WASHINGTON, DC—US President Barack Obama likes simple meals with fish, steamed vegetables and brown rice.

This and other interesting details were shared by Cristeta Pasia Comerford, the Filipino executive chef at the White House, in an interview with the Inquirer at the famous address: 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Cris, as she is called by her family and colleagues, has been top toque since 2005 when she was appointed by First Lady Laura Bush. Last January, the Obamas decided to retain Comerford as their chef and partner for healthy eating.

In a statement announcing that Comerford would stay on as the administration’s head chef, Michelle Obama noted that the Filipino, who grew up in Sampaloc, Manila, is “also the mom of a young daughter.” The First Lady stated, “I appreciate our shared perspective on the importance of healthy eating and healthy families.”

Comerford, 46, seated in the Old Family Dining Room, where a few days later her boss would share a private lunch with visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, shared her reaction about staying on as the executive chef: “It is a great honor.”

The yellow-hued room was just steps away from the State Dining Room, where Comerford’s dishes had been served to the world’s prominent leaders. Speaking in a calm, collected manner and wearing a crisp, white chef jacket, with her name embroidered on it, she said, “This place is so awesome. To be a part of history and the beginning of the [Obama era] is an awesome thing.”

Best career move

Comerford, who had to quit her food technology studies at the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City, when she immigrated with her family to the United States in the 1980s, started honing her culinary skills in Chicago. Heading to DC proved to be her best career move. After working as a chef in two restaurants and a six-month stint in Vienna, she was hired in 1995 by the Clintons’ executive chef, Walter Scheib, as his assistant.

When Scheib quit in 2005, First Lady Laura Bush appointed Comerford to the position. The appointment marked several firsts—the Manila Science High School alumna became the first woman, the first Filipino and the first minority to land the post that hundreds of chefs had applied for.

Asked to describe her duties, Comerford answered, “My responsibilities are to take care of the [First] Family in their daily meals from breakfast, lunch and dinner, and of course, taking care of their guests. Beyond that, we also take care of social events which could be a state event plus the daily family affairs.”

She’s come a long way from her paternal and maternal grandparents’ homes in Cuenca, Batangas and San Rafael, Bulacan, respectively. But these days, she feels like she’s back in her grandparents’ backyards. Comerford said she’s glad the First Couple decided last March to convert a patch of the South Lawn into a garden of organic fruits and vegetables. The garden, the first in the US President’s official residence since Eleanor Roosevelt’s Victory Garden during World War II, reflects the Obamas’ push for nutritious meals.

“My grandparents’ home in Bulacan had a farm. They had chickens, a fishpond … So it is almost like a homecoming, seeing this happening again, right on the South Lawn. We just walk over to the garden and grab some vegetables,” she said.

Asked about the Obamas’ food preferences, Comerford replied: “Imagine yourself at home—you like simple food as long as they are well-cooked.”

Most memorable

While she has cooked for the world’s top leaders, dignitaries and personalities, which one does she consider most memorable?

“What’s more memorable for us is what we do for the First Family … because it is an insight that nobody else has but us,” Comerford said. “For example, it could be a dinner for just the two of them (the President and the First Lady), not a big thing. But just seeing the two of them eat is cool. For me, that is more memorable.”

On having had the privilege of cooking for the Clintons, Bushes and Obamas, she said, “Different families have different likes and dislikes. Like with the Clintons, Chelsea was a little older. So whatever they preferred for daily meals was different from those of the Bushes. But generally, they are regular people. They like good, healthy food.”

She elaborated: “With the Obamas, they want to utilize most of the produce from our vegetable garden. They also prefer grass-fed beef and natural-fed chicken. We are really focusing on health issues more than anything else.”

Michelle Obama recently praised Comerford’s creamed spinach that contains no cream, as part of the White House’s drive for healthy meals. But like his predecessors, Obama has food idiosyncrasies. He reportedly loves Chicago-style pizza and has no fondness for beets. Both former Presidents Clinton and Bush had a passion for barbecued meats. Clinton’s love for cheeseburgers and sweets and Bush’s distaste for broccoli were well-chronicled.

