Lunching with Lincoln (Sort Of)
The menu for Tuesday’s Inaugural Luncheon will take its cue from the inaugural theme “The New Birth of Freedom” and the celebration of the bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln’s birth.
The luncheon tradition goes back as far as 1897, but has existed in its current form since 1953, according to The Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies.
The committee hosts the lunch for “approximately 200 guests including the new President, Vice President, members of their families, the Supreme Court, Cabinet designees, and members of Congressional leadership” in Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capitol, according to a press release issued by the committee this week.
The theme tries to connect Lincoln’s culinary tastes to 21st-century food.
“Growing up in the frontier regions of Kentucky and Indiana, the sixteenth President favored simple foods including root vegetables and wild game,” the press release says. “As his tastes matured, he became fond of stewed and scalloped oysters. For dessert or a snack, nothing pleased him more than a fresh apple or an apple cake.”
Design Cuisine, a catering company in Arlington, Va., came up with the following menu. Though apparently, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., had something to do with the fact that only California wines are being served. Feinstein, as luck would have it, happens to be chairwoman of this inaugural committee.
Illinois has vineyards. Could they not find even one decent wine in the state of Illinois or Kentucky (the state where Lincoln was born)?
At any rate, here’s the menu:
— First course: creamy seafood stew made with cod, shrimp, scallops and lobster, with Duckhorn Vineyards 2007 Sauvignon Blanc from Napa Valley.
— Second course: pheasant and duck served with sour cherry chutney and molasses sweet potatoes, with Goldeneye (another label from Duckhorn) 2005 Pinot Noir from Anderson Valley.
— Third course: apple cinnamon sponge cake and sweet cream glacé, with Korbel Natural “Special Inaugural Cuvée,” California sparkling wine.
You can get all the recipes for the luncheon at http://inaugural.senate.gov/documents/doc-2009-recipes.pdf.
The photo above (courtesy of http://www.inaugural.senate.gov) is of replica china from Lincoln’s presidency. The first course of the 2009 luncheon will be served on this replica china.
