PORTLAND – Former President George H.W. Bush’s personal chef remembers the time that Barbara Bush conspired with him to try to slip a broccoli salad past his boss.
As president, Bush famously proclaimed his disdain for the cruciferous vegetable, declaring that he never liked it since his mother made him eat it as a child and would never eat it again.
So readers of Ariel De Guzman’s “The Bush Family Cookbook” may be surprised to find a broccoli salad as one of the more than 200 favorite family recipes included in the collection.
The salad, which combines broccoli with red onions, golden raisins, crumbled bacon and toasted sunflower seeds in a dressing of mayonnaise and vinegar, was a hit with everyone but Bush, who politely passed the bowl around to others for second helpings, De Guzman recalled.
But he said the ex-president’s feelings about broccoli do not reflect a dislike for fresh vegetables in general and he is particularly fond of spinach, asparagus and snow peas.
Beyond sharing recipes, the book tells the inspiring story of a young man from a small town in the Philippines who joined the U.S. Navy and worked his way up from stewardsman aboard destroyer tenders to Bush’s personal steward in the White House.
De Guzman, 57, joined Bush’s staff while he was vice president and has spent more than 20 years cooking and managing the household for the former president and first lady. Still thrilled with his job, he is treated like family and travels with the Bushes when they make their seasonal shuttle between Houston and their oceanfront retreat in Kennebunkport.
De Guzman had completed his third year of college and was preparing to follow his mother’s footsteps into teaching when he learned that his latest Navy application had been accepted, opening the door to what he recognized as greater opportunities open to him in America.
After 25 years in the Navy, his big break came when he was assigned to work for then-Vice President Bush at his Victorian-style residence on the grounds of the U.S. Naval Observatory. He remained with the family as it went on to the White House after the 1988 election and into retirement four years later.
At Kennebunkport, De Guzman has prepared meals for such visiting world leaders as Britain’s Margaret Thatcher, the Soviet Union’s Mikhail Gorbachev, Shimon Peres of Israel, Helmet Kohl of Germany and Prince Bandar of Saudi Arabia.
He has also helped entertain celebrity guests, including Kevin Costner, Chuck Norris, Reba McEntire and the Oak Ridge Boys.
De Guzman described Kennebunkport as “my place of showmanship,” saying its relaxed atmosphere is more conducive to entertaining than in Houston. And unless the guest has an allergy to shellfish, the choice of entree is preordained.
“It’s expected. They have to have a lobster when they’re in Maine,” he said.
De Guzman prefers to steam his lobsters and often serves them outdoors as part of a traditional New England clambake.
His cookbook also includes a striped bass recipe, but the author said the fish he places under the broiler for the ex-president come from the local market and are not the ones that Bush may have reeled in from local waters an hour or two before dinner.
The ex-president usually throws back what he catches, De Guzman said, although he will come back with a keeper or two in response to a request from the kitchen staff.
The cookbook contains forewords by George and Barbara Bush and Jeb Bush, praising the author’s abilities and recounting how he has become like a member of the family.
A request for similar comment from President George W. Bush and his wife Laura was held up by the White House, apparently for fear it could be misconstrued as a product endorsement.
As a key member of the Bush household, De Guzman is privy to the family’s triumphs and disappointments but is a model of discretion in what he reveals.
Still, he couldn’t resist sharing an incident last spring in Houston that reinforces the need to have him around in the kitchen.
After De Guzman left for Kennebunkport to prepare Walker’s Point for the summer, the ex-president phoned from Houston to describe how his wife’s plan to make egg salad for the two of them triggered a kitchen disaster.
Barbara Bush set a dozen eggs to boil, went upstairs to read her e-mail and became distracted by a newly arrived fax. When the smoke alarm sounded, Secret Service agents rushed in to find the pot blackened and smoking and all the eggs exploded.
“The whole kitchen island, sink, stove, ovens, refrigerator and the ceiling above the stove were covered with egg whites, egg yolks and egg shells,” De Guzman recalled. George Bush stood atop the island countertop scrubbing and scraping egg stains off the ceiling.
The incident, left unmentioned in the book, was a source of laughs for months to come, De Guzman said.
AP-ES-01-07-06 0950EST
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