related to the battle fought 100 years ago. >> the weather was horrible, it was rainy. the americans launched the attack heading north in the direction of where we are standing. unbeknownst to them, the germans, who it occupied this, had begun a withdrawal and there were starting to move their troops but they did not move quick enough. by the end of the day, the americans reached not only the main objective for that day but many of the objectives for the following day. 13,idmorning of september it had been liberated. >> watch american artifex, sunday at 6:00 p.m. eastern on c-span3. next, former white house executive pastry chef roland messnier recalls serving five

presidents over a quarter century. he spoke to the white house historical association conference i attended by descendents of presidents from james monroe to gerald ford. good afternoon. hi, everybody. i've been coming around to say hi to you. if i got up to the stage, i needed a round of applause. [applause] and the reason is i creamed my foot about six weeks ago, and this is my first outing and first walking up steps, and only for roland mesnier would i climb steps. good afternoon on behalf of the white house historical association. welcome to the 2018 presidential site summit. we're delighted you're here and we look forward to many partnerships when the summit is over. i'm ann stock, a member of the association board.

roland is getting nervous because he is afraid of what i'm going to say. here is my plug. any time this week, stop by our shops and buy, buy, buy. [laughter] you knew i would have to say that. there is a pop-up one right outside where we're eating, there is a full line store across pennsylvania avenue in the white house visitors center, and there is another full line store at 1610 eighth street. stop by in the of them. show your id and you'll receive a 10% discount. and now the real reason i'm here. i had the great pleasure of working with our next guest speaker, chef roland mesnier, for the first five years of the clinton administration. i was the white house social secretary, and he was the executive pastry chef, and i still hold him responsible for the weight that i put on while working there. and i mean it.

it was about 10 pounds. i used to sneak over there every day. roland is a world-renowned pastry chef and author who has held important positions in the most prestigious hotels. the savoyan london, the george frank in paris and the green briar in west virginia. he served five -- count them -- five extraordinary presidents. jimmy carter, ronald reagan, george h.w. bush, bill clinton and george w. bush. and i think that deserves a round of applause. [applause] to many of us, he was also a very good friend and trusted colleague, and here's where i got in trouble, who was already ready with a cookie, a truffle, a piece of cake or sliver of pie no matter what else was going on in the white house that week.

and when it comes to creativity, well, i may be a little bit biased, but few match roland in that department. over the years, everyone from local head tourists to global heads of state have marvelled at his creations. his holiday gingerbread houses were consistently amazing, whether modelled on the president's boyhood homes, the first ladies, or even socks the cat. and when president and mrs. clinton hosted the first dinner for their majesties, the emperor and empress of japan, roland was ready. did his research, taking inspiration from the cherry trees on the tidal basin here in washington, and he created what he called cherry sorbet. but believe me, this dessert was anything but simple. picture a foot-tall, hand-blown sugar cherry with white almond

ice cream, california danish -- california bing cherries, and yes, cherry sorbet nestled inside a chocolate basket with bamboo handles and hand-painted marzipan cookies made to look like sushi completed the masterpiece. it was a work of art. her majesty was so enraptured that she asked to meet roland and congratulate him personally. i was scared to death because i thought something was wrong when she called people over, but she just wanted to say congratulations on the beautiful dessert. she was far from his last admirer. my mouth is still watering thinking about the beautiful, clever and always, always delicious concoctions this man created. please join me in welcoming my friend and chef extraordinaire, the incomparable roland mesnier.

[applause] chef mesnier: this is the tricky part.

this thing goes down a little bit no? , remember, i'm just a pastry chef. i'm not an engineer or anything of that kind. >> that good for you? chef mesnier: the papers may fly everywhere, i do not know. good morning, everyone. welcome to the beautiful capital city of washington, d.c. hotel. beautiful willard mesnier and iand was the executive pastry chef at the white house and served five presidents. you know, to get into the white house, you know everybody wants

to work at the white house until they get the job. then they don't know what to do with it. i really mean it. that's the truth. you have to understand this job is very scary because of the people you are serving. you are no longer serving just anybody like in a hotel or whatever. you're serving people that have achieved great things in life, that have had great jobs, so you better be on the same level with your food. i also served numerous emperors, kings, heads of state. when i started at the white house, i was already in that line of work for 20 years, learning under the best chefs available in paris, france,

germany, and specially the hotel that i always mention because that used to be known as the number one hotel in the world. it still exists today but i think i lost its luster to the years because now it's part of a chain. in those days the savoy was owned by family. big difference. big difference. and the customers, the guests that we were feeding at the savoy in those days, just to give you a short list, we had a lot of people from hollywood, of course. frank sinatra, audrey hepburn, gregory peck. we also had the royal family all the time. the queen -- i served the queen of england a long time ago for the first time and many, many

more after that. also we had like liz taylor, , charlton heston, james cagney. and we had jackie kennedy coming for dinner but at the time she wasn't a kennedy any more. she was still jackie kennedy but she was not married anymore. the president had passed away. onassis would come and have dinner by himself, not by himself, with his girlfriend at the time, which was molly calas, the opera singer. so this was the caliber of people we fed every day at the savoy. we had a customer at the savoy that was a billionaire. this man when he came, he always had to reserve a big table and he expected every time at the

