Here's What Was In The 'All-American' Meal Bobby Flay Cooked For Obama
Bobby Flay cooked dinner for former President Barack Obama when he hosted Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013 (via Politico), and while the two presidents talked about global politics, Flay prepared a several-course meal for them that started with tamales.
If you only have one chance to cook for an American president you might as well pull out all the stops so that you might get a second chance to cook for them, and New Mexican lobster tamales with green chili certainly do just that. Flay told Politico that his goal with the meal was "All-American," after receiving a State Department directive to showcase "the best of American culture and cuisine." Because when the State Department is writing the check, you just show up with your spatula and ask "how hot?" According to Flay, "I was very nervous and had a grin from ear to ear the entire time ... It was really one of the most special moments of my career." It probably wasn't only the food that made the evening special, but in case you're hosting any heads of state in the near future, we'll give you a rundown of Flay's menu choices.
New Mexican green chili and porterhouse steaks were on the menu
As Flay told Politico, cooking for one president is a great honor. Cook for two presidents in the same dinner service, and you better have a defibrillator on hand in case you start feeling faint. Luckily for Presidents Obama and Jinping, Flay is known for his grace under pressure. The chef followed his New Mexican lobster tamales (with green chiles and a roasted corn sauce) with a good ol' American porterhouse steak, accompanied by potatoes with Point Reyes blue cheese, plus fava beans and asparagus for color. And if there's anything more American than apple pie, it's cherry pie, which Flay served with Kentucky bourbon vanilla mint ice cream.
If the menu that Today got a hold of is any indication, the leaders and their cohort also enjoyed a bottle of red from Sonoma County, and a cuvée that gave a small hat tip to the visiting president: the Iron Horse 2004 Chinese "Year of the Snake." The event, held at the Sunnylands estate in Rancho Mirage, California, was billed as a "working dinner," but it's hard to imagine getting much work done with that kind of meal on the table in front of you, blocking your view of all the paperwork.