George Loved His Hoe Cakes, Beer; Abe A Light Eater

As Presidents Day approached, I found myself wondering: What did George and Abe like to eat?

Historians have dealt with the minds and motives of these men; I was interested in their palates. I wanted to know what they ate for breakfast, lunch and state occasions. I called researchers familiar with the lives and dietary habits of these men.

I learned that Washington was a fan of hoe cakes, hominy and home-brewed beer.

I learned that Lincoln was a great man, but a light eater. When his wife, Mary Todd, chided him about his diet, she wanted him to eat more, not less.

A typical breakfast for Washington was hoe cake pancakes made of cornmeal, cooked on a griddle and served swimming in butter and honey. After polishing off a plate of hoe cakes and a cup of unsweetened tea, Washington would usually hop on his horse and survey his Virginia plantation

In addition to his yen for hoe cakes, Washington had a soft spot for hominy, she said. In Washington’s time, the dish of dried, hulled corn kernels was often served to servants and slaves. But at Mount Vernon, hominy also showed up on the menu for the main meal, which was served at 3 p.m. to family and guests.

Washington also liked to eat a variety of fish caught in the Potomac River.

Like many men of his time, Washington brewed his own beer (although the actual work was probably done by the servants and slaves at Mount Vernon). A house recipe for a so-called “small beer” has survived. It calls for hops, molasses and yeast, and a week’s worth of patience waiting as the beer “works,” or ferments. If it were sold today, the brew probably would be called Big George’s Small Beer.

While Washington seemed to enjoy good food and drink, Lincoln did not seem to care.

“He was a real Spartan when it came to food,” said Michael Maione, site historian at Ford’s Theater in Washington, D.C. The few times in his writings that Lincoln mentions meals, the fare was a boiled egg, tea and fruit, Maione said.

Menus from Lincoln’s years in the White House describe elaborate meals. A White House feast in February 1862, for example, featured “stewed and scalloped oysters, stuffed turkey, aspic of tongue, canvas back duck, beef, ham, venison, pheasant, terrapin, jellies and ices.”

But, according to historians, Lincoln paid little notice to such spreads. “Food could be falling off the table, but he was not interested,” Maione said.

Burdened by the responsibilities of his office and troubled by digestive problems, Lincoln lost weight during his years in the White House. He was about 6 feet 4 inches tall and weighed about 180 pounds when he took office in 1861, and was down to about 160 pounds when he was assassinated in 1865.