end of the meal to receive an enormous tray filled with chocolates and cookies and all that. he expected it. he did not order it. this man, when that tray came to his table what he did. one kind of cookies needed to be on there all the time. he would pick one up and set it on the table, and the table at the savoy were padded and the cookie had to shatter into pieces. if the cookie didn't break, he would call the butler and say, take this garbage out of here. i do not wanted. it is not good. didn't even taste it. so, you know, the pressure was on. the pressure was on. and in the center of this big silver tray, there was always a

beautiful sugar display. just to give you a taste of what the savoy was. it was an exceptional place to work and i learned so much there. after that, i was the pastry chef for the princess hotel in bermuda, and i was also the pastry chef for the governor's palace in bermuda. i also -- you know, the princess was owned by then the richest man in the world. he had tankers that brought oil to the united states and many other business. he was a real businessman let me , tell you.

when i was doing the scene of acapulco, we also had the millionaire also that died at the hotel. we had to feed him. i have his name here somewhere but my papers got rearranged. my paper is not exactly the best. what was his name? walt hughes. remember walt hughes? he rented the top floor of the hotel and we fed him. he didn't want to see anybody. we fed him under the door. every plate of food needed to fit under the door. every window was boarded up. that was the end of the life of this man. so, you know, all sorts of crazy

things was asked for him to live on. and then after that, i came back to france for a while. the pastry chef at the george cinq hotel which was privately owned, family owned. i worked in paris. i was in bermuda by popular demand. the homestead hotel was my next job where i spent five years, and this is where my family and i started our lives in the united states. i also was was a consultant to the greenbrier hotel for six years. so those were very significant places, jobs, where quality needed to be. not just anyone could walk there and say, oh, i'm going to be the pastry chef here tomorrow. no, no, no, you needed to really be experienced in many, many

ways. by the way, after my speech, i will take some question, if you need clarification on something. carter went to spoil it for me. because i was very happy at the homestead. and some of her staff were coming to the homestead regularly and saw my work and approached me one day and said, roland, mrs. carter looking for pastry chef. why don't you apply? i said, no, i'm very happy here. i don't want to go to washington. i understand there's a mental problem in washington and i'm not about to get that disease. so i'm staying away from that place. so, fine, a few weeks later, they come back in the hotel and they start again on me. when are you going to come? i said, oh, man,

please, i already told you, no interest. so a couple of time. and then one time, they call me, december '79, they call me at my house, the white house called my house and said, roland, i'm going to bring an employment sheet and i want you to fill it in, if you don't mind. and also, mrs. carter, wish for you to come to the white house. that was a trick! so anyway, i accepted. and those days, i drove all the way from virginia to downtown d.c. to visit the white house. now, i was driving in a 1965 dodge dart, avocado green. not the prettiest thing to bring down to d.c., let me tell you. but, you know, the nicest thing, those days, they let me drive on pennsylvania

avenue. they opened the big gate to drive right in, and they asked me to park my avocado under the colonnade. is that beautiful or what? i say, i start to like this place, you know? if i get a job here, i get to park here every day. no, that didn't last that long. well, anyway, took a tour of the white house, and you should be on the tour welcoming me, mrs. carter, with opening arm, she was so nice. gave me a hug and she said, come with me, we need to talk. so she pulled me on the side over there and with the social security delayed eded gretchen posten, a very, very nice lady. and we talked, and that's when mrs. carter asked me if i would like to take the job for a little bit. so you cannot say no to the president. you cannot say no to the first lady. i said, madam, yes, i will give you five years, maybe, and then we'll see. okay, that's good,

that's good. so gretchen posten, the social secretary reminded mrs. carter that i was not an american citizen. i was on green card. i was legal. green card. so, so, mrs. carter said to gretchen, said, listen, gretchen. i want him and i want him bad, do you understand? and now. so don't worry about that. i'll fix it when he comes to the white house. and sure enough, if you wonder why i love mrs. carter very much, because of what i'm going to tell you next, because one day, surprise, surprise, i'm working in the white house kitchen. this dude show up from nowhere, tap me on the shoulder, and he said, get into that car that's outside,

there's a black limousine, get into the car. i have no idea where he's taking me, i have no idea what's dpoik to -- going to happen. so he's taking me near the train station to some offices, and in an office where the guy start to ask me, what's about the american government and all the questions and so i said, man, i don't know nothing. very simple, i don't know nothing. and he was getting very irritate irritated with me. he said, who you know who the president is? i said, sure, i see him every day, his name is jimmy carter. good, you pass the test! i was ready to say, what test are you testing me what for? and so, after that, he said, get back in the car. so they drove me back downtown -- not downtown, but in alexandria, thank you. alexandria. and this

