inch thickness for cookies. Cut out Gingerbread shapes. 8. Bake for 12 minutes at 350°F for cookies; 25 minutes or more for ornaments or gingerbread houses. 9. Decorate with Royal Icing
Royal Icing
Ingredients 2 cups Confectioner's sugar, sifted 1 egg white 1 tsp lemon juice
Method Mix with paddle attachment on electric blender (or by hand) for 5 minutes. If icing is too thick, add more lemon juice or a little egg white to desired consistency.
Post Note, 12/23/2011: Perhaps the conservative Republicans of the U.S. House of Representatives have heard the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future as they have finallyagreed to pass the expension of the payroll tax cut.
With additional dollars to spend millions of people will enjoy the Holidays much more in warmer homes and many welcoming restaurants. And so perhaps now we can all return to the true meaning of these final winter days, expressed so well in the closing words of Dickens' belovedA Christmas Carol.
Your Culinary World copyright Ana Kinkaid/Peter Schlagel 2011
It only takes a look at the photographs that captured their evening out at the Restaurant Eve in Alexandria, Virginia to see that this is a couple dedicated to each other.
That mutual commitment is mirrored by the restaurant's owner Chef Cathal Armstrong and his beautiful wife and professional partner Meshelle, both hailing from Ireland. Their esteemed 50 seat restaurant is named after their first child, Eve.
Chef Armstrong trained in France but has always maintained his commitment to source and quality that reaches back to his Irish childhood.
With multiple stars awarded for excellent as well as a deep loyalty to sustainability, Chef Armstrong’s Restaurant Eve was a perfect choice for the First Couple who have provided to the nation an active role model for healthy eating.
Yet as every professional in our industry knows, style, elegance and stars-awarded don’t just happen, just as great marriages don’t just happen.
It takes work, commitment, dedication and skill. When it’s done well, it only looks easy – a lovely picture, a dinner served with grace and charm.
Perhaps there is no more perfect example of the ease of expert expression than the new Air France ad airing global. The dancers are subtle and graceful, gently hinting at a mystery only revealed at the end, yet always capturing the elegant essence of the Air France experience.
But before the dance (or dinner) comes the endless and very necessary preparation. In an amazing double release, Air France has also documented the efforts involved in the “staging” of the magic.
And while many of the televised foods shows have opened a window for consumers to glimpse the working wonder of a professional kitchen, it is only a brief image of the steam and strain.
What is not captured are the years of training prior to mastery, the untiring eye seeking perfection, the effort to discover the ever new while never forgetting the richness of the past.
Like any great marriage, it requires that one focus every day on the values expressed through medium of everyday life. It requires caring; it requires simply truly Loving what we do and deeply respecting all those we share our day with.
Your Culinary World copyright Ana Kinkaid/Peter Schlagel 2011
It’s a modified line from the filmFinding Nemo, but it's true. There is growing global concern among chefs over “finning”, which is the illegal practice of cutting off a shark’s fins and discarding the remaining mutilated body into the sea. The practice has been banned for United States fishermen since 2000.
Now President Obama, in support of this concern, has signed the additionalShark Conservation Act into law, significantly strengthening shark conservation both nationally and internationally.
The new law allowing sanctions to be imposed on nations that have not implemented shark fishing regulations consistent with those placed on U.S. maritime industry.
Despite their fearsome appearance, more individuals are injured by lighting worldwide than by shark attacks. Sharks have held a valued place in the sea’s environment chain for millions of year. Destroying them just for a body part is both wasteful and irresponsible.
If you are wondering how to draw your staff’s attention to this concern, an insightful product fromAir Swimmers can help you make an impression.
Their life-size inflatable shark is guided by remote control and literally swims through the air. It is amazing and truly unforgettable.
Your Culinary World copyright Ana Kinkaid/Peter Schlagel 2011
Thursday, March 15, 2012 at 3:49PM 
Salad Course: Spring garden lettuces with shallot dressing and shaved radish, cucumbers and avocados
