Consider This from NPR - Cooking for the most powerful person in the world

Episode Date: September 10, 2024

There's an old line: "Tell me what you eat and I'll tell you who you are?" Well if it's true, then Cristeta Comerford knows the last five Presidents better than almost anyone.She just retired after nearly 30 years as White House chef. Comerford cooked for Presidents from Clinton to Biden...making everything from family snacks to state dinners.She is the first woman and the first person of color to hold the serve in that job.She reflects on her groundbreaking role, and what she's learned from cooking for some of the most powerful people in the world.For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.Email us at [e-mail] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

When the President of the Philippines visited Washington, D.C. in May of 2003, the White House went all out. A formal arrival ceremony, a joint news conference between the two leaders, and a state dinner. That's President George W. Bush welcoming Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to the formal evening affair. Please join me in a toast to the enduring friendship between the Philippines and the United States. About 130 guests gathered in the White House State Dining Room, where they had gazpacho with seafood and lamb over polenta. That menu is notable 20 years later, because it was the first time Christetta Comerford planned a White House State Dinner.

Normally, I give this little talk, but today, Chris Comerford, my assistant chef, who was a native-born Filipino, but is now an American citizen, has a rare opportunity to do a dinner for both of her presidents, if you will. So she's going to review the menu with you now. That was executive chef Walter Scheib, who introduced Comerford to the press earlier in the day. Can you talk about what it's like to cook for, like, Chef Scheib said, the two presidents? It's very overwhelming. It's really, it's God sent.

I mean, it's, I mean, how many people are really, you know, chosen, they're called to serve and to cook for. I mean, basically the number one person in the world, so. Comerford was promoted to executive chef two years later. And by the time she retired from the White House this year, she had done more than 50 state dinners. And when she came into our studios this week to look back on her career, she still remembered that menu for the Filipino president like it was yesterday. They chose lamb, I clearly

remember, because it was like kind of unusual of like lamb for Filipinos. Consider this. Christetta Comerford spent almost three decades cooking for presidents. Coming up, she reflects on her groundbreaking role and what she learned cooking for some of the most powerful people in the world. From NPR, I'm Ari Shapiro. It's Consider This from NPR. You know that old line, tell me what you eat and I'll tell you who you are? Well, if that's true, then Christetta Comerford knows the last five presidents of the United States better than almost anyone.

She just retired after nearly 30 years as White House chef. Comerford cooked for presidents from Clinton to Biden, making everything from family snacks to state dinners. Just days before leaving Washington, D.C. for Florida, she came into our studios to look back on her career. And she told me she didn't think about the barriers that she broke when she became the first woman and the first person of color to hold the top job in the White House kitchen. I didn't even realize that because I was just doing what I wanted to do. I love to cook. It just so happens that I'm a minority woman. But when I broke the glass ceiling, I didn't realize that it was like news all over. And this was in the George W. Bush administration when you were elevated to the top role. Yes, that's August 5. I clearly remember 2005 when they put it on CNN, broke the news first.

And was that the first time you realized when you saw it on the headlines? No, they did tell me on a Friday. I did my oath-taking ceremony at the Oval Office with Andy Card at the time. He was the chief of staff. He was the chief of staff for the Bushes. And they were like, can't tell anybody yet, of course, except my husband,

because we're not releasing the news until Monday. And just imagine, I'm very close to my mom. So I'm like, if I tell mom, she's going to tell the whole Chicago area. So I had to hold that. But we were vacationing in Mexico. So we came back to the room on a Sunday afternoon, and it was out there. I'm like, they told me Monday. So I had to call her right away.

What did she say? She was in there. I'm like, they told me Monday. So I had to call her right away. But what did she say? She was in tears. It was really such a big moment for the family. You were born in the Philippines. You grew up one of 11 children in Manila, is that right? And you came to the U.S. at the age of 23. Yes. Did any of the presidents you worked for ask you to cook the food of your childhood, the food you grew up with? Actually, I mean, like President Obama, I mean, he lived in Hawaii for a while. So there's a lot of Filipino communities in there. So he's very familiar with the Filipino food. So every now and then I might imbibe it on the grill and he's like, hey, that's smelling good right there. Give us an example. What was something you grew up eating?

