Dinner is Served

A Behind-the-Scenes Look at a State Dinner

Waiter delivering food at outdoor dinner (© Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images)

A waiter delivers the first course during a state dinner for German Chancellor Angela Merkel hosted by the Obamas in the Rose Garden June 7, 2011. (© Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images)

A waiter delivers the first course during a state dinner for German Chancellor Angela Merkel hosted by the Obamas in the Rose Garden June 7, 2011. (© Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images)

Roast sirloin of beef

Jimmy Carter waving, Menachem Begin, Anwar Sadat, first ladies (© AP)

President Jimmy Carter waves as he and first lady Rosalynn Carter, Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and his wife, Aliza, at left, and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and his wife, Jehan, pause before being seated at a state dinner March 26, 1979, celebrating the signing of a peace treaty between Egypt and Israel. (© AP)

President Jimmy Carter waves as he and first lady Rosalynn Carter, Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and his wife, Aliza, at left, and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and his wife, Jehan, pause before being seated at a state dinner March 26, 1979, celebrating the signing of a peace treaty between Egypt and Israel. (© AP)

You have great taste! President Jimmy Carter and first lady Rosalynn Carter served this meal, paired with cabernet sauvignon, to honor the leaders who signed the 1979 Egyptian-Israeli Peace Treaty, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin. The Carters served a kosher version of the meal to Begin and others who requested it.   

(White House Calligraphy Office/White House Historical Association)

(White House Calligraphy Office/White House Historical Association)

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