lady is waiting for me on the doorstep, carrying a bible. i said, who died? she said, no, no kid -- no jokes, no jokes, there's business here. put your hand on the bible and repeat after me. i said, sure, i did just that. congratulations, you are an american citizen! well, ladies and gentlemen, ladies and gentlemen, only in america you leave your house in the morning as a foreigner, come back as an american citizen. is that a beautiful country or what? [ applause ] and this is why mrs. carter has been in my heart all my life. as a matter of fact, i was able to do something very special, not last year for their wedding anniversary, i think, i forgot, if you are 70 or something, they were celebrating where the navy is, what is the town? indianapolis, thank you. and i -- with a friend of mine,

we made a wedding cake. she did not know -- the president did not know, and we showed up at desert time and entered the room with this wedding cake. and those two were so happy. first of all, to see me again after so many years. gave me big hug and everything. and the president and mrs. carter were in fantastic shape, let me tell you. for all what they've done, all their life, and i love those people. they are very honest, be very nice, very, very nice. you know, i was at the white house. you know, as a pastry chief, we leave a lot of -- not directly, because we're not allowed to do, and i'm glad that's the case, because too many people will take advantage of that. and we're not allowed at the white house to show our faces. we are there to take care to have the

president and first lady, regardless of the party they represent and whoever they're thought of. and let me tell you, to be able to do, to present them with this cake, it meant so much to me, and for them. it was really fantastic. and the president and mrs. carter were so happy. i remember when they walked into the home that day, after working all day, they were working all day, and they both went on the dance floor for 20 minutes, no stop. at their age and everything, this is fantastic, you know, absolutely fantastic. so -- and every president that i served is giving me different stories, if you will, true story. this is what i want to be very sure they

understand. i do not speak in public to repeat what people told me, unless i lived it, unless it happened with me, i will not repeat it. the same for all my books. i have wrote seven books, eight books, i think number eight is in making. but i was really on top of thing to make sure what is printed is the truth and the fact. there's many white house book out there, many. and some of them, i wouldn't even use them to put it on the bottom of my bird cage. that's just as good as it is. because lie after lie. they make up story to be interesting, because they didn't have anything else to put there. i said -- when i start writing books, i told people who bought my books, if you see something in my book that is not correct, let me know. i want you to know, while i'm still waiting, okay? it's been 15 years now. so just

to say, it has to be because i figure that we are doing this story here. this is his story. that's what the young people will hear. and whatever they read about certain first lady and president has to be very, very actual, very correct. so that's why that's something that i would never, never pass without doing that. the -- you know, as i said, the white house is a very intimidating place. i always had the fear of failing. my first year on the job, most people in the white house thought that i was probably an arrogant man, because i didn't speak to nobody. that had nothing to do with arrogance. it has to do with failing, because i needed to concentrate like this. you know, talking about that, i am amazed today where we're going here. i think there's some young people here, but let me tell you one thing. and this is what i

see when i travel and this is also is factual. you go to a restaurant or somewhere, you ask a waitress or a waiter for three things, she will have two hung and the last one she will forget it. most will say, i didn't order that, never mentioned it. and what is this? oh, i'm sorry -- oh, they're big on sorry, have you noticed? sorry is a cheap word now. sorry, sorry, everybody's sorry and nobody's sorry. that's what bother me. because when i said "i'm sorry," i mean it. i really mean it. you know, i was raised and brought up from -- i was brought in a very poor family in france, nine children, very tiny house. we had no electricity and no running water in that house. but trust me, when we were told to do something, you didn't forget. because if you did, you never forgot after that. they made sure, put it in your head that you would never forget. today, everything is, oh, okay, who

cares? enjoy yourself, man. enjoy yourself. whether you want -- oh, don't worry, you'll never know the difference. just take it to the table. i am not happy in that. i like to spend good money on something, but i also expect something in return. and people are not focusing, not focusing at all. most on the job. you know why? hello, darling, is that you? did you enjoy last night? okay, good-bye. i can't talk now. boom. this is enough. you know when i was at the white house, i was a very strict boip.y. when i hired somebody, i would say, i want you to listen and listen good, because i am only going to say it once, if i have to say it again, you will be taking the door and never coming again. it's up to you. that's your decision. i said, you start at 8:00 to work. i don't want you to roll in with a can of coke in your hand or talk about the

other guy, about what you did last night. there's no importance here. here, we work. here we are here to produce the best we can. and i need you to have all of your concentration to do that. and if i have to remind you of that, then you're not any good to me. so you decide if you want to stay here or if you want to go. very simple. and you know i have noticed one thing, that most people work best when someone set some rigorous line and establish those guidelines and make sure they are respected. this is enough of this baloney thing to play, you know, you turn the old dance now, now they dance. i said, great, that would feed -- that's going to feed the people, the new dancing. you know, we need -- you need to dissect dissect, here now, it's

