#Diner's Journal » The Way We Ate: The Americanization of The State Dinner Comments Feed Diner's Journal Early Frustrations and Late Saves Tavern Creditors Say the City Is Hurting Their Interests Murray’s Cheese Will Open 50 Locations in Kroger Markets RSS 2.0 alternate [post&posall=TopAd,Bar1,Position1,Position1B,Top5,SponLink,MiddleRight,Box1,Box3,Box3A,Bottom3,Right5A,Right6A,Right7A,Right8A,Middle1C,Bottom7,Bottom8,Bottom9,Header1,Header2,Header3,Inv1,Inv2,CcolumnSS,Middle4,Left1B,Frame6A,Left2,Left3,Left4,Left5,Left6,Left7,Left8,Left9,JMNow1,JMNow2,JMNow3,JMNow4,JMNow5,JMNow6,Feature1,Spon3,ADX_CLIENTSIDE,SponLink2&pos=Header1&query=qstring&keywords=?] [post&posall=TopAd,Bar1,Position1,Position1B,Top5,SponLink,MiddleRight,Box1,Box3,Box3A,Bottom3,Right5A,Right6A,Right7A,Right8A,Middle1C,Bottom7,Bottom8,Bottom9,Header1,Header2,Header3,Inv1,Inv2,CcolumnSS,Middle4,Left1B,Frame6A,Left2,Left3,Left4,Left5,Left6,Left7,Left8,Left9,JMNow1,JMNow2,JMNow3,JMNow4,JMNow5,JMNow6,Feature1,Spon3,ADX_CLIENTSIDE,SponLink2&pos=Header2&query=qstring&keywords=?] [post&posall=TopAd,Bar1,Position1,Position1B,Top5,SponLink,MiddleRight,Box1,Box3,Box3A,Bottom3,Right5A,Right6A,Right7A,Right8A,Middle1C,Bottom7,Bottom8,Bottom9,Header1,Header2,Header3,Inv1,Inv2,CcolumnSS,Middle4,Left1B,Frame6A,Left2,Left3,Left4,Left5,Left6,Left7,Left8,Left9,JMNow1,JMNow2,JMNow3,JMNow4,JMNow5,JMNow6,Feature1,Spon3,ADX_CLIENTSIDE,SponLink2&pos=Header3&query=qstring&keywords=?] [post&posall=TopAd,Bar1,Position1,Position1B,Top5,SponLink,MiddleRight,Box1,Box3,Box3A,Bottom3,Right5A,Right6A,Right7A,Right8A,Middle1C,Bottom7,Bottom8,Bottom9,Header1,Header2,Header3,Inv1,Inv2,CcolumnSS,Middle4,Left1B,Frame6A,Left2,Left3,Left4,Left5,Left6,Left7,Left8,Left9,JMNow1,JMNow2,JMNow3,JMNow4,JMNow5,JMNow6,Feature1,Spon3,ADX_CLIENTSIDE,SponLink2&pos=Top5&query=qstring&keywords=?] * Home Page * Today's Paper * Video * Most Popular Edition: U.S. / Global [post&posall=TopAd,Bar1,Position1,Position1B,Top5,SponLink,MiddleRight,Box1,Box3,Box3A,Bottom3,Right5A,Right6A,Right7A,Right8A,Middle1C,Bottom7,Bottom8,Bottom9,Header1,Header2,Header3,Inv1,Inv2,CcolumnSS,Middle4,Left1B,Frame6A,Left2,Left3,Left4,Left5,Left6,Left7,Left8,Left9,JMNow1,JMNow2,JMNow3,JMNow4,JMNow5,JMNow6,Feature1,Spon3,ADX_CLIENTSIDE,SponLink2&pos=Middle1C&query=qstring&keywords=?] Search All NYTimes.com ____________________ Search New York Times Dining & Wine * World * U.S. * N.Y. / Region * Business * Technology * Science * Health * Sports * Opinion * Arts * Style + Fashion & Style + Dining & Wine + Home & Garden + Weddings/Celebrations + T Magazine * Travel * Jobs * Real Estate * Autos _________________________________________________________________ [post&posall=TopAd,Bar1,Position1,Position1B,Top5,SponLink,MiddleRight,Box1,Box3,Box3A,Bottom3,Right5A,Right6A,Right7A,Right8A,Middle1C,Bottom7,Bottom8,Bottom9,Header1,Header2,Header3,Inv1,Inv2,CcolumnSS,Middle4,Left1B,Frame6A,Left2,Left3,Left4,Left5,Left6,Left7,Left8,Left9,JMNow1,JMNow2,JMNow3,JMNow4,JMNow5,JMNow6,Feature1,Spon3,ADX_CLIENTSIDE,SponLink2&pos=TopAd&query=qstring&keywords=?] [post&posall=TopAd,Bar1,Position1,Position1B,Top5,SponLink,MiddleRight,Box1,Box3,Box3A,Bottom3,Right5A,Right6A,Right7A,Right8A,Middle1C,Bottom7,Bottom8,Bottom9,Header1,Header2,Header3,Inv1,Inv2,CcolumnSS,Middle4,Left1B,Frame6A,Left2,Left3,Left4,Left5,Left6,Left7,Left8,Left9,JMNow1,JMNow2,JMNow3,JMNow4,JMNow5,JMNow6,Feature1,Spon3,ADX_CLIENTSIDE,SponLink2&pos=PushDown&query=qstring&keywords=?] Diner's Journal - The New York Times Blog on Dining Out _________________________________________________________________ November 24, 2009, 11:38 am The Way We Ate: The Americanization of The State Dinner By MICHELE HUMES David Scull/The New York Times Joseph Chvatal, a butler at the White House, counts place settings in preparation for the state dinner for Boris Yeltsin hosted by Bill Clinton in 1994. For more than a century and a half, The New York