By Gabriela Resto-Montero
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — Manhattan chef Marcus Samuelsson dished up a multicultural feast for President Barack Obama and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the first White House State Dinner Tuesday night.
First Lady Michelle Obama praised Samuelsson's culinary skills as he prepared a meal that combined American and Indian cuisines. The menu included collard greens, chickpeas and okra, nan bread and cornbread, potato and eggplant salad, red lentil soup, roasted potato dumplings, green curry prawns and honey poached pears
Samuelsson, a co-owner and head Chef at Aquavit in Midtown, used herbs plucked from the South Lawn garden and honey collected from the White House beehives to garnish the meal.
For dessert, Samuelsson served up a decidedly American pumpkin pie tart.
The dinner was held in a luxurious outdoor tent in order to accomodate a long guest list that included prominent members of the Washington, Hollywood and Indian-American communities.
Attendees included Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Steven Spielberg, M. Night Shyamalan, Pulitzer-Prize winning author Jhumpa Lahiri, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, Chief Executive of PepsiCo Indra Nooyi, and former Secretary of State Colin Powell.
After-dinner entertainment was provided by Academy Award winners Jennifer Hudson and A.R. Rahman, who created the music for "Slumdog Millionaire."