a time where you have to be serious and do a job. when that is over, i don't care what you do with your life. you want to dance? go dance! but not in here. and you know, i had a young woman who worked for me a little bit and she was kind of losing hair. i would find hair in pastry. is it disgusting? can you imagine if this hair happened to go to the first lady, the president, or some guest? so i pull her aside, and lady, the president, or some i said, tomorrow morning, i want you to come with the hair net. chef, why? why? that's going to -- my coiffure is going to be damaged. i said, if you want me to damage it, i can do it right now. no problem. no, hair net. she showed up the next day, no hair net. and she -- the same day she was going to a competition and she asked me if

she could bring a piece of cake to me to taste, to see if it was good enough for the competition. i cut into this cake, what is the first thing i pull out of the cake? i said, now, do you want a picture of this thing? you know what that is? so, do me a favor, take your tool, go home, don't come back. that was it. that was it! but just to say, you need -- you see, today, you know, i could solve solve, ladies and gentlemen, in no time, i could solve 50% of your crisis, that you read the paper and you read the crisis, i could -- i could put it out there and tell -- i tell my wife, she can tell you, she's right there, i don't lie to her. i said, i know exactly what happened there. i will tell -- i know what happened! this has nothing to do -- but you know, in washington, the remedy to everything is more money. we need more money. you

know what? i want to be very honest with you. money stinks. i don't have any money. never had, never will, and i don't want care. i'm a happy man. because i do my job the right way. i want to produce the best i can. whatever we put in front of the president and first lady, i always wanted it to be so well received. and i always thought, if i can give them a sweet moment with my dessert, when they go through so much every day, and also the beat up they get every single day. i mean, which president did not get beat up? i don't know. i'm sorry to

say there's something very wrong with this thought, very wrong. very wrong. i could solve -- and you know what? most of the time, the thing that i say, months ahead to my wife, two pronsmonths later, there it is, and i say, remember what i told you? there it is! we could have saved two months of headache if they had just come to roland. but you know, i'm not bragging about myself. i was just raised a different way. very much a different way. money was not the main objective. money usually is what weill rot something, definitely, to the core. as long as you have enough money to live on, what the hell do you care? do you need three car, five, car, six car? do you drive all of them at the same time? i don't know. you're a genius somehow. but it is very important to me. and i have -- and all what i'm telling you now, all what i'm telling you now is going into the food business the same. that's why i was -- i never went to school to learn how to bake. i learn on-the-job training. working in some great hotel for some great chef. and those chef, they were

just like i describe i was at the white house. either, if you want to stay here, this is what you need to do, okay? and so on. so, but anyway, just to give you -- i want to give you a couple of line on what's going on in the food business. have you noticed all these terms that they use, that most of the which he was don't even know what they mean. especially they use french term that they say, i know they don't know what they -- they don't know nothing about french. but they just want to impress you. you know, cuisine couture, you know what that is? i saw it on a menu not too long ago. cuisine couture. you know what couture is? it has to do with clothes. so do day sew a steak together? i don't know. now, you know, cuisine aboutier. you know

what that is? a slaughterhouse. is that something you want to hear right before you eat? the famous tuna cassarale, which is nothing but a tuna casserole. and i know you watch that chef on tv, that want to impress you. in america, if we ever have a shortage of cheese, i think there will be a revolution like we have never seen. have you notice? have you seen those guys that cook on tv. there is cheese solidly in every dish by the ton. they used to be worried about cholesterol. no more! cholesterol is good for you. eggs, don't eat eggs, you're going to die. now eggs are fabulous for you. they're feeding you baloney every single day, but you are eating it with the biggest spoon you can find. that's the shame. nobody ever stood up and said, excuse me, chef, you just say that, but i didn't think that was correct. i have read differently. i have known differently. oh, no, no,

no, we eat it with a big spoon, you know? now can i predict to you the restaurant of the future, they're going to weigh you on the way in, weigh you on the way out and charge you for the difference. remember when you used to eat and you had a nice tablecloth and nice flower and silverware that was so shiny. where is it today? today, have you seen waiters when they clean, or a waiter when they clean the table? the old wood table, no tablecloth. they come with a wet one and push the garbage on one side, push it there, so the table stick, you get stuck to the table, because of the dirt. but you are -- oh, my god, my -- oh, no, this is -- you know that -- you pretend to be somebody that knows this, but you don't. you really don't. what's wrong with the tablecloth? you know, remember in france in the old days, every

table at tablecloths. they were made of paper. and do you know when the meal was over, you asked the waiter for the bill, the guy took his pen, and he wrote it right on a napkin, he tore the piece and said, there is your bill. then you put a new one, there was clean tablecloth every time on your table. i mean, have we progressed or not? no. we have progressed for people that don't care to make an effort. don't care to work. that, we protect all the way. but a professional, and you know to do something great, something good. if it's in food or anything, you know very well it takes hard work, concentration. and you have to dedicate yourself. you know, when i was at the white house, as i said, i don't care who was, who was the president and what -- that didn't mean nothing to me. the only time, the only time i had fun with that, one day at the --

it was during the george w. bush presidency, i said, i am going to prove that republican and democrats can have a good time together. so i created a desert, which is in one of my books. it's an tellelephant made of blown sugar, no mold, from freehand, and a donkey, blown sugar, sitting on his back, the same elephant, with a front leg extended and there is a sugar tray there and thea dessert on top of that. a huge dessert. and that was all made of blown sugar, donkey or elephant, and again, no mold involved, all shaped as you blow. try it some

