Vegetable veracity: The garden is low on crops, Mr. Singh is fond of fish, and about that beehive gift for dinner guests...Mains
tream media reports are trumpeting the fact that India's vegetarian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his wife Gursharan Kaur will be served dishes that are made of produce raised entirely in the White House Kitchen Garden, when President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama host their very first State Dinner tomorrow night. Bluntly, that's factually incorrect. 
The Kitchen Garden is currently wintering over, and not producing enough vegetables to feed hundreds of guests a multi-course vegetable-based State Dinner; the photo of the garden, above, was taken yesterday afternoon. It's a little barren. There's still some lettuces, some spinach, and a variety of herbs growing, but that's pretty much it at the moment. (Above: President Obama and Prime Minister Singh at the G20)The White House has not released details of the menu yet, but it will probably feature some produce from the garden--and things that could be in the garden--but it's not going to be a 100 percent "homegrown" extravaganza, as reports are insisting. The State Dinner menu will undoubtedly encompass Mrs. Obama's now-signature focus on fresh produce and local-ish sourcing; the presence of guest chef Marcus Samuelsson implies a certain risk-taking, a blending of cultural influences. Something extraordinary, without seeming to show off. The White House, these days, is meant to be The People's House, after all, so perhaps the menu will be a foodie homage to The Immigrant Experience in America...Samuelsson, who was born in Ethiopia, raised in Sweden, and is now a naturalised American citizen, is a living metaphor for this, as is Executive Chef Cristeta Comerford herself (born in the Philippines...). Prime Minister Singh noted just a few days ago that he believes every citizen in India now has a relative living in America; there are more than 2.5 million citizens here that are from or trace their roots to India.
Perhaps more important for menu mythologists, as a hint to what will be served tomorrow, vegetarian doesn't mean vegan. The dinner dishes are not going to be made solely of vegetables, which your intrepid blogger heard from very reliable sources. No, not going to name names, or spill details; menu items will all be revealed at the combined learning event/press preview Mrs. Obama is holding tomorrow afternoon in the State Dining room. But what can be said, for those who are convinced an all-veggie State Dinner is going to happen: Mr. Singh is on the record as a devotee of fish. And the final time he shared a meal with President George Bush in the White House--last year--fish was on the menu. Needless to say, the White House chefs are busy as bees right now...the weekend was spent prepping in the White House kitchen; there's a lot of slicing and dicing and mixing and stirring that goes on, when you're cooking for hundreds of people. (Above: Comerford, L, assistant chef Sam Kass, and Executive Pastry Chef Bill Yosses in the White House kitchen)A beehive gift as party favor? No.
And speaking of bees, a special State Dinner gift for guests made from honey from the White House beehive is another fun food fantasy swirling around the media that's being reported as fact, although the White House has neither confirmed nor denied this. The myth sprang up thanks to the G-20 spouse gifts including little honey pots from the beehive--but those gifts were for 21 people, and there are hundreds expected for the state dinner (the G20 honey jar, in photo). 134 pounds of honey--or 11 gallons, to put things in perspective--were produced from the beehive, and the hive is now dormant for the winter. Given the fact that more than 2,000 special cookies were made for trick-or-treaters at Halloween using honey from the beehive--among many other creations, starting last Spring--it's a dwindling supply, and it's just unlikely that honey gifts will be handed out. But more than likely, honey from the beehive will be used in one or more dishes for the dinner. Still, the fact that beehive myths and veggie myths are coursing around the world is an excellent testament to the far-reaching influence of Mrs. Obama's garden, but other than that, it's all an amusing side note to the State Dinner.
Photo, above: Still life of tent with beehive. Ob Fo has been tracking the progress of the "tent"...and it's almost done. Handily photographed with the beehive visible at left, since there are so many White House beehive fans.*Clearing things up further: The crops that were pulled from the Kitchen Garden at the Fall Harvest event weren't canned or stored in a root cellar to be used for the State Dinner; the 224 pounds of late Fall veggies were donated to Miriam's Kitchen, the local social services agency that's been the beneficiary of Kitchen Garden bounty since it was planted. The White House doesn't have a root cellar, according to Sam Kass. Here's just one of the State Dinner menu myth stories that's appearing around the globe, courtesy of the internet.
Related: Mrs. Obama teaches State Dinner history here. Rehearsing the Arrival Ceremony is here. Building the Tent, part I and part II. New White House florist Laura Dowling makes her debut at the State Dinner.