Times has been recording the pleasures and prejudices of the American palate. “The Way We Ate” is a weekly tasting menu of vintage food writing from the Times archives, with an extra installment this week in honor of tonight’s state dinner at the White House. Woodrow Wilson loved fried chicken. Benjamin Harrison couldn’t get enough Smithfield ham. Lyndon Johnson liked chili, spoonbread and Texas barbecue, and didn’t care who knew it. Despite our presidents’ homegrown tastes, White House state dinners have almost always been distinctly French in flavor. Even the Kennedys, who made a point of serving American wines on state occasions, never thought to pair them with American cooking. Blame Thomas Jefferson. Craig Claiborne did, at any rate. In 1961, Claiborne, then the New York Times food editor, pointed a loving finger at the Francophile founding father, who introduced boeuf à la mode and veal estouffade to the White House—and set the tone, described here in an 1884 Times piece, for nearly 200 years of state dinners: An old time Virginia cook is good enough for every day, and in many respects can’t be beaten, but only a Frenchman can devise the variety and the extensive ornamentation necessary on state occasions. If a regime of Chateaubriand and Camembert was just fine by Mr. Claiborne, it didn’t sit so well with Julia Child. Eager to see the nation’s burgeoning culinary culture get its due, America’s own French Chef became the first prominent critic of Frenchified state dining. Writing for The Times in 1977, Ms. Child appealed to the incoming first lady, Rosalynn Carter, to “make White House entertaining more American.” It wouldn’t be too hard, she promised; it was really just a question of “packaging”: A quiche aux crevettes becomes an open-faced tart of Louisiana shrimp, a filet de boeuf is a prime tenderloin of Texas steer. Though her tone was lighthearted, her message was clear: Every course of a state dinner is an opportunity to showcase the nation’s edible bounty; don’t let it go to waste. Since the Carters, state dinner menus have no longer been written in French. But Child wouldn’t truly get her wish until, in a decision that seemed as much health-related as political, the famously fat-averse Clintons banished rich French sauces from the White House. Tonight, President Obama hosts his first state dinner, honoring Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Our well-established national cuisine no longer needs any particular boost from the White House, freeing the Obamas to devise a menu that is American in a more nuanced sense of the word. We don’t yet know what will be served, though there have been murmurs of curry. But we do know who will be doing the cooking: the Ethiopian-born, Swedish-raised, naturalized American, Marcus Samuelsson. The melting pot, it seems, has finally absorbed the state dinner. Restaurants, Barack Obama, Craig Claiborne, Marcus Samuelsson, state dinner, The Way We Ate, White House Related Posts From Diner's Journal * The State Dinner Menu * Marcus Samuelsson To Cook White House State Dinner? * The Way We Ate: Too Old to Tiki? * The Way We Ate: Fear of Garlic * The Way We Ate: The Year Harry Truman Passed on Pumpkin Pie _________________________________________________________________ * Previous Post Tavern Creditors Say the City Is Hurting Their Interests * Next Post Murray’s Cheese Will Open 50 Locations in Kroger Markets [post&posall=TopAd,Bar1,Position1,Position1B,Top5,SponLink,MiddleRight,Box1,Box3,Box3A,Bottom3,Right5A,Right6A,Right7A,Right8A,Middle1C,Bottom7,Bottom8,Bottom9,Header1,Header2,Header3,Inv1,Inv2,CcolumnSS,Middle4,Left1B,Frame6A,Left2,Left3,Left4,Left5,Left6,Left7,Left8,Left9,JMNow1,JMNow2,JMNow3,JMNow4,JMNow5,JMNow6,Feature1,Spon3,ADX_CLIENTSIDE,SponLink2&pos=SponLink2&query=qstring&keywords=?] [post&posall=TopAd,Bar1,Position1,Position1B,Top5,SponLink,MiddleRight,Box1,Box3,Box3A,Bottom3,Right5A,Right6A,Right7A,Right8A,Middle1C,Bottom7,Bottom8,Bottom9,Header1,Header2,Header3,Inv1,Inv2,CcolumnSS,Middle4,Left1B,Frame6A,Left2,Left3,Left4,Left5,Left6,Left7,Left8,Left9,JMNow1,JMNow2,JMNow3,JMNow4,JMNow5,JMNow6,Feature1,Spon3,ADX_CLIENTSIDE,SponLink2&pos=Position1&query=qstring&keywords=?] Search