day and come back and tell me what you think. so anyway, the desertsert came in and i said, my kboshgosh, we're going to hear something here. and not a peep in the dining hall. and i said, whoa, what's going on? so then the dining room went crazy, flash going off, everybody laughing, having a great time. well, one of the guys, one of the guests, got the idea, the bright idea to take his knife at the end and decapitate an elephant. boom. i don't care, because i don't really use that stuff. and then the democrat, the republican took his knife, and boom, decapitate the donkey, and they did that at every single table. remember, we had one dessert per table. there must have been 15, 16, 17 -- they were having a ball. bang, bang, bang. they all came back, no head, buttery liked it. i said, they thought was going to be mad. i said, why should i be mad? that was made for you. and i'm glad for once

the democratn republican and democrat can get along together for five minutes, at least five minutes. so for me, that was a real success. well, ladies and gentlemen, i think i need to stop, right? i want to take questions, because i stole all the timing. i don't know. we take question, okay. because the question will -- any question you have, remember, i am very knowledgeable about everything. about money problem, sexual problem, car problem. what is it, sexual car or -- [ laughter ] my staff, oh, that's a good question. you -- you're not going to believe me. you're going to think i'm lying. when i started at the white house, i had zero staff. not even a part-time helper. and i had no

pastry shop, no pastry kitchen. i was in the main kitchen with the cooks and the main kitchen at the white house would have been about, let's see, from this table over there, come here, square. that was about it. now as a pastry chef, try to work with chocolate when the chef is browning meat on the stove. impossible to do, okay? and so that was very hard. anyway, i made it work for seven years. seven years, i did that. and after seven years, i had enough. i went to see mr. gary waters, who was the head usher. very good man, very good man. and i said, listen, sir, i cannot continue to work like this. because with each president, by the way, the workload got stronger, bigger. and i said, i'm not putting a knife under

your throat or anything, but i said, if i cannot -- if you tell me that i cannot have a pastry kitchen, i will be leaving. i have a job waiting for me. pastry kitchen? yes, you will get it. and i said, i also need a serious raise. my wife can tell you, she never saw me. she never saw me. we have a son, i don't even know when that happened. i hope you remember. it's a joke. but, no, it's true! my wife was disappointed many time. we never did anything. we couldn't do anything. my wife was centered with the white house. she can tell you. 12, 14, 15 hours a day was not uncommon. i would say to her, next weekend

we go out to dinner. i would come home say, no, no dinner, i have to go to the white house. president and first lady are celebrating something tonight. and i would not -- i could not have done it any other way. this is not possible for me. i would not have enjoyed myself. so, you know, the -- so i ask my boss, i said, i also need a serious raise, because i had two jobs. all my life, i had two jobs. i was not only at the white house, the executive pastry chef, but i'm the one that catered the first professional pastry program in washington, d.c. okay. i started that. and we were producing about 20 chefs a year, because there was no pastry chef in washington. so i did that for ten years. so i told mr. gary water, i said, i cannot do that anymore. i cannot do two jobs. i would be finishing at the white house some night at 11:00 after a state dinner and them go home, sleep a couple of hours, and back to the white house the next day, and then that evening, probably to the school to teach

for four, five horse.urs. so that was a very rough time for me, very rough time. so anyway, he said, yes, to the pastry kitchen and the raise. and after a while, i was not hearing from him and i said, you haven't come back to me about the money. are you paying me something? he said, you know, because i want to -- he said, yes, it's going to be good, substantial. it was, it was, he kept his promise. and then the pastry kitsch, he start saying to me, walk around the white house and try to find a spot where we can do it. and i'll help you do it. he kept his promise, he was a very good man. so the -- we did come to that. i

so the -- we did come to that. i got a plan and then there was another usher at the white house, dennis freemeyer, his name was, and he was also an engineer. so he was good to work with for the equipment the space and all of that. and i have the pictures, not with me today of my equipment. all of my equipment was to brought up with a cane in front of white house. they removed the last window to the right to be able to bring my equipment into the place. it was small, very tiny. there was one elevator to go up there, also very tiny, and the stair consist was one of those spiral one, lake on the submarine submarine, but it was better than nothing, and it worked for me very well. and later on, mr. water even gave me an additional home which we turned into the chocolate home at the white house, which we did a lot of chocolate candy and everything. so everything is possible if you give it time, if your heart is in it. and the white house, i always say, was a place made for me pip loved to

work there, because they let me really produce whatever i wanted to. but all of my dessert had significance somewhere. you know, like when we did -- sometimes, let's say a dessert for italy. i find something special around that up to and that would be duplicated in pastry, of course. maybe to decorate the tray of the pastry and everything. i mean, i did that all the time. all the time, all the time. and that's what -- you know, one of the first lady that was very, very tough, if i would say on thing, she was great. i loved to work for her, because she knew what she wanted, that's nancy reagan. trust me you better do what she asked you to do and do it the right way. and that's nothing

