© Reuters. A dish is pictured as US First Lady Jill Biden hosts a media preview before the state dinner on Thursday as part of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s state visit to the US, in the dining room of the White House in Washington.
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Written by Jeff Mason and Nandita Bose
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden will welcome Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to a peacock-and-lotus-adorned White House on Thursday and host a vegetarian dinner, but no specialties from Modi’s home state of Gujarat.
The White House said Modi, a strict Hindu who follows a vegan diet, will serve him a starter that includes grilled corn kernel salad and a tangy avocado salsa.
The main course will include portobello mushrooms and a creamy saffron risotto, with strawberry shortcake filled with rose and cardamom set aside for dessert.
With dinner with a slightly Indian accent, Biden is following a White House tradition of catering to guests from abroad that has faint echoes at home with a strong American bent. Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s 2009 dinner included basmati rice, as well as watercress pancakes and White House-grown pumpkin pie.
About 400 guests will dine at Modi’s event in a booth set up on the South Lawn of the White House, with Apple CEO (NASDAQ:) Tim Cook, CEO of Alphabet (NASDAQ:), Sundar Pichai, Microsoft (NASDAQ:) likely to Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella and CEO Raj Subramaniam of FedEx (NYSE: NYSE) attend.
“With this official state visit, we are bringing together the world’s oldest and largest democracies,” Jill Biden told reporters at a dinner preview on Wednesday.
Entertainment for the evening will include American violinist Joshua Bell and Ben Masala, a South Asian a cappella group from the University of Pennsylvania.
The decor will feature elements of American and Indian culture, including images of a peacock and bald eagle, the Indian and American national birds, respectively.
Tables will be adorned with lotus flowers, revered Indian design and a symbol of the Modi Bharatiya Janata Party.
