Obama to be served 'Lincoln-themed' food on Inauguration day

New York, Jan 14 (ANI): US President-elect Barack Obama's inaugural ceremony will be a Lincoln-themed affair, according to reports.

The Democrat will not only swear keeping his hand on the bible used by the 16th president, but will also eat like him.

The Congressional Inaugural Committee announced yesterday that following the swearing-in ceremony on January 20, it would hold a luncheon that's modelled after foods Lincoln enjoyed.

In fact, part of the meal will even be served on replicas of the china picked out by First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln at the beginning of her husband's first term in office in 1861.

Honouring Lincoln's love of seafood, Obama's big day luncheon will feature appetizers including a seafood stew in puff pastry, scallops, shrimp and lobster.

As Lincoln enjoyed the root vegetables and wild game as a child in Indiana, the main course will have a "Brace of American Birds (pheasant and duck)" with sour-cherry chutney, served with molasses sweet potatoes.

The Lincoln-fest luncheon at Statuary Hall, a chamber of the Capitol building, will serve some 200 guests, including members of the Supreme Court, the incoming Cabinet and congressional leaders.

"It's always good to model yourself after a great president. The proof will be in the pudding," the New York Post quoted Eric Foner, a professor of American history at Columbia University, as saying.

And for the dessert, the guests will enjoy an apple cinnamon sponge cake, which recalls Lincoln's love of apples.

To wash it all down, the luncheon will have several California wines.

Design Cuisine, a Virginia-based caterer, has been hired to make the meal. (ANI)