wrong there. again, i love to work for people like this. i would rather do that than people, oh, i don't know, i'm not too sure, we don't want that, i don't want that and i remember very quickly, and then i'll take the question, okay? the last one, with mrs. reagan, we are some day noon at the white house, we're going to have on tuesday the queen of the netherlands, and you know the netherlands is known for its tulip, the beautiful tulip over there. anyway, i had already shown nancy reagan two desserts which she said, roland, no. you know, nancy reagan, i studied her very early on. she's an interesting character. when she was going to give you the zinger, her head also booped to the right. and she even did that to the reporter on television. when the reporter would ask a question and i would see nancy

going, oh, i said, man, you don't know what's coming. i am having a chill in my spine for you, man. i feel for you, man. and sure enough, nancy, boom. she was good. she -- i loved her to death. i loved her to death. you know, i say that i became the pastry chef that i am because of nancy reagan. and i mean it. every time win, i mean it. because she was sold on what she wanted it, and that was it. you better make your research -- anyway. that time, then we -- sunday noon, the dinner is going to be tuesday night. she also rejected two desserts. too many things going on in my head at the same time. and she's having lunch at the solarium in the white house, a beautiful room and a very long table there for sympathetic else. and the president was eating in one hand and nancy reagan at the other hand, eating lunch. so when i came with the dessert, nancy reagan look at the dessert, and

oh, i said, man, brace yourself, man. and roland, that's not going to do. and she could never tell you why. but that's not going to do. president reagan came to my rescue. he said, he said, honey -- he was talking to his wife, not to me. he said, honey, leave the chef alone. that's a beautiful dessert. and so, nancy reagan looked up to the president and said, honey, eat your soup. this is not your problem. so he went down and ate his soup. well, i don't care. that's not my thing. although they did have a wonderful marriage, you know that. so then i went down to the kitchen and you know, one word came to mind, suicide. i said, if there is a stockpot on the stove boiling hot, i am probably going to jump in. because i don't know -- and

i was fairly new in the white house, maybe a year, year and a half. and i said, you know, it's going to be a short stay. so i am really in despair. i mean, despair. and the phone rings, it's mrs. reagan. she said, roland, come back to the solarium, i know exactly what i want to do. i said, oh, man, i rush upstairs. i get there and she says, roland, here is what you're going to do. she said, you know netherlands is nope for the tulip. i want you to make sugar batsket. a basket made of sugar, that big, one per table, with a beautiful handle. and on the handle, i want you to put four tulip on each handle. and i also want this basket to be filled with homemade assorted sorbet and ice cream and fresh fruit. it was in spring time. i said, mrs. reagan, this is

beautiful. i do agree. and remember, i was the only pastry man at the white house those days. and i would have to make 15, 16 of those and it's sunday noon. so i told mrs. reagan, i said, madame, this is madame, it's only two days left before the dinner. here comes the challenge. roland, correction, you have two days and two nights. you know, i still have the chill in my back today, right now as we speak, and i said, yes, madame, thank you very much. and i went back to my kitchen and start cooking sugar. for some of you who don't know what a sugar basket is, it's all made of sugar. we weave it like a basket and all. you can -- in my book "dessert university,"

there is a sketch that shows you how to make sugar basket. and then you have to make four tulip basket, so times 15. you can count how many sugar tulip that is. plus, i have to make cookies and many, many other things. the rest of the business don't stop, because of that. so she said, i have two days and two nights. now, ladies and gentlemen, here is when you know proud is. because, of course, it did happen and happened well. and she got so many compliments and when i -- on my way home that night, i did not know i had that much strength in me, but i said, this is what courage is. that's what is when you have passion for something. you're not going to say, oh, i don't have time. i have to play with the computer.

or, no, not possible, i'm be myself. no, no, i wouldn't even -- i would have felt less than a human being if i'd done that. i said, mrs. reagan, yes, it's going to happen. and it did happen. it did happen. and there are pictures of those desserts in some of my books. and you know, i was so proud. i said, this is what pride is. you know, you're not born with pride in you. pride is something you cultivate, cultivate all the time and this is why i said, nancy reagan made me who i am. because i said, i want this feeling again. when we do the next dinner, i want to feel that feeling again! and it worked for me. and if it did not work this way, i would not feel very good for myself. question, now,

question. anybody question, please? yes, young man? remember what i said earlier, when someone talk to you, listen, especially if you're a waiter or an engineer, it doesn't matter. because you see the... the dessert that you got the most compliments on? well, i would say the dessert that i describe about the emperor of japan. i wanted to

create a dessert for the emperor of japan that nobody really knows what it is until they dig into it. there was a big bowl that was supposed to look like an oversized chaise, red. the size of a soccer ball. that ball needed to be cut in half. that's not an easy task, to cut sugar in half, very brittle. those two half-bowls were placed on a disk of white chocolate while it was still soft. so it looks like the cherries is open. and inside, i placed a round bowl of almond ice cream, which is white. now, follow me here, that's the important thing. and then in the middle of that, there was another bowl that was made of the cherry sorbet, which is deep

