Presidential inaugurations are occasions for excess-in political rhetoric, display of finery, late-night partying and, especially, the conspicuous consumption of food.
As his ever-expanding silhouette amply evidenced during the campaign, President-elect Bill Clinton is no stranger to this substance. Judging by the groaning boards being laid out all over the capital, his inaugural festivities may set records for gustatory excess.
To paraphrase John F. Kennedy’s famous remark about so much brilliance not being gathered in the White House since Thomas Jefferson dined there alone, it might be said that so much food hasn’t been assembled in Washington since 350-pound President William Howard Taft dined here alone.
The Ritz-Carlton Hotel, which once catered to Nancy Reagan’s “can’t be too rich, can’t be too thin” dainty culinary tastes, now is shifting into a Taft/Clinton “‘nother helpin’ ” mode. To tide its guests over inaugural week, the hotel has stocked kitchen shelves with 3,500 pounds of crabmeat, 2,000 pounds of Norwegian salmon, 500 pounds of Dover sole, 200 pounds of Beluga caviar, 240 racks of lamb, 450 dozen eggs, 4,000 dinner rolls, 600 pints of rasberries, 400 cases of beer, 7,000 bottles of wine, 4,000 bottles of champagne, 400 bottles of Cognac and 20 pounds of black truffles from Paris.
The venerable Willard Hotel, which is around the corner from the White House and which has been host to every president since Zachary Taylor, is putting out feasts with a historic theme. The Willard’s inaugural week menu includes the favorite dishes of several food-loving past presidents:
– Black bean soup-Teddy Roosevelt.
– Baked scalloped Chesapeake oysters-Rutherford B. Hayes.
– Whole (you bet) Maine lobster Newburg with lobster coral sauce-William Howard Taft.
– Cornish game hen a’ l’estragon-John F. Kennedy.
– Steamed Norwegian salmon fillet with egg sauce garnished with poached quail eggs-Franklin D. Roosevelt.
– Braised venison medallions with sour cream buttered noodles and cranberry chutney-John Adams.
– Traditional Ozark pudding-Harry Truman.
– Virginia green apple pie with hot rum sauce-Abraham Lincoln.
Adams also liked a creamy custard called Floating Island, and Lincoln was fond, too, of scalloped oysters with sherry and Worcestershire sauce. As is perhaps not too surprising, Calvin Coolidge really liked spinach.
The bars in the ANA Westin Hotel will be serving, with black and white cat swizzle sticks, a new drink called the Knock Your Socks Off. It comes in an alcoholic version (Frangelico, Grand Marnier, half-and-half and white creme de cacao) and a non-alcoholic version (yogurt, pineapple juice and Coco Lopez coconut cream).
Grand and pricey hotel dining rooms and lounges will not be the only calorie purveyors during Inaugural Week. Those visiting the “Reunion on the Mall” extravaganza Sunday and Monday for the general public will find a number of concessions offering cuisine from around the nation that have found favor with the Clinton/Gore team during the campaign.
Among the eateries represented will be Doe’s Eat Place of Little Rock, Ark., featuring tamales; Danny Toups’ of New Orleans, cajun shrimp “po boy” and catfish “po boy”; Seriously Delicious of Cheverly, Md., spicy vegetarian and “natural” foods; Jack’s Fire House of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania chicken pot pie and sticky buns; the United Indians of America, food suppliers of Manassas, Va., buffalo burgers, fry bread and Indian tacos; La Fonda of Washington, D.C., Mexican and Spanish cooking; and Saz’s Statehouse of Milwaukee, bratwurst, cheese curds and mozzarella marinara.
Clinton may well request that these concessions be kept open at least through the inaugural parade.
Arkansas, of course, had never been considered a gastronomic mecca before Clinton’s election, but once the returns were in, it instantly, if perhaps temporarily, was elevated to equal status with New Orleans and San Francisco-if not Paris.
Thus you now will find restaurants all over Washington putting some sort of catfish dish on their menus.
For Inauguration Day, Wednesday, Pies on the Run of Falls Church, Va., is making up special Politically Correct Luncheon takeout box lunches-in recycled paper containers, of course. They will be packed with “hearty Arkansas Brunswick stew pie, Gore’s greens and Hillary Clinton-style chocolate chip cookies.”
Noting the sudden haste with which Do-they-want-me-to-stay-home-and-bake-cookies? Hillary Clinton developed her interest in cookie preparation, some Republicans might suggest that “Clinton-style” chocolate chips are exactly the same as you’d find in packages with the words “Chips Ahoy” on them-but politics shouldn’t get in the way of good eating.
Washington hostesses have cast an eye toward Little Rock for their entertaining too. Wide currency has been given to news clippings of what longtime Arkansas governor’s mansion chef Liza Ashley has cited as the President-elect’s favorite dishes: enchiladas with canned chilies and tomatoes, lemon chess pie, fruit salad with poppy seed dressing and beef tenders marinated in bottled Italian salad dressing.
If the hostesses really want to woo Clinton to their tables, however, they’d best stock up on some burgers, fries and Cokes from McDonald’s (which, incidentally, is what King Hussein of Jordan likes to order up when he stays at the Willard).
Health food enthusiasts have called upon the symbol-sensitive incoming administration to set an example for the nation by putting organically grown vegetables and other nutritious items on the White House menu, but they probably would have found a more kindred culinary soul in Calvin Coolidge.
Will Clinton’s eating habits be taken up by the nation? History gives a mixed report.
If George Bush’s aversion to broccoli marked a trend, it was hardly a new one, and you didn’t see fried pork rinds turning up on Embassy Row canape trays, either.
When asked her favorite recipe, Nancy Reagan first produced one for an expensive crabmeat casserole, then, after being accused of being elitist, changed it to one for macaroni and cheese (which her husband loved to eat while watching TV). But neither became national crazes, nor did his beloved jelly beans.
However, the Cobb salad now ubiquitous on Washington menus was a direct Reagan import. When Reagan friend and Atty. Gen. William French Smith moved into the capital’s Jefferson Hotel and was told it didn’t have Cobb salad, the management was told: “If you want Californians to come here, you’re going to have to serve California food.”
Jimmy Carter’s taste for grits and jug wine wasn’t taken up by the nation, however. His chief contribution to Washington dining-Republicans have called it his only real accomplishment as president-was to force the closing of the frilly, expense-account, slow-food joint Sans Souci by forbidding his staff to eat there.
Probably the least emulated presidential eating habits were those of Andrew Jackson and his protege, James K. Polk. Both suffered terribly from dysentery, among other digestive ailments-Polk died of it three months after leaving office. Both presidents confined themselves mostly to bland, boiled rice when at the White House table.
Both had grown up on the Carolina frontier, and their ailments derived in part from eating the routine breakfast, lunch and dinner fare of roast meat, rough corn bread and whiskey.
Not even Bill Clinton eats that unhealthily.
