There currently is no official chef at the White House. Cristeta Comerford, the first woman and person of color to occupy that position, served from 2005 until she retired in 2024. Chef Permsin Kurpradit then became interim chef, but has yet to be formally appointed. Since President Trump’s dietary preferences are well known, it’s not surprising that appointing a new chef, whose specialties include dishes besides hamburgers and fries, is low on his list of priorities. Unlike the Obamas and the Bidens, Trump rarely dines outside the White House. During his first term his go-to place was BLT Prime by David Burke in the Trump International Hotel, where he chowed down on well done meat. (Think cinders.) The hotel is now a Marriott and no longer a MAGA gathering place.
Fortunately, previous presidents upheld the White House tradition of serving incredible meals at State Dinners to luminaries from the U.S. and around the world. Many of the chefs who occupied the executive kitchen were Asian. The White House Historical Association has gathered many of these recipes into a stunning new book, Cooking to the President’s Taste – Asian Heritage Chefs in White House History by Adrian Miller and Deborah Chang. Besides reviewing the rich history of White House dinners, this lavish book includes profiles of many of the chefs, from President Coolidge’s Ah Loy to the more recent, Comerford. For all of these talented chefs, preparing food for the American president was the highest honor, one they took seriously.
Miller and Chang are the perfect duo to author this fascinating book.
Adrian Miller (Photo Credit: Ryan Fila)
Miller, a food writer and attorney, has penned many food books, including The President’s Kitchen Cabinet: The Story of the African Americans Who Have Fed Our First Families. He received his A.B. in International Relations from Stanford University in 1991, and a J.D. from the Georgetown University Law Center in 1995. From 1999 to 2001, Adrian served as a special assistant to President Bill Clinton with his Initiative for One America and went on to serve as a senior policy analyst for Colorado Governor Bill Ritter Jr.
Deborah Chang (Photo courtesy of Deborah Chang)
Chang is a graduate of Stanford University and the Michigan Law School. After graduating from the Napa Valley Culinary School, she cooked at numerous Bay Area restaurants. She created award winning recipes for Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt and the National Peanut Board. Besides her interest in food, her career has included being an attorney, a tech executive, and most recently a career counselor.
Want to recreate some of the dishes once served at the White House? Cooking to the President’s Taste gathers together many Asian-inspired dishes that will help any home cook increase their repertoire. There are recipes for starters: like egg rolls, shrimp a la Mayflower, corn fritters, and creamed cauliflower; entrees, filet mignon (President Harding’s favorite), President Coolidge’s rice and curry, barbecue saddle of lamb, and tri color pepper steak; and for dessert, almond cookies, strawberry shortcake (USS Mayflower style), President Coolidge’s jelly roll, and chocolate cream pie.
A welcome addition are recipes from visiting chefs. Edward Lee, for example, created Maryland crab cakes for the State Dinner for Korea, while Anita Lois treated guests to butter-poached lobster at the State Dinner for China.
Cooking to the President’s Taste is more than a coffee table book, although the photographs certainly merit that description. This is a book for presidential historians and those who like to cook. You may not make it to a White House dinner, but you can dine like you are there.
Cooking to the President’s Taste – Asian Heritage Chefs in White House History
Adrian Miller and Deborah Chang
