In the kitchen, we wonder about the eating habits of the new American president.
Apparently Mitterrand loved truffles and nun's farts. Barack Obama is said to be crazy about cheeseburgers and turkey chili. Grilled cheese sandwiches were popular with George W Bush. As for Bill Clinton, he swore by chicken enchiladas. For his part, we owe it to Thomas Jefferson to have waffles imported from France. And Donald Trump? Reading his volleys of tweets, we can easily imagine him as a compulsive glutton.
After the transfer of power, the White House kitchen staff (including chef Cristeta Comerford and pastry chef Susie Morrison) are wondering what sauce they will be eating and are cooking without any specific instructions for the time being. While waiting to learn more about the presidential taste buds, the New York Times is speculating and asking: can Donald Trump be a "culinary example for the nation"? It is reasonable to doubt it. And if the President prefers to relocate his guests to his Mar-a-Lago palace in Florida, the first official meal given at the White House nevertheless took place last Sunday: it was the Governors Ball, where salmon and steak were served, a consensual choice.
The President gorges like a true redneck: throughout his campaign, he posed in the cool air with pots of KFC and fried chicken drumsticks and extolled the taste and health benefits of fast food like McDonald's and Wendy's. His favorite dish is said to be the fortifying meatloaf and he has, according to his staff, a certain appetite for charred steak. We are still looking for consistency in these practices since Trump is also said to be watching his figure, drinking Diet Coke and scraping the toppings off his pizzas without nibbling the dough.
According to a gendered division of roles, the food side of the White House is traditionally delegated to the First Lady. Melania Trump, who is expected to arrive in Washington next summer, has not yet spoken on the subject. "Usually, the food suffers when the First Lady is not interested in it," worries a culinary essayist interviewed by the New York Times, recalling that in Eleanor Roosevelt's time, meals were so bad that guests often ate before going to the White House.
Through the Affordable Care Act and the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act, the Obama administration has contributed to improving the diet of its fellow citizens. Another legacy of Michelle Obama: the vegetable garden of the White House, with a surface area of 8500 square meters, which produces 1000 kilos of food per year (its production, in addition to being consumed, is now part of diplomatic gifts, along with honey or sachets of chamomile). Melania Trump has already made it known that she wants to keep it.
For his part, Donald Trump has chosen as Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue, a veteran of the agri-food industry who supports GMOs and pesticides: if we do not doubt the quality of the desserts served at the White House, we can decently worry about the future food policy of the country.
