HUNGRY GERALD

Yes, HG is very much in favor of the new stress on local farm-to-table eating. Alice Waters started the trend at her immensely influential California restaurant, Chez Panisse. Marc Meyer, HG/BSK’s favorite chef, is a leading advocate of this philosophy at the four New York restaurants he owns with wife/partner Victoria Freeman (HG’s talented daughter) : Cookshop, Rosie’s, Vic’s and Hundred Acres. However, when dining at home, HG/BSK bend the locavore rules A LOT and certainly do utilize imports. Last night’s meal mixed local and imported foods and was outstanding. Started with a platter of tomatoes and basil (both from BSK’s New Mexico garden) plus mozzarella (An import, sadly, Not to be compared to the fresh made daily cheese HG would purchase at Belgiovine’s Grocery in Montclair, N.J.). Main dish was lamb chops (Featured at Trader Joe’s, they are a New Zealand import. Superb. Comparable to the chops HG/BSK would savor at the long closed Coach House Restaurant in New York’s Greenwich Village). Accompaniments were fingerling potatoes (local) and a big surprise, haricot verts imported from Guatemala. BSK steamed them and then gave them a quick sauté in Sicilian olive oil with a melange of herbs from BSK’s garden. These were the best haricot certs HG ever tasted, far superior to Paris’s best. (go figure). HG mixed a bowl of Fage Greek Yogurt (Despite the name, it’s made in the United States) with garlic, olive oil, sumac cumin, zaatar, smoked black pepper. All of these imported spices gave the yogurt a Middle Eastern flavor that enhanced the tastes of lamb and potatoes. Before the meal, HG drank Polish vodka. With the meal there was Spanish Garnacha red wine. International and local dining at its best.

There has never been an in-depth culinary history of the American Presidency. HG thinks this would be a worthy task for a historian. It might provide a variety of cultural insights and make good reading. A food obsessive like HG would like to know what was served at state dinners and what Presidential families ate in the White House dining room. Did Calvin Coolidge spoon up New England clam chowder? Did Herbert Hoover and Richard Nixon (both California guys) predate Alice Waters with Golden State cuisine? What did George Washington chomp on with his wooden teeth? It turns out that Thomas Jefferson was a pasta fiend (importing both dried varieties and a pasta machine) who served Marcaroni with Parmesan cheese to his guests, but did this Italian bent extend to wines? No, it was French all the way (influenced by his residence in Paris). He was a regular importer of excellent vintages.Sure, LBJ and Bush Senior and Junior stressed their love for Texas barbecue but was this just politicking? We know that FDR and Eleanor served lousy food. We know Nixon liked cottage cheese with a splash of ketchup. We know Bill Clinton liked down home, good old boy food when he was on the road but what did he, Hillary and Chelsea nosh on in Washington? Was JFK and Jackie’s cuisine really that good or was it just fancy French? Michelle, with her emphasis on health, seems to have undermined the opportunity for Obama food pioneering. HG was hoping for some Chicago style soul food in the White House but this has been overwhelmed by kale and broccoli.