Pinoy flavor in all White House food—chef

Here’s another bit of news, am not sure if I posted that the Executive Chef of the White House is a Filipino-American! She serves us proud!! Here’s the story written by By Janie Christine Octia, Inquirer.net – Read on…

MANILA, Philippines—White House chef Filipino American Cristeta Pasia Comerford can whip them all when it comes to cooking. But she believes she injects the Pinoy flavor in whatever cuisine she prepares for the United States First Family and their guests.

“Being a Pinoy at the White House, Filipino values and traits are innate in me. My faith and belief is an integral part of who I am now. It’s always there, always a part of me. Even if I prepare a French classical cuisine, it is Filipino cause I am a Filipino,” she said Monday at the media briefing for the annual BPInoy Awards.

The awards, given by Bank of the Philippine Islands, honors world-class Filipinos overseas. This year, aside from Comerford, other BPInoy awardees are economist Dr. Eli Remolona of the Bank for International Settlements and painter Anita Magsaysay-Ho. Previous BPInoy Awardees include renowned singer Lea Salonga, fashion designer Monique Lhuiller, and BBC anchor Rico Hizon.

For Comerford, cooking is not just a profession. “That’s the great part of it. I don’t take it as a career, I take it as a calling,” she said.

Asked about the food preferences of the Obamas, the White House Executive Chef said they are “healthy-eaters” preferring simple, well-made, and steamed dishes with First Lady Michelle very “hands-on” and big on organic foods.  And this preference for preservative- and fertilizer-free foods is also expressed in their pride for their kitchen garden within the White House grounds.

“They are regular families, just like us,” she said.

But while she may have a high-profile job at the White House, Comerford does not miss out on cooking and caring for her own family. Outside the White House, she shares with her husband John parenting chores for their eight-year-old daughter.

“I don’t want to miss on her teenage years. I want to make sure to spend what little time I have with my family. Once work is done, your family is what you have,” she said.

How she started

Comerford might not have known it at the time, but her path to power cooking may have started in Grade 3, when she went up to her mother and volunteered to cook for their big family.

The Manila-born graduate of Food Technology at the University of the Philippines moved to the US at age 23, and later trained in French classical cooking in Vienna, Austria specializing in ethnic and American cuisine.

In 1995, she started in the Clinton White House as an assistant chef to Walter Scheib after more than two decades of experience in fine dining restaurants in France, Chicago, California, and Washington DC.

She was later personally handpicked by former US First Lady Laura Bush in 2005 to become the first woman and Asian to rule the White House kitchen, from where she continues to serve President Barack Obama and his family.