Synopsis "Presidential Flavors: An Anecdotal History of White House Entertaining 1800-1953"
An overview of food and entertaining in the White House, 1800-1953. Authored by Patricia B. Mitchell. Edited by Sarah E. Mitchell. Foreword by former White House chef Martin C.J. Mongiello. Published 2015. 60 recipes, 419 research notes, 237 + xii pages, including index. 6 x 9 inches, soft cover. ISBN-13: 978-1508953357. The President's dining habits have always been of interest to the public. What does the Commander-in-Chief like to eat? Are he and his wife extravagant in their tastes and expenditures, or modest? How does the First Family entertain? The purpose of this book is to tell a little about the history of the White House and its culinary department, and to shed some light on the dietary preferences and quirks of some of the Presidents and their families. Smile-producing stories, presidential food preferences, and evocative descriptions make Presidential Flavors a pleasure to read. Quotations add to the charm of the book. For example, the remark, "Why, I never get tired of having a good time" shows the attitude that enabled Lucy Hayes to adapt well to the social obligations which she was expected to carry out.By the mid-point of the nineteenth century, pretty Victorian foods and table settings were in vogue, and the White House tended to exhibit current trends. A bouquet at the place setting of each White House state dinner guest during the Pierce administration gave a hint of all that Victorian hospitality entailed. The bouquets " . . . were stiff and formal things, as big [a]round as a breakfast plate, and invariably composed of a half-dozen wired japonicas [small camellias] ornamented with a pretentious cape of marvellously wrought lace-paper."Traditional food storage and preparation techniques gave way to new ideas inspired by technology. Seasonings, manner of presentation and service, and menu complexity were changing. Grandness and grandeur were de rigueur at formal dinners. The "humanness" of President Cleveland is revealed in a dialogue involving his instructions to exchange his fancy dinner for the servants' bill of fare. (He wasn't trying to be noble - he preferred what they were having.)The dynamic personality of Theodore Roosevelt aptly foreshadowed the thrilling and tumultuous century ushered in by his administration. Technology was changing the way Americans cooked and the way war was waged. Electricity in the kitchen and aeroplanes in the sky - progress was accelerating at a startling speed. The American homemaker was offered labor- and time-saving appliances and equipment to ease her workload. Perhaps she could devote less of her life to housework. Maybe she could even work outside the home if the need or desire arose. What changes the 20th century held!The copious endnotes in Presidential Flavors are useful to scholars and anyone interested in additional worthwhile reading and research.This book is compiled and adapted from That Palace in Washington: An Anecdotal History of White House Entertaining 1800-1850 and Delicacies in Proportion: An Anecdotal History of White House Entertaining 1850-1901, copyright (c) 2004 by Patricia B. Mitchell; and Plain Food & High Thinking: An Anecdotal History of White House Entertaining 1901-1953, copyright (c) 2005 by Patricia B. Mitchell.