Sampaloc to Maryland

Home for Comerford is in Maryland, which she shares with her husband, John, and their daughter, Danielle, who is 8 years old.

Which is a big leap from Cataluña Street in Sampaloc, Manila, where she grew up, the second youngest of 11 children. Her father, Honesto C. Pasia, who was a public school principal in Manila, died in Chicago in 1992. Her mother, Erlinda G. Pasia, used to own and operate a dress and uniform shop in Sampaloc.

Opel Pasia Aguila, Comerford’s sister who lives in Chicago, wrote via e-mail that their mother inspired the girl who would grow up to become a famous chef. “The ‘chef’ of the First Chef is my mom,” Aguila said. “She used to hang out in the kitchen watching my mom cook our meals.”

“Growing up in a big family of 11 children, there was always food cooking at home,” said Comerford, breaking into a smile. “Mom always said it was like cooking for a banquet. Since my parents came from two different regions of the Philippines, we became prolific eaters. We also learned how to cook.”

Asked if her sister had always been extraordinarily focused and organized, Aguila said, “These are the qualities of a great leader, as well as a great follower. During our childhood years in Cataluña, Cris was the ‘leader of kids’ in her age group. She organized and planned their activities and enjoyed doing them. She would build on these skills, using them later on as executive chef of the White House.”

First Filipina

On being the first female White House executive chef, an appointment that was lauded by groups of women chefs since females reportedly make up more than 50 percent of food service workers but only less than 4 percent occupy top positions, Comerford said, “Just to be a woman chef—that is a big thing. I remember when I went to Austria where I worked for six months, one of the apprentices there approached me and said I was the first female sous chef she has ever met. But of course, it’s not like I was the first one. You have the likes of Julia Child and all the other women chef predecessors whom I look up to. It is a great feeling.”

As for being the first Filipina and the first minority to land the position, she said, “It is a great honor bestowed on me. It is also a big responsibility. It is something that I take very seriously on a day-to-day basis. You want to make sure you are doing the right thing and be the best you can be.”

No two days are the same when you are in charge of the meals at the No. 1 residence in the United States. “There is really no typical day,” Comerford declared with a laugh. “Every day is different. But you have the usual routine—prepare breakfast, then do lunch for the First Lady, and then maybe later on, snacks in between. But when we have events, like the other day, we prepared food for artists for a poetry jam. The East Room was turned into an awesome place. We had James Earl Jones and some artists reading poetry and playing music. The beauty of working in the White House is you look forward to what you will do tomorrow and be a part of history.”

Husband also cook

Comerford and husband John are both executive chefs. She described their cooking style at home. “We open the refrigerator and think: How do I put these together? There is nothing wrong with using or combining leftovers—vegetables, pasta or something very straightforward. Anything that takes more than 20 minutes or more to do is a lot of work for us.”

This early, Comerford’s daughter, Danielle, is already showing interest in the culinary arts. “Last Mother’s Day, when I woke up after a nap, the table was set. She did a four-course meal and she’s only 8. She used whatever stuff we had at home. It was very cool,” she said.

When she gets a craving for Filipino food, Comerford goes to Filipino restaurants in the area. “But they are not fine dining restaurants, they are more like turo-turo,” she said. “I order stuff that my mom used to cook like bangus and kare-kare. Those are pretty much our two favorites.”

Why she loves her job

Asked what advice she would give to aspiring chefs, Comerford said, “Take responsibility seriously. Anything that is given to you is a chance to do something really good. It could be the most menial task—like chopping onions—but as long as you enjoy doing it and you do it from the heart, it’s going to show in whatever you do and whatever you cook.”

She shared her plans for the day when she hangs up her professional toque and apron for good. “My husband and I want to put up a bed and breakfast,” Comerford said. “I would also like to help the underprivileged kids in the community. In Europe, kids with chef aspirations start learning how to cook at 16. Maybe I could help underprivileged kids and train them in cooking. We’ll see what happens.”

But these days, she cannot imagine doing anything else. “I really love what I am doing right now,” she said.

After the interview, she gave the Inquirer a personal tour of the White House. At one point during the tour, Michelle Obama waved at Comerford and her visitors.

What’s not to love about her job?