Obamas Settle On White House Chef

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Cooking for the White House

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uploaded by Huggingthecoast.Com

After months of speculation in the culinary world (and elsewhere), the Obamas have decided to retain current White House chef, Cristeta Comerford at the helm of the White House Kitchen, as it says in this Newsday article.

Comerford has worked in the White House Kitchen since 1995, but was promoted to the Executive Chef position by Laura Bush in 2005. Customarily appointed by the current First Lady, Comerford is the first woman ever to hold the position.

A naturalized citizen from the Philippines who is trained in French classical techniques, Cristeta specializes in both ethnic and American cuisine.

Cooking for the White House is not like cooking in a restaurant. As it says in this article in Slashfood about cooking for the President:

"To achieve fame in the restaurant profession, a chef needs to develop a personal style that is distinctive and unique. A White House chef, on the other hand, needs to be able to prepare a wide variety of foods to absolute perfection. While this gives a lot of room to try new things, it doesn't allow a lot of room for personal expression. A creme brulee has to follow the classical definition of the dish, and a pancake has to be a perfect, if bland, pancake. For established chefs, the inability to put a personal spin on every dish would be painful at best."

--Doug DuCap/ HuggingtheCoast.Com