Really Weird Rules White House Chefs Are Forced To Follow

most workplaces have their share of weird rules and protocols but one workplace that is probably a little stranger than the rest is the white house kitchen let's put on our history helmets and sprint head first into the weird orders that white house chefs must follow throughout the years many people have said that the president has official food tasters that check that their chow is safe the fact-checking site snopes declared that the claim is true and cited many examples of tasters being employed when the president dines outside of the white house yet on the other hand a former white house chef named walter scheib told the washingtonian that this position doesn't formally exist while scheib did say that the food tasters are fictitious he also admitted that there are security systems in place that aim to protect the president's meals saying nothing gets to the president that hasn't fallen under somebody's jurisdiction if the president is just grabbing a pretzel randomly at the table it's been screened it does make a lot of sense that every presidential food item gets evaluated nevertheless it's also a little otherworldly just imagine going into work and legally not being allowed to offer their boss some mints that they brought in from home the white house executive chef is a kitchen staff member with an incredible number of responsibilities as men's journal stated the executive chef is in charge of feeding the president and first family every day catering to official guests at the white house from prime ministers to the egg rolling masses as well as all private functions for the president and the first lady a layperson might imagine that the white house chooses who gets this central gig however that's not the case as miss magazine reported that's up to the first lady the first lady also has the power to fire an executive chef in 2005 the washington post reported that laura bush had fired the executive chef who told the new york times in a phone interview that it was difficult to satisfy bush's stylistic requirements it's not unthinkably strange that the first lady hires the executive chef after all they'll probably be eating many of the meals that they serve up but it is wild that they can fire an employee at their discretion and at any time working at the white house is cool and everything but so is a little more job security john muller a former white house chef wrote in his memoir that he served at the pleasure of the president this means that if the president wants to ban a specific food from going into his mouth then it'll probably become banned the topic is discussed in a c-span program that interviewed former white house chefs one of these ex-employees pierre shambrin states that george h.w bush wasn't keen on some of the vegetables served to him he remembers i served him some brussels sprouts and he told the butler tell pierre never to serve that to me again bush also apparently hated broccoli but he didn't ban it from the white house he just didn't want to eat it himself big break for broccoli fans in the bush family while it makes sense that this etiquette exists it's also a tad hilarious just imagine a restaurant patron finding a waiter asking them to tell the head chef not to ever give them tomatoes for the next four years oh and the patron happens to be one of the most powerful leaders in the world a white house chef can't mute their mobile as they gently drift off to sleep well they can but they may end up in trouble if their employer calls them to come in to cook yup when the president's in the building the kitchen staff are on standby pastry chef bill iasis told huffpost in theory we were working 24 7. however while the president could technically tell a chef to whip up a 2 am dish yasis was never required to make such a meal during his time there it's more than being available to make a midnight snack for a hungry president it's about feeding whoever happens to be working as yasa said there could be a national emergency and the people involved have to get up at 3am and handle a crisis walter shibe also stated that he wasn't frequently asked to cook food at unconventional hours he informed vice we really didn't do much of the midnight snack thing if you were a white house chef you'd probably think that your responsibilities would essentially be limited to cooking but this assumption would be incorrect for instance the president could even ask you to make them some beer from scratch the first president to tell his kitchen staff to brew some beer was barack obama his white house even released a 2012 video that explains why it was created the president certainly thought it'd be a great idea to see if we could join the american people in that time-honored tradition and brew some of our own beer the staff adapted their own recipe and some of the ingredients used are grown right at the white house even though the kitchen staff seems genuinely enthusiastic about making this product one has to wonder if it was in the job description or if anyone considered running out and grabbing the president a six-pack instead the white house doesn't just have an executive chef oh no it also has a staff member who specializes in pastries susan morrison the current executive pastry chef outlined her responsibilities to oh the oprah magazine back in 2016. she said most of my day-to-day focus is on desserts for white house events i could be creating miniature pastries for a reception on the state floor or serving suites for a luncheon in the west wing our top priority though is always the first family morrison has an additional responsibility that's slightly more bizarre in nature but ever so important building an impressive gingerbread house morrison described the process saying i spent all year thinking about the white house gingerbread house but we don't begin baking until november then for about four days after thanksgiving we work tirelessly to build the house before moving it to the state dining room where more than sixty thousand guests will cycle through and morrison wasn't the only pastry chef who was required to make a sensational gingerbread house the huff post claimed that a confectionary building is created every year it appears that if a person wanted this dessert gig then they'd have to follow the rules and bake up an annual sculpture white house state dinners sound like the fanciest of affairs according to the white house historical association they are put on to honor the head of a government or a reigning monarch usually with hundreds of people attending the event as well they also appear to be one of the most stressful banquets that a chef could ever cook for in 2012 the blade reported that some past and present white house chefs spoke at a panel