Eat (sort of) like a President
Our two editions of the "White House Cook Book" and its knock-off cousin "The Presidential Cookbook" have seen a lot of use over the last century.
Julia Child. Martha Stewart. Jacques Pepin. Frances Folsom Cleveland.
Okay, so maybe you're not that familiar with Mrs. Cleveland. But she likely sold more cookbooks than any of the others. Possibly even combined. But she didn't do it alone. She also had the help of Ida McKinley, Edith Roosevelt, Mrs James Monroe, Martha Jefferson Randolph, Dolly Madison, Martha Washington and other early First Ladies of the United States. But Frances wasn't even a contributor to her cookbook. Nor were any of the other First Ladies. The mega-bestselling "White House Cookbook," first published in 1887, had no input from any of the Presidents' wives. Nor any of the Presidents. It didn't even have a single recipe by any of the White House Chefs.
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About the only connection the original edition had to the White House First Ladies was its dedication...
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...and some unflattering portraits.
The 1887 first edition of the cookbook, titled "White House Cook Book: A Selection of Choice Recipes Original and Selected, During a Period of Forty Years' Practical Housekeeping" was written by Mrs Fanny Lemira Gillette of Wisconsin, who used the title as nothing more than an advertising gimmick. And it was a gimmick that worked. Homemakers from around the country devoured the book. It was the height of American Victorianism and the Gilded Age. The economy was growing at its fastest rate in history. Flush with newfound wealth, many American families could finally turn away from the subsistence living and pioneering that marked its founding. They sought out instructions on the art of fine living, looking to the European aristocratic lifestyle, and its nearest equivalent here at home – the White House. It was the perfect time to launch a homemaking encyclopedia based upon White House style…even it had no connection to the White House at all.
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One of the later editions.
But the success of the initial publication soon caught the eye of one Hugo Ziemann, who had been the Steward Chef to President Arthur. He partnered with Mrs Fanny Lemira Gillette and added a few minor tidbits to the book detailing some famous meals he'd cooked in the White House (including Frances Folsom Cleveland's wedding lunch,) and White House etiquette instructions (including seating arrangements should a sitting President be dining at your table.) In total, Mr.Ziemann added only six pages to the total 590 in the book, but it was enough to add an acceptable legitimacy to the volume.
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The President should sit right in the middle of one of the half-oval cutouts of your dining room table. What? Your dining room table isn't shaped like this? If you really want to live like a First Lady, you should probably start sawing away at your table right now.
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Hugo's suggested menu for your next White House State Dinner. For that added touch of pretense, it's entirely in French.
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We're not going to lie. This layout for glasses at the table is quite helpful.
The book continued to sell by the hundreds of thousands, and became the standard gift for young American brides. It was reprinted, with few changes, for many decades, and even spawned a knock-off – "The Presidential Cookbook" in 1896. This volume was slightly smaller and supported by advertising throughout its pages, making it much more affordable for new brides.
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This was the cheaper, knock-off version of the "White House Cook Book" titled the "Presidential Cook Book." Cleveland Stoveworks was the major sponsor, and their ads are throughout.
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An engraving of the curiously small and empty White House Kitchen, with an inset of Hugo Ziemann himself. Somehow we get the feeling that this looks nothing like the real kitchen. And perhaps not even the real Hugo.
We own two editions of the White House Cookbook, (the oldest of which was a gift from our friend Linda Turner,) and one edition of the Presidential Cookbook. The information inside is nearly exactly the same in all of them. The title was revived in 1996 for a centennial edition that included updated recipes (ie: low fat/low sodium, ugh) and a few new recipes by Barbara Bush and Hillary Clinton. But for those truly interested in 1880′s "White House" Cookery, we recommend getting a reprinted edition of the original.
