What fuels the presidential candidates, other than mutual hostilities? If you're the Republican presidential nominee, it's drive-thru cuisine. If you're his opponent, it's hot chiