'Sesame-Crusted Sea Bass' as Main Course for Xi-Trump Dinner...A Look Back at Previous Menus
White House Reveals Dinner Menu Featuring Sesame-Crusted Sea Bass
Yellow Squash Soup, Sesame-Crusted Sea Bass, and Honey Dessert
Fish Takes Center Stage Instead of the Usual Beef for a Distinctive Touch
The dinner menu for the summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping has been released.
The Washington Post, AP, and other outlets reported that, according to the official White House announcement, the menu served at the summit dinner held on the 24th (local time) in the East Room of the White House featured American ingredients with elements of Chinese food culture. It was reported that First Lady Melania Trump personally oversaw the preparation of the dinner.
The dinner began with a toast using Schramsberg 'Blanc de Noirs' sparkling wine from the United States. The White House explained that this wine was chosen to commemorate the "toast to peace" shared between President Richard Nixon and Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai in Beijing in 1972.
The first course was a yellow squash velouté made from pureed yellow squash, served with wild mushrooms, pancetta, and scallion oil. The main dish was sea bass coated in sesame seeds. This was accompanied by bok choy, roasted eggplant, and a sauce verte made with herbs. For dessert, there was vanilla cream, walnut frangipane, and sour cherry confit, and the honey used in the ice cream was harvested directly from the White House.
U.S. President Donald Trump (right) and Chinese President Xi Jinping are having a conversation on the 24th (local time) at the Oval Office in the White House, Washington. Photo by Yonhap News
View original imageThis dinner was notable for featuring fish as the main course instead of the beef that frequently appeared at past state dinners. According to the White House, the use of Asian ingredients such as sesame and bok choy, alongside American ingredients, was meant to fuse the food cultures of both countries.
"Table diplomacy" between the United States and China dates back to Deng Xiaoping's visit to the U.S. in 1979. At the dinner hosted by President Jimmy Carter, the menu included roasted veal sirloin, seafood timbale, saffron rice, and desserts such as chestnut mousse and chocolate truffles.
In 1984, when President Ronald Reagan hosted Chinese Premier Zhao Ziyang, the menu featured turbot and beef dishes. When President Bill Clinton invited President Jiang Zemin in 1997, the main courses were poached lobster and beef from Oregon, with panda-shaped marzipan cookies also served as dessert.
At the dinner hosted by President Barack Obama for President Hu Jintao in 2011, Maine lobster, ribeye steak, and apple pie were served. During President Xi's state visit in 2015, the menu included wild mushroom and black truffle soup with Shaoxing wine, as well as Maine lobster and Colorado lamb, blending the food cultures of China and the United States.
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President Trump and President Xi also had a dinner together at the Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida in 2017. On that occasion, the main courses included prime New York strip steak and Dover sole, and it is known that the two leaders chose chocolate cake for dessert.
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