red. now, just picture, please, whoever give me the right answer, i give you the key. if you dig into that white bowl, because you see, the guests at the white house -- now, it was a dessert for a table of ten. remember, the guests serve themselves. people serve themselves. if you go into that white bowl, what's going to appear? thank you, sir, you win the cadillac. the flag of japan. i wanted to do something a little bit that is not just a dessert, but that was perfectly round inside, you dig into it, there is the flag of japan. and then after that, we serve a dessert of chocolate that was shaped like sushi. all sweet, very nice. so, can you imagine, just

picture the job. and the dinner for japan was pretty big, i think maybe 200. that was -- oh, well! but who's counting? and you have to come -- well, that would have been -- i would make enough for 20 tablses. to 20 of those bowls to make. and at the white house, i have no place to work! remember, i have to store this stuff. because the sugar, after you make sugar, if you don't use it, it gets sticky, especially a day two days, sugar does not like humidity. so i needed to have enough space to store. and after when we were cutting in half and so on and mount it in the chocolate, still needed to be stored. and now that's even larger. so that was -- and then you have to -- another thing you have to really plan well is the ice cream when it comes to the table has to be perfectly soft.

you don't want anybody to go, start poking the thing. when you go like this. so the timing, everything has to be worked out. so that was, for me, the dessert that i was most proud. there was so many components you had to work on. show less text i want to add one more thing. the dinner was in the rose garden, so there was humidity from outside. so the timing on this was absolutely critical. or we would have had a melted mess. yes, yes. thank you, ann, thank you, exactly. but, you know, for me, the more difficult task i have, the more proud i feel. you understand that? many people say, oh, too difficult. oh, i don't know why you bother. why i bother, for my inside, my

feeling. and try it some day, to be proud, it feels good. it feels good. you know and with the year passing at the white house, i learned to love the first family at the white house, the president and the first lady, whoever they were. and you know win served five. and all -- many times, people ask me the same question, which one were you favorite? i said, they are all my favorite. and they say, you are a good politician. it has nothing to do with politics, it is the truth. it is truth. they all were absolutely fantastic, fantastic, with me, first lady, president, no problem, you know? and so many time, i had conversation with some -- and i can assure you another thing. during all my year in the white house, i have seen every president and first lady cry, seen them cry, and i've seen them laugh. and i tell you one thing, it gets right here. i gets right to your heart. because the first family become your family. you know, many times when i first come to the white house, i put like guidelines for me in my head. i

said, if the president or first lady was attacked, would you put your body to shield them? that's not even a question. it's not even a question that i would do that in a minute. you know, this is enough of beating people on the head. you don't achieve thing like this. trust me, compliment, tap on the back really solve a lot of crisis. and i was 26 in this position and i know, and i would have never, never have the president or first lady have a deception on what they were expecting and so on. so my work, any profession was very important to me. this is why television and all of that, i couldn't care

less. all these poor souls there that go on the food network and stuff, do they know what they're doing? do they know it's a shame what they're doing? do they know that they are telling you stuff that is not true? like, do you know now when they do some sugar on television, do you know what they use? there's not one ounce of sugar in it. i will tell you what they use. you know a a the timing and everything. and everything was about timing. and it was beautiful. so we have come tonight to the dinner. i knew it, it never came up. i said, man, well, a different word. but i mean, honestly, here, the guests are going to come in. because a souffle that

i didn't finish her last question. why you retire? >> because i was going downhill physically.

a 16 hour day will catch up with you. i was really in bad shape. wifeay as sat down with my and i think we need to decide on a day i need to stop this. i cannot do that anymore. created,f the style i don't tell me to do simpler things. i cannot do that. that is why. there was a question here i didn't answer. did the sugar ever stick did the souffle not rise? no problem with sugar, but the souffle is an interesting one. that did happen once. it wasn't even out of my control. we were doing a hot raspberry souffle which is delicious. the recipe i use, the dessert could be a diet dessert if you

will because it is a wonderful recipe. made with fresh raspberries and everything. i forgot which country. i put that on the menu. i wanted the hot raspberry souffle. at the white house, we made a big souffle. two per table. i tested the recipe. checked it out, tested and the timing and everything. everything was about timing. here comes the night of the dinner. andtarted the egg white never came up.

