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1
Read About White House executive chef Cristela
Comerford
2
Early Life

• Cristeta Comerford went to school in the
  Philippines to learn about food technology. When
  she was 23, she moved to the United States.
  Later, she became an American citizen and began
  her cooking career in hotels near Chicagos
  OHare International Airport. Before becoming an
  assistant chef at the White House in 1995, she
  worked as a chef at two hotels in Washington, D.C.

3
Job of Executive Chef

• First Lady Laura Bush gave Comerford the job of
  executive chef at the White House in 2005.  Laura
  was the first woman and the person of Asian
  descent to hold this job. Comerford has worked at
  the White House for four presidents George W.
  Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump, and Joe Biden.
  She is married to John Comerford, who is also a
  chef, and they have a daughter together.
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4
Early Years

• Cristeta Comerford was born in the Philippines,
  in the city of Manila, on October 27, 1962. She
  grew up with six half-brothers, one half-sister,
  and three full sisters in the Sampaloc
  neighborhood of Manila. Her father, Honesto
  Pasia, was the principal of a school, and her
  mother, Erlinda Gomez, made clothes.

5
Cooking Skills

• Comerford said her mother was a great cook when
  she was a child, and she taught her daughters to
  value cooking skills. The farm where Comerfords
  grandparents lived meant that the family often
  had access to fresh food.

6
Education and Coming to the U.S

• Comerford went to the University of the
  Philippines-Diliman to study food technology. She
  left before finishing her degree because she got
  a visa from the United States, where her brother
  Juanito Pasia was already working. Comerford
  moved to the U.S. when she was 23. She came with
  several members of her family, who all arrived in
  Chicago.

7
Work as a Cook

• Comerfords brother called her salad girl
  because one of her first jobs was running the
  salad bar at a hotel near Chicagos OHare
  International Airport. She worked at another
  hotel near OHare before becoming a chef at Le
  Grande Bistro(Westin Hotel), and the Colonnade
  former ANA Hotel) both in Washington.

8
Traditional French Food

• Comerford also worked at Le Ciel in Vienna,
  Austria, as a chef tournant (also called a
  revolving chef) for six months. There, she
  learned how to cook traditional French food well.

9
Executive Chef Walter Scheib

• White House decision-making chef Walter Scheib
  III hired Comerford to work in 1995, in the White
  House as an assistant chef while Bill Clinton was
  in office. After George W. Bush became president,
  Laura Bush fired Scheib and started looking for a
  new head chef. Comerford was one of 450 people
  who wanted the job.

10
Executive Chef at the White House

• During the six-month search for a new executive
  chef, Comerford and another chef took care of the
  White Houses daily needs. She stayed in the
  running even after the number of applicants was
  cut down, and she showed off her skills by
  planning the menu for a dinner in July 2005 for
  the visiting prime minister of India. The next
  month, Laura Bush made Comerford the new
  executive chef at the White House.

11
Barack Obama became president

• Comerford kept his job as executive chef after
  Barack Obama became president. Soon after, First
  Lady Michelle Obama put a garden on the White
  House lawn, and Comerford started changing her
  menu to use the fresh ingredients. Its calling
  our names and saying, Hey, Im ready to be
  cooked today.'

12
Donald Trump President

• In 2014, when President Obama went to the
  Philippines for a state dinner, he praised
  Comerford for being one of the millions of
  Filipino-Americans who make a difference in the
  United States. After Obamas two terms, Comerford
  stayed on as executive chef while Donald Trump
  was president and when Joe Biden took over.

13
Join the Club des Chefs

• Comerford joined the Club des Chefs because she
  was the executive chef at the White House. This
  group is made up of chefs who work for
  presidents, royalty, and prime ministers. Society
  has meetings once a year where people share
  recipes and information about food.

14
Methods of Cooking

• Comerford doesnt use measurements when she
  cooks. Instead, she goes by how things taste and
  how long shes been cooking. Some of Comerfords
  recipes are in The New Filipino Kitchen Stories
  and Recipes from Around the World.

15
Family and Marriage

• John, Comerfords husband, is also a chef. She
  said that the support of her husband helped her
  do well in her job at the White House. They have
  a daughter named Danielle.