Do you want to dine like the Queen of the Netherlands, dine like the President of Iceland, or graze like General Dwight D. Eisenhower? Discover the Alliance’s best culinary secrets Dive deep into the history of NATO’s first cookbook, The Best of Taste, published in 1957. A gem of Cold War-era culinary diplomacy, it offers a glimpse into each country’s cuisine. Emphasizes the diverse characteristics of the NATO members and transatlantic alliance at the time.
Don’t judge a book by its cover…but “The Best of Taste” has something very fitting! In red and blue, it depicts a naval chef straddling North America and Europe. It represents the transatlantic bond and the Sacrant’s role in protecting Allied sea lanes. To protect your books from cooking grease and stains, the hardcover is now water resistant and easy to clean.
Spilling the Beans: Revealing the Most Popular Confederate Recipes
As the saying goes, the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. The wives of officers at the headquarters of Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic (SACLANT), one of NATO’s former strategic commands, knew this well. Every month, one of them hosted a luncheon, serving her country’s traditional dishes and contributing to the promotion of diplomatic relations and informal friendships among the then 15 members of the alliance. When NATO was looking for an effective way to increase public awareness about her NATO, the SACLANT Officers’ Wives Club came up with the idea of publishing a collection of delicious recipes from each country of the Allied countries.
The project began in 1955 and was led by the newly established SACLANT NATO Cookbook Committee. The committee included wives of officers from eight NATO countries. Phyllis Wright, wife of Admiral Gerald Wright of the Second Sacrant, spearheaded this effort. The committee asked for “excellent, unusual and delicious recipes adapted to modern life” from the country through a bold-labeled memorandum instructing police officers to “take this note home to her wife.” .
Selling like hotcakes: Cookbook publications
On November 26, 1957, in Washington, D.C., the SACLANT Officers’ and Ladies’ Club first formally introduced “The Best of Taste: The Finest Cuisines of 15 Countries.” 244 pages of mouth-watering recipes from 15 NATO countries (Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Turkiye, UK, and USA). Selling for his $4.00, the cookbook literally had step-by-step instructions for making dishes fit for kings and queens. In drafting the cookbook, the wives not only submitted their own recipes, but also solicited recipes from others, including King Paul of Greece, Queen Juliana of the Netherlands, and Grand Duchess Charlotte of Luxembourg. General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the first Supreme Allied Commander in Europe (and by then President of the United States), also contributed to the cookbook with his favorite recipes (see below). Eisenhower admitted, “The subject matter was interesting, and it caused some despair for the doctors who couldn’t understand why I always wanted to eat things I didn’t want them to eat.”
“The Best of Taste” proved to be not only an effective and delicious diplomatic tool, but also an attractive deal for young people interested in NATO. All royalties from sales went to the NATO Fellowship and Scholarship Fund, established in 1955 to provide scholarships to students studying subjects related to NATO and the North Atlantic region.
NATO Cookbook Overview
This cookbook has several sections: appetizers, soups, seafood, meat, poultry and game, salads and vegetable dishes, breads, casserole dishes, and desserts. It provides cooking tips for serving during luncheons and outdoor picnics, and teaches future cooks sauces, relishes, jams, and even traditional dishes for specific holidays, such as Easter. In addition, the preface includes essays on wine and other alcoholic beverages from NATO countries to help organizers select and serve the appropriate drinks for each cuisine.
The cookbook lists recipes endorsed by Allied leaders under a special section titled “Heads of State.”
Cake decoration: illustration
As well as a variety of recipes, the cookbook also features light-hearted illustrations by Tessa Cody, wife of a Royal Air Force officer at Sacrant Headquarters. The talented Cody created interesting images for each section, including a cow’s head on a winking horse for meat, a mouse sneaking crumbs for bread, and a witch carrying a cauldron astride a broom for soup. .
To help future chefs prepare for any event, the cookbook includes suggested menus for a variety of international occasions. From a Canadian formal dinner to a German Christmas Eve, from a Norwegian cold cut table to a Portuguese tea party and a traditional American Thanksgiving, the menu is also paired with complimentary drinks. The Best of Taste brings together some of the most authentic national dishes, including Belgian cheese croquettes, Denmark’s roast duck, Turkey’s stuffed peppers and England’s Yorkshire pudding.
of Crème de la Crème: The best recipes from the NATO cookbook
Variety is the spice of life. Now you, too, can use the recipes below to put together a menu that showcases the diversity of your early alliances!
In January 1968, more than ten years after the cookbook’s release, the SACLANT Officers’ and Wives’ Club decided to officially discontinue its publication, having, in their opinion, achieved that policy. Nevertheless, many of the recipes they meticulously collected for ‘The Best of Taste’ have stood the test of time and remain beloved national dishes.
Download the entire cookbook.
