For his June 8 meeting with the newly installed Chinese President Xi
Jinping, President Barack Obama did not stint on the menu for the
banquet arrayed for the leader of Asia’s superpower. Indeed, the costs for
Obama’s culinary tastes when entertaining foreign heads of state has continued
to rise. For example, when Obama received Indian Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh in 2009, the cost was approximately $487,000 or
$1,441 per guest. In 2010, the cost of feting Mexican President Felipe
Calderón reached $907,000 or $4,800 per persons, including
transportation and other incidental costs.
This year, according to Sohu.com – a Chinese website – the cost of feeding
President Xi and other honored guests reached $500,000, all at the cost of the
Treasury Department and the American taxpayer.
In January 2011, when Xi’s predecessor – President Hu
Jintao – visited the White House, Obama also put on a fabulous
banquet that included a red pear salad with goat cheese, followed by a second
course of tasty Maine lobster with orange-glazed carrots and black trumpet
mushrooms. This was followed by dry-aged rib eye steak festooned with buttermilk
crisped onions, along with double-stuffed potatoes and creamed spinach. Of
course, there was the inevitable and very American apple pie and ice cream for
dessert for the 200 guests. Frequently, White House guests are presented with
fresh greens and vegetables from Michelle Obama's garden.
At one time, occupants of the White House went for a very French theme in
entertaining their honored guests. First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy even had the
diners’ menus printed in French, prompting some observers to wonder whether they
had been invited to The United States of Versailles.