i said man, or i had a different word. [laughter] a souffle that size needs over an hour debate. at least. a white house dinner takes less than an hour. throw those away and we watched the bowl and started over. we started again and it didn't come up again. the clock is ticking. at the white house, when they come for dessert you cannot say i need another 10 minutes. you cannot do that. that butler wants to hear his speak up. we were cracking eggs again and theed the ball when i heard executive chef and the

about thehip talking man been made on that machine that morning. do you know him many drops of oil to mess up an egg white? two drop, one drop, that's it. that's it. and they do the mayonnaise, but i didn't see it. i wasn't there when they did it. so oil splash underneath of the machine. so when you came with your next thing, bloop, bloop, bloop, and you don't see it, you don't know what it is. so you know, when i heard them talking, i said, oh, my god, should i kick their ass now or later? i was really very upset that they didn't have the sensitivity to tell me, roland, be careful, we made mayonnaise. so luckily i caught that. i washed it under the machine and here goes the egg white. meanwhile, i have lost a great deal of time. now, here it comes. this is when you have knowledge and you have experience. you can rescue that,

because you've been there before. but a young kid that didn't come out of school, forget that. what is he going to do, call 911? call his mother? probably call his mother. and you know, no. no, so i gave the order to crank up the oven maximum. the stove, even, the stove where you cook on, maximum. and those souffle were put on baking pan with a little water, correct directly over the flame, to get that boost, you know? and i was able to shave a great deal of time on those souffle. and you know what, when the butler came in and said, souffle, pickup, ready! not even a minute delayed. not even a minute. that happens if you have the experience. don't tell me of a guy that just graduated from the school, from the country club, i call it a school, those

ok are country clubs, no school. and no, this is not . and possible unless you lived it. unless you were there. food is a different kind of business, you know, definitely. okay. yes what's your favorite dessert to eat? a dessert, a good old american will pie. blew blueberry, apple, i love a good -- i say, a good google old american pie, because most pie are no good. you know, bottom... by you and will you buy you will you you you the came out it

has many recipes. gingerbread recipe dessert christmas recipe. they are in this book. this fabulous eggnog recipe which is the original from the white house. it was messed up later on by another chef. [laughter] i'm telling you the truth. if you want to know the truth, as roland. you know the eggnog every night went down the sink. no one wanted to drink it. in my time there was never enough eggnog. i brought it back. warned him about the eggnog. [laughter] i see. i see! i see how you've been in it. and it's true, what ann said. but that was a delicious eggnog. you know? but, anyway, so this book, i will be signing it, because if you purchase. now, remember, christmas is just around the

corner. let me save you some time on your shopping. and another thing, this book, this book, because it's so good, the recipes are so true. and the book is based on the truth about, if i were you, i would buy several cases and put them in my basement. because this thing will be worth a lot of money later on. aim i'm not kidding you. take a look at it, and it's really the best. and i will be signing it. a beautiful signature. and everybody get my business card, with every book that i sign, which has my information. now, when is the last time you went to buy the book and the author gave you his phone number? anything happen to you like that? but this author has been giving a card with his phone number for 50 years. this is thousands and thousands of book. and you know what, i have never received a phone call with a complaint, okay? so that tells you something. that should tell

you something. so i started working with te association -- the association after i finished at the white house. and i was so taken with the quality of all they sell. i mean, really, if you look for beautiful christmas present or present, period, and they're located a few steps from here, it's worthwhile to go see the store. and hey, christmas shopping done, boom, boom. i was really taken. this is why i decide to do my book with them, because at first i went with the big publisher, you know, simon & shuster, and i was not really tickled pink with them. but then the association has really blew me away, because they don't short change everything. they go the long way. they like my dessert, union? well, it's going to take several hours. well,

let's do it and let's do it. this is why i appreciate working with them. and i hope that we will continue this nice communication we have for a long time. so ladies and gentlemen, i wish you the best of time in d.c. i will see you again around. but enjoy yourself and i hope you enjoyed this little speech, okay? thank you. [ cheers and applause ] thank you very much. [ cheers ]

we're featuring special shows about the war. general pershing created the first united states army under his command. immediate debts were taken to concentrate american forces at one point on the line. artifacts,merican

where in northeastern france visiting monuments and the american cemetery related to the battle fought 100 years ago. the weather was horrible. it was raining and chile. the americans launched the attack heading north in this direction of where we are standing. germansnst to them, the who had occupied the whole salient, had begun a withdrawal. they were starting to move their troops but they did not move them quickly enough. by the end of the day on the 12, the americans reached the main objectives for that day but also many objectives for the following day. 13,idmorning of september the wholesaling had been liberated. artifacts sunday at 6:00 p.m. eastern on american history tv on c-span3.

tonight on the civil war, we look up to the lead up to the 1862 battle of antietam. and abraham lincoln's announcement of the preliminary emancipation proclamation on the battle was over. our guest is a former historian. here's a preview. the president has decided that he will not fight the war with one hand behind his back any longer. he listens politely and reads his letter then, on july 22, five days after the act is passed, lincoln sits down with his cabinet and reads them and emancipation proclamation. they tell him boss, not a good time. we lost on the peninsula, the war is not going well, this could look like an act of desperation. it might backfire. we need a victory. we need a military victory.

for this political event to occur. can watch the entire program tonight at 6:00 p.m. on eastern on the civil war. this is american history tv all weekend every weekend on c-span3 tv. next on the the 1960he presidency, presidential election, and how massachusetts senator john f. kennedy and vice president richard nixon triumphed to be their party's nominees. lebanon valley college hosted this event. >> a tough act to follow. let me say it is an honor and privilege to welcome you to lebanon vall