President Obama's French food tested by 'taster'

President Obama's French food tested by 'taster'

www.expatica.com

Paris - A US "taster" tested the food being dished up to President Barack Obama at a dinner in a French restaurant, a waiter said Sunday.

"They have someone who tastes the dishes," said waiter Gabriel de Carvalho from the "La Fontaine de Mars" restaurant where Obama and his family turned up for dinner on Saturday night.

(visit the link for the full news article)

A food tester has traditionally been used by royalty to make sure that the chef had not poisoned the food to be eaten by the king. As a matter of fact, this is where the tradition of everyone letting the lady of the house take the first bite comes from.

I just thought it interesting that Obama has a food tester... did any of the previous presidents?

www.expatica.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Well, shucks. There went plan B.

Well he may not be the King. But having your food tasted and having a court jester(Biden,always good for a laugh) gets him pretty close doesn't it?

reply to post by Iamonlyhuman
I can't believe Obama is this unpopular in France. I wonder why his handlers are so paranoid;they must know something. The French are not rascists. Wonder what sparked this.

Well, I'd be a little worried too. Come on now, he is the Messiah and all .

No but really, this is kind of ridiculous. Nobody in their right mind would assisate , or poison Obama while he's in France or any other country that doesn't want to be destroyed.

Cause we all know that's what would happen.

~Keeper

reply to post by Iamonlyhuman


This should answer part of the question:

j-walkblog.com.../weblog/posts/presidential_food_taster/

In his 2005 book Standing Next to History, former Secret Service agent Joseph Petro - who spent 23 years in the suit and shades - writes, "In principle nothing edible gets near the President unless we know where it comes from and who has handled it." When the president digs in at a state banquet, Petro informs us, he's eating basically the same stuff as everyone else in the room, but his helping has been prepared specially by White House stewards, who suit up to match the other servers at the event and carry his plate out themselves.

For events in foreign countries, it's the same thing but more so. Petro writes: "Stewards find out what's being served at the banquet and bring the ingredients with them from the United States."
j-walkblog.com.../weblog/posts/presidential_food_taster/

and

What seems clear is that when the president eats somewhere other than 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., tasters — in the form of Secret Service agents or military personnel — are likely to be involved. According to a Washington Post article from July 1990, George H.W. Bush ate out at Washington restaurants a lot by presidential standards, about once a month, and when he did he brought along his own condiments, bottled water, and a taster. On at least one occasion the taster was seen to personally wash all of George and Barbara's tableware before use and subsequently monitor its whereabouts, sample the food, supervise its service, and uncork and taste the first couple's wine.

Reports from early in Bill Clinton's first term suggest inconsistent taster use: a March '93 Post account of an impromptu dinner with the Gores at a restaurant in Alexandria, Virginia, has a trio of Secret Service agents scrutinizing the preparation of Clinton's food but not actually trying any. But an "official" food taster (described as a "veteran of three presidencies") turns up in a local paper's feature on a Clinton get-together with Silicon Valley types in Los Gatos, California, a month earlier. And lest you think tasters are deployed only when the president ventures off government turf, a detachment of navy culinary specialists did the tasting (per the New York Times) at a congressional lunch held at the Capitol during George W. Bush's inaugural festivities in 2001. One presumes security has gotten tighter since (a) the 9/11 attacks and (b) the descent of W's approval ratings to depths previously plumbed only by hostage-crisis Jimmy Carter and athlete's foot
www.straightdope.com...

While its fun to poke fun at Obama and make him out to be a king, alot of this security stuff comes at the insistance of the SS.

reply to post by FredT


what a terrible waste of secret service and military personel.

How so?

That's their job.

There are other means of assassination than sniper rifles, bombs, etc...

Delete this comment.

[edit on 7-6-2009 by CuriousSkeptic]

Maybe the SS knew about the snub to Sarkosy before hand and weren't taking any chances...

In France it is considered highly rude to not finish every bite on your plate. Asking for a doggie bag even if you love your dog and are on a diet (but your dog isn’t!) is an insult to the chef and the dining establishment.

Having a taster could give a person a real edge in this department! Try another bite, wait one more, oh and some of the peas, definitely another bite of the peas, as a matter of fact eat all the peas please.

Remember boys and girls Barney says it’s very important to always remember and mind your p’s and q’s!

I'm pretty sure other Presidents have had food tasters. I think before every function they hire people to make sure the food is okay. But I'm not really surprised, I think other Presidents have done the same when traveling abroad, too.

reply to post by ProtoplasmicTraveler

How do they stay so thin? I hope they have smaller portions. Come to think of it I usually do eat all that I am served in a French restaurant.



[edit on 7-6-2009 by eradown]

Well you can't be too careful with this sort of thing i guess.

Originally posted by eradown
reply to post by ProtoplasmicTraveler

 

How do they stay so thin? I hope they have smaller portions. Come to think of it I usually do eat all that I am served in French restaurant.

This is a great mystery of the universe and the sole reason why typical French arrogance is excused.

I have it on good authority when the rest of the world finds out how they manage to stay so slim on heavy cream sauces that France will suffer immediate nuclear anialation.

The French prizing their ability to be and remain arrogant as well as not to glow in the dark are keeping this secret tight for self preservation.

It’s why so many Muslims now live in France. There is a good certainty we can water board this secret out of one of them providing they learn it.

Water boarding the French does not work, they just shout the beach, the beach, and it is free?

reply to post by eradown


Its all the red wine they drink that keeps em thin...

Originally posted by Oatmeal
reply to post by eradown

 

Its all the red wine they drink that keeps em thin...

I don't think so, an average glass of Red Wine is around 120 calories, times that by the amount alot of them do drink..

Haha!

Their metabolism is for some reason better in France than alot of other places.

Yes, Presidents have food tasters. This is nothing new. Bush had them as well.

It's logical. After all, given the fact that we have had 4 presidents assassinated in our history, plus the fact that the president of the United States is probably the biggest target in the world for would be assasins (maybe next to the Pope), it is only pure common sense to ensure that every possible route to physically harming the man and his family are investigated and blocked.

Obama is no different from his predecesors in this respect.

And no, wine nor metabolism does not keep the French thin. In Paris, they eat next to nothing, their food servings are very small, they consume very little.

If you get out of Paris, then the myth of "thin French people" dissolves rapidly, and you will be surprised to see how many chubbos run amok beyind the Paris city limits.