FROM THE FOUNDING TABLE TO YOUR KITCHEN
POTUSPLATETHE PRESIDENTIAL TABLEHISTORY IS SERVED.
Presidents/The modern table

PRESIDENT 43 · 2001–2009

At the table with
George W. Bush.

The forty-third president was governor of Texas before entering the White House.

Choose a dish ↓
Chicken enchiladas with red sauce — the modern table

THE HISTORICAL TABLE

A Tex-Mex preference becomes a home dinner

Historical reconstruction

Asked about George W. Bush’s favourite food, personal aide Blake Gottesman identified Tex-Mex as the best answer rather than selecting one particular dish. That is a useful distinction: a recorded preference for a cuisine gives a reconstruction a solid starting point.

Our chicken enchiladas turn that preference into a specific home-cookable dinner. Texas-style chili offers another route through the same regional table, with a stronger beef-and-spice focus. These recipes interpret the stated taste in food rather than reproduce a single documented Bush menu.

Behind this story

Blake Gottesman, official White House question-and-answer session.