Here's What Cat Cora Cooked For President Obama
There's not much better than eating like a king, but eating like a president doesn't sound so bad either, especially when Iron Chef Cat Cora is cooking. According to The Disney Blog, in 2010, Cat Cora and her fellow chefs at the Walt Disney World restaurant Kouzzina (which was helmed by Cora) found themselves cheffing up their signature Greek cuisine at the White House kitchen. The diners? None other than 44th President Barack Obama and former Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou. No pressure there. Just some Greek fisherman's stew and loukoumades for two world leaders and, yeah, hundreds of guests — 400 of them, as The Disney Blog reveals.
As simple as a "fisherman's stew" may sound, there's a whole lot of seafood that goes into it. In this case, Cat Cora prepared a sort of who's who of shellfish dish, containing everything from lobster and shrimp to clams and scallops with a touch of ouzo butter, per The Disney Blog. Loukoumades, which are a type of honey-glazed doughnut, were served for dessert.
Cora and the Obamas have a culinary history
This wasn't the only time Cat Cora found herself working in the presence of an Obama. In 2012, a Reuters piece reported Cora would be part of former First Lady Michelle Obama's "Chefs Move to School" program, meant to encourage healthier meals in school cafeterias. Most people know about Michelle Obama's initiatives in regards to eating healthily, but as Reuters notes, Cora was drawn to the program's goal of well-known chefs not only visiting public schools to promote better eating, but chefs actually "adopting" cafeterias in those public schools.
On top of becoming the first female chef in the Culinary Hall of Fame, Cat Cora's accolades — and Obama connections— don't stop there (via Bravo). Barack Obama has also presented her with two notable awards, per Cora's website: the President's Lifetime Achievement Award and the President's Volunteer Service Award, for "building a stronger nation through her volunteer service." Who knows what Cat Cora and the Obamas might be cooking up next.