This Blog ____________________ (Submit) Search * Previous Post Tavern Creditors Say the City Is Hurting Their Interests * Next Post Murray’s Cheese Will Open 50 Locations in Kroger Markets * Follow This Blog * Facebook * Twitter * RSS [post&posall=TopAd,Bar1,Position1,Position1B,Top5,SponLink,MiddleRight,Box1,Box3,Box3A,Bottom3,Right5A,Right6A,Right7A,Right8A,Middle1C,Bottom7,Bottom8,Bottom9,Header1,Header2,Header3,Inv1,Inv2,CcolumnSS,Middle4,Left1B,Frame6A,Left2,Left3,Left4,Left5,Left6,Left7,Left8,Left9,JMNow1,JMNow2,JMNow3,JMNow4,JMNow5,JMNow6,Feature1,Spon3,ADX_CLIENTSIDE,SponLink2&pos=XXL&query=qstring&keywords=?] Inside Diner's Journal * Cooking * Restaurants * Drinking January 18, 2013 The Many Ways to Clean a Leek Leeks usually come from the market full of soil. January 11, 2013 Spices: When to Grind, When to Toast Save the whole spice grinding for special occasions. More From Cooking » January 18, 2013 Weekend Fare Food-related events around New York. January 17, 2013 Former Bookkeeper Accused of Stealing From Masa A former bookkeeper is accused of quadrupling his own salary and skimming rom the day’s receipts. More From Restaurants » January 4, 2013 Brooklyn Brewery Is on Tap for Stockholm The mystique of Brooklyn, and its beer, alight on Stockholm’s harbor. December 24, 2012 Andy Ricker to Open Whiskey Soda Lounge in Brooklyn The chef plans to open a bar just a few doors down from his Pok Pok Ny. More From Drinking » January 4, 2013 Brooklyn Brewery Is on Tap for Stockholm The mystique of Brooklyn, and its beer, alight on Stockholm’s harbor. December 24, 2012 Andy Ricker to Open Whiskey Soda Lounge in Brooklyn The chef plans to open a bar just a few doors down from his Pok Pok Ny. More From Drinking » [post&posall=TopAd,Bar1,Position1,Position1B,Top5,SponLink,MiddleRight,Box1,Box3,Box3A,Bottom3,Right5A,Right6A,Right7A,Right8A,Middle1C,Bottom7,Bottom8,Bottom9,Header1,Header2,Header3,Inv1,Inv2,CcolumnSS,Middle4,Left1B,Frame6A,Left2,Left3,Left4,Left5,Left6,Left7,Left8,Left9,JMNow1,JMNow2,JMNow3,JMNow4,JMNow5,JMNow6,Feature1,Spon3,ADX_CLIENTSIDE,SponLink2&pos=MiddleRight&query=qstring&keywords=?] About Diner's Journal Diner’s Journal embraces news and opinion about recipes, wine, restaurants and other matters culinary. Contributors include Eric Asimov, Melissa Clark, Glenn Collins, Susan Edgerley, Florence Fabricant, Patrick Farrell, Jeff Gordinier, Elaine Louie, Julia Moskin, Robert Simonson, David Tanis, Emily Weinstein, Pete Wells and others. * Visit us on Facebook » * Follow us on Twitter » * E-mail us with tips and suggestions. » * Subscribe to our feed » Diner's Journal [post&posall=TopAd,Bar1,Position1,Position1B,Top5,SponLink,MiddleRight,Box1,Box3,Box3A,Bottom3,Right5A,Right6A,Right7A,Right8A,Middle1C,Bottom7,Bottom8,Bottom9,Header1,Header2,Header3,Inv1,Inv2,CcolumnSS,Middle4,Left1B,Frame6A,Left2,Left3,Left4,Left5,Left6,Left7,Left8,Left9,JMNow1,JMNow2,JMNow3,JMNow4,JMNow5,JMNow6,Feature1,Spon3,ADX_CLIENTSIDE,SponLink2&pos=Spon3&query=qstring&keywords=?] * [spinner.gif] Loading Twitter messages... Recent Posts January 21 What We’re Reading A collection of links from the reporters and editors of the Dining section. January 18 The Many Ways to Clean a Leek Leeks usually come from the market full of soil. January 18 Weekend Fare Food-related events around New York. January 18 What We’re Reading A collection of links from the reporters and editors of the Dining section. January 17 Former Bookkeeper Accused of Stealing From Masa A former bookkeeper is accused of quadrupling his own salary and skimming rom the day's receipts. 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