hosted by the association of food journalists this discussion illuminated a few intense state dinner rules like how second portions are never offered but are available if a guest requests them moreover the article noted from the moment the first course is placed on the table to the moment the last course is served no more than 55 minutes may elapse and each course must absolutely be ready to be served at the proper time no delays will be tolerated not only are these requirements sweat inducing but they're also oddly specific why 55 minutes instead of an hour makes you wonder who came up with the rules and if their sole purpose was to make a chef's life stressful every easter the white house hosts its annual egg roll and if you're wondering what this event entails you're probably not alone luckily the tradition is broken down in a food and wine article which explains the white house egg roll is an annual race where kids push eggs through the grass of the white house's lawn with long handled spoons maybe not complicated but it still seems fun the shin dig can additionally feature a classic easter egg hunt and a bundle of other activities the white house's event also features a mind-boggling number of hard-boiled eggs as the article states over 14 000 hard-boiled eggs are hand-dyed for use in the egg roll and the hunt if it seems a little excessive take it up with the president or the easter bunny aka the president of easter the white house kitchen staff are sometimes required to hard boil and die a ton if not all of these eggs in 1998 the los angeles times reported that these folks colored 7 200 shells for the celebration it's a little strange that this facility employs some of the best chefs in the country and then has them cook heaps of eggs that will hopefully never be eaten when the white house kitchen is cooking for the president the staff members are probably looking to give their boss something he wants to eat this means that if the president is craving a particular meal then his staff should be finding a way to make it even if it's something somewhat strange this is the white house they take the homemade pizza and put it in a box they will do the take out look for you i mean it's not just food it's preparation back in 1969 the reading eagle reported that richard nixon liked eating cottage cheese that was covered in ketchup the newspaper wrote nixon talked about his dish during an appearance at the white house conference on food nutrition and health he says he feels he should eat cottage cheese for diet and health reasons but he doesn't like the taste so he covers it with ketchup which he does like ah nixon a man of taste and a picture of health in a c-span interview host susan stanberg asked the former white house chefs if they'd cook this meal for nixon and what their thoughts were each time he'd order it frank ruda who worked in the kitchen for 11 years shrugged his shoulders as if to say that it doesn't make sense to him but he'd still make it for the president unusual meals like this one highlight how a typical a white house kitchen job is i used to tell barack don't say you want something because then we'll have like thousands of it being an executive chef at the white house is a lot of hard work they're planning state dinners they're potentially working strange hours and they're cooking for the president however while these responsibilities seem rather demanding this position receives no overtime pay whatsoever the new york times laid out this fact in a story that they published in 2005 saying the pay 80 000 to 100 000 a year with no overtime for what is essentially a private family chef who occasionally has an opportunity to show off at a state dinner is well below what top level chefs can earn on the outside it is truly baffling that white house executive chefs aren't allowed to obtain overtime payments the fact that they could be asked to make up a plate at any time and would not be compensated if they did work extra hours makes their workplace sound astoundingly stingy it goes without saying that the united states secret service doesn't want the president's food to incapacitate them in any form because that chain of events wouldn't be ideal but it also appears as if this organization doesn't want to be a hawk in the white house kitchen therefore in order to allow the president to eat they give the chefs a special title that authorizes them to cook for the president walter scheib opened up about this saying the clearance that you have when you're working in the white house is called top secret presidential proximity he went on to detail why the chefs need to go through so many security clearances in terms of the few of us that are in the kitchen who have that clearance if you think about it we're not just around outside and next to the president we're physically inside of him you really couldn't get any more close to that not many chefs in the world can say that they need top secret presidential proximity clearance just to make a meal and probably an even smaller number can go around saying things like we're physically inside the president in 2005 the new york times wrote another piece about the white house culinary world it reported that the establishment's assistant chef christeta cummerford would potentially become their executive chef however while comerford was up for this position she couldn't comment on how her employer chooses the person they want for the job the publication stated the candidates have been asked to keep mum about the selection process and they are aware that the wrong word may remove them from consideration according to the story comerford took this quite seriously when asked if she could provide any more details printing you know the rules of the house after the story was published comerford ended up becoming the executive chef she also has conducted interviews with vogue cnn and asia society discussing her various responsibilities apparently once you're hired you can comment on as much as you want check out one of our newest videos right here plus even more mashed videos about your favorite famous kitchens are coming soon subscribe to our youtube channel and hit the bell so you don't miss a single one you

Channel: Mashed

Views: 3,091,818

Keywords: mashed, mashed food, white house, white house chef, white house food, white house cooking, white house rules, white house meals, white house beer, white house chefs, white house state dinners, white house executive chef, president chef, president food, president cooking, president rules, president meals, president beer, president chefs, president state dinners, president executive chef, president diet, white house diet, president dining, white house dining

Id: TR5ef_Q0mKo

Length: 12min 53sec (773 seconds)

Published: Thu Nov 05 2020