The skewered pork, you know, like that's like a street food, but that's smelling good right there. Give us an example. What was something you grew up eating that you would make? The skewered pork. That's like a street food, but that's something that I love very much. And then whenever I do that, but I do beef as well and chicken, he loves it. That must have been so nice to share the food of your roots, of your childhood, in your job at the White House with the president. Exactly, Yes. I think the last time the White House hosted a state dinner for the Philippines, if I'm not mistaken, was 2003? Yes. During the George W. Bush administration?

What was that day like for you? It was amazing because actually Chef Walter Scharf, the executive chef then, asked me to write the menu. Wow. And I really, I actually did the press preview for Makapagal Arroyo at the time, so I was so excited. They chose lamb, I clearly remember, because it was kind of unusual, lamb for Filipinos. But I'm like, okay, if that's what the guests want, we're going to do lamb. It is unsurprising but still remarkable that you remember specifically what was on the menu more than 20 years ago.

Yes, because that's kind of like one of my first state dinner tests, kind of like make a menu for your president. Do you remember what else was on the menu? Actually, I served it with fava beans. I'm like fava beans, but because we have something similar. It was kind of during the springtime, So, yes. What did cooking for presidents show you about those leaders that even their chiefs of staff or their closest advisors might not have understood? I think at the end of the day, those presidents, I mean, they have the weight of the world on their shoulder. So the only thing that they want when they come home after working in the Oval Office,

dealing with whatever world or domestic events, it's just to come home to a nice home-cooked meal. So on a daily basis, we just really take care of them. Hey, what do you like to eat? And a part of being a chef is just reading the room, but reading a big room because you have to watch the news. You have to keep up with what's happening because you almost kind of know what mood is your principal going to be on.

Oh, interesting. You're watching the news to see if it was a stressful day for the person you're cooking for. Yes, yes. So it's like, oh, he's going to need grilled cheese and tomato soup at the end of this day. That kind of thing. Yeah, yeah. And people don't teach us that. We just kind of know. I learned it from actually one of our butlers because he was the one who explained to me, Chris, he's going to be feeling tired today and just worn out.

So give him what you got. If I were to ask all five presidents what dish is Chris best known for, do you think more than one of them would give me the same answer? I think two of them would give you the same answer. What would it be? Because President Clinton's favorite is enchiladas. same answer? I think two of them would give you the same answer. What would it be? Because President Clinton's favorite is enchiladas. And of course, so does President Bush. So they'll give the same answer. And you make a mean enchilada. We make a mean enchilada. What's your secret? Homemade tortillas. Oh, wow. Of course, it has to be homemade. Did a president

ever say to you, Chris, you're an extraordinary cook, but you know what? I don't want the handmade tortilla. I want the American cheese wrapped in plastic that I grew up eating. Actually, it was President Obama. I was making this fancy cheeseburger for him. I made my own brioche dough and he looked at it and he said, like, I'm okay with just the grocery bun that you get. And I'm like, yeah. But I have homemade brioche here. Yeah, because he likes the soft bread and stuff.

But it's fun. One of your former colleagues, the pastry chef Bill Yosses, told me that your philosophy of American cuisine is that it's like jazz. Yes. What does that mean? It was a New York Times reporter who asked me the question of like, do you think French food is the best? And we were in France. So I'm like, so this is a diplomatic incident. Yeah.

I mean, but what I said was true. I'm like, hey, look, all of the chefs were all classically trained. Like, you know, a pian were all classically trained. Like, you know, a pianist is classically trained in music. But in America, we play jazz. And what does that mean in terms of food? In terms of food, it's like, because like every community, every minority groups, every, I mean, we're a land of immigrants. So we share everything that we have. So by the time a food is made, it's a totally different one that was intended it to be. It's because it's a beautiful melting pot. It's less about authenticity and more about improvisation. Is that it?

Exactly. Yes. Well, last I checked, the new White House chef, your successor, had not yet been announced. Do you have any words of advice for your successor? I think I'm going to give him the same word of advice that Walter gives to every even sous chef that walks in. That you got almost 30 years ago. 30 years ago.

And basically you leave your politics at the door. Because at the end of the day, we're cooks. We're chefs. We just want to make them happy with their food. So I'll give the same person the very same advice that Walter gave me. Well, Christetta Comerford, congratulations on your nearly 30-year run at the White House. It's been a pleasure talking with you. Thank you.

This episode was produced by Elena Burnett and Brianna Scott. It was edited by Katie Riddle and Courtney Dourning. Our executive producer is Sammy Yannigan. It's Consider This from NPR. I'm Ari Shapiro.