The X-Filesdebutedin 1993, and so did theJurassic Park movie franchise. Janet Jackson posed forthat famous Rolling Stone cover, and the United States welcomed a new family to the White House: the Clintons. It was a heady year for them, obviously. In '93 alone, after Bill's inauguration, the world was introduced to many of the greatest hits you remember from the decade: health care reform, Waco, Don't Ask, Don't Tell, the Oslo Accords, NAFTA. NAFTA!Weren't we just talking about that the other night?
Ah, but how times have changed. America seem to be trying to recreate 1993 for some reason, but today's 1993 is of uneven quality. Laverne Cox recently posed for what amounted toa brilliant coverof that Janet Jackson photograph, but the 2016X-Filesepisodes—dishearteningly for all the 90s kids among us—sucked. So did 2015'sJurassic World. And the Clintons? They are likewise attempting a rehash of '93, with a different, fresher face in the starring role.
在1993年我们吃differently-slightly简单,也许吧, but not badly. In March of that year Gourmet magazine published a special issue inspired by the recent Columbus quincentennial and, yes, the new president: "It was both these events that started us thinking about an issue devoted entirely to America," wrote Gail Zweigenthal in an editor's note. "Gourmet has been telling the story of our country through its native food and immigrant traditions for over fifty years, but as we thought about the complexity of our culinary heritage we realized that recent chapters of our story have encompassed dramatic change."
What was new in 1993? "Won-ton skinsbesidephylloand puff pastry," lemongrass in the produce section, "pungentsalsasand mustards." (The italics are original, if that gives you any sense of how unfamiliar to Gourmet readers those products were.) The America passion for fast food remained, though, as one essay in this collection mentioned; what went unmentioned is that the country was newly in possession of a president famous for his fast food habits.
Otherwise the special issue sampled from here and there in the American tradition; there is, for instance, this Southern-inspired recipe for sauteed chicken withcountry ham, served at a restaurant in the nation's capital.
Actually Bill Clinton was, at the time, trying to kick the fast food habit. Once they reached the White House he and Hillary endeavored to set a healthy example for the nation, urged on byhigh-profile food advocates like Alice Waters. This was too much for the French executive chef that they'd inherited from the Bush administration. Reluctant to give up his cream sauces,he was out by 1994. Not for the Clinton White House, then, this cream-enhanced, Frenchified potato salad, which appeared in Gourmet in August 1993.
Bill is on record, though, as a pound cake fan; as governor of Arkansas, he'd submitted a recipe for it to a collection of recipes from politicians. Bill liked avanilla pound cake with cranberry sauce. (Hopefully it's better thanhis chocolate chip cookies!) We also like this one from Gourmet in September 1993.
What does any of this say about the present, or the future? Probably not much. Nowadays Bill Clinton is vegan for health reasons. Hillary is said to eat a daily hot pepper andcarry Tabasco around in her bag. But if the above recipes are any indication, the return of 1993 may not taste so bad.
