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UK State Dinner: What's On The Menu?

Summary: 
Guests at tonight's State Dinner will be treated to a meal that represents the best of American hospitality and includes playful references to classic British traditions

Guests at tonight's State Dinner honoring David Cameron, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and his wife Samantha, will enjoy a meal that represents the best of American hospitality and includes playful references to classic British traditions. First Lady Michelle Obama and White House Executive Chef Cristeta Comerford have put together a menu that features produce harvested yesterday from the White House's Kitchen Garden, including baby lettuces, spring onions and  fresh herbs. The dinner will be served in a tent on the White House's South Lawn.

The first course, Crisped Halibut with Potato Crust, will be served on a bed of braised baby kale fresh from the White House garden. The salad features spring garden lettuces with shallot dressing and includes a variety of greens, which are also from the Kitchen Garden.

Comerford says the main course, Bison Wellington, is a "great marriage of the two countries"  and features a uniquely American protein prepared in a quintessentially British style. For dessert, White House pastry chef William Yosses and his team have prepared a lemon sponge pudding in the British style, which they are serving with Newtown Pippin Apples, a variety that was grown by some of our founding fathers, and was even sent as a gift to Queen Victoria in 1838. You can go behind the scenes with the White House's kitchen team (and a group of chefs from our military branches who were on hand to help with the preparations) in this video:

 

Menu: 2012 UK State Dinner
View more documents from White House

See more coverage of Prime Minister David Cameron's visit:

Watch the Arrival Ceremony
President Obama introduces the Prime Minister to "Bracketology"
The President and the Prime Minister hold a joint press conference