posted on February 17, 2005 02:00:34 PM new
By Darlene Superville
Associated Press
Published February 17, 2005
WASHINGTON -- Avocado and heirloom tomato salad beneath a spicy, toasted cumin dressing. Tiny bay scallops, lightly caramelized, folded into a risotto and served with lobster sauce. A roasted rack of lamb. A chef who can pull this off just might have a future in the White House kitchen.
The search is on for a White House chef who can do it all, from simple munchies for the president to elaborate state dinners featuring America's best.
After nearly 11 years of cooking for two presidents, chef Walter Scheib III has left the kitchen at America's most famous house to pursue new opportunities.
The White House needs a flexible kitchen wizard capable of whipping up everything from a simple sandwich--President Bush is partial to peanut butter and jelly--to fancy menus that titillate the taste buds of the dozens who attend its glamorous receptions and state dinners, say those in the know.
Other likely ingredients for the new head cook: a thorough knowledge of American cuisine and international tastes, and a personality that can stand the pressure cooker.
"It shouldn't be someone that's pulling things out of cans," said Robert Wiedmaier, chef and owner of Marcel's, a French-Belgian restaurant near the White House.
Sara Moulton, executive chef at Gourmet magazine and host of "Sara's Secrets" on the Food Network, said the job is an "awesome responsibility" and, for the new chef, the "single most important thing is that you be completely adaptable and completely versatile."
Besides preparing mouthwatering meals, the chef should have a good personality, be good with people and budgets, and be versed in international cuisine, said Letitia Baldrige, who was social secretary in the Kennedy White House.
"It's a very complicated job and it's 24 hours a day," she said.
Edward Leonard, president of the American Culinary Federation, a professional organization for U.S. chefs, said: "Being a good cook is part of it, but without those other skills I think they would fail."
Hillary Rodham Clinton hired Scheib, a California native and graduate of the prestigious Culinary Institute of America, in April 1994 because she wanted to feature American cuisine after years of French cooking at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., ushered in by Jacqueline Kennedy.
Scheib, formerly the executive chef at the upscale Greenbrier resort in West Virginia, is known for a cooking style that emphasizes regional American and ethnic tastes.
"Walter made it decidedly American," said Tim Ryan, president of the culinary institute, of White House cuisine under Scheib. "He delivered an excellent level of quality."
Scheib, who did not return a telephone message seeking comment left at his Virginia home, has spoken publicly of the difficulty he had trying to satisfy the tastes of First Lady Laura Bush.
Scheib said this month that he was fired. "We have been trying to find a way to satisfy the first lady's stylistic requirements," he said, "and it has been difficult. Basically I was not successful in my attempt."
White House chief usher Gary Walters is leading the search for someone to fill Scheib's toque.
"The White House is being lobbied as it's never been lobbied before on any bill," Baldrige said.
While being executive chef at the White House has its share of prestige, the job also carries a fair amount of drudgery. A steady stream of guests, up to 2,000 per month, are fed there, and Laura Bush has signaled her intent to do more entertaining than in the first term.
Whoever ends up doing the cooking should be thankful. During President Ulysses Grant's administration, dinners consisted of a whopping 29 courses, according to a book on White House entertaining by Clinton. The number of courses was pared to four by Kennedy--and remains.
Absolute faith has been shown, consistently, to breed intolerance. And intolerance, history teaches us, again and again, begets violence.
---------------------------------- Bush will fix Social Security just like he has fixed Osama Bin Laden and Iraq. Bush can't be trusted to run this country and you want to trust him with your retirement?
posted on February 17, 2005 04:57:41 PM new
It's probably a 24/7 job. Who want's that. I have done that and never again. Pay was good but tough when you need sleep.
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[ edited by Libra63 on Feb 17, 2005 07:29 PM ]
posted on February 17, 2005 07:43:13 PM new
Scheib probably couldn't get the chili dogs and biscuits and gravy down the way Laura liked them, never mind the lime jello ring....
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Dick Cheney: "I have not suggested there's a connection between Iraq and 9/11..."
posted on February 22, 2005 12:10:49 AM new
libra says, "It's probably a 24/7 job. Who want's that. I have done that and never again. Pay was good but tough when you need sleep"
She says she's done it but said it was impossible for Mary Mornin ?????
