Here’s what Abe Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, more presidents liked to eat
“Dinner with the President: Food, Politics and a History of Breaking Bread at the White House,” (Knopf.) “The president is both a symbol of the nation and a flesh-and-blood human being and his food choices bridge those disparate roles.”The first big White House dinner was served in 1874 when President Ulysses Grant — then the youngest commander in chief at 46 — served guest of honor King Kalakaua of Hawaii a whopping 29 courses. The dishes included trout, squab, and beef tenderloin, along with the chef’s vegetable elixir that had no equal — “a little smoother than peacock’s brains,” but not quite equal to a dish of nightingale tongues.”A state dinner requires months of planning and is viewed as an event that can help formulate future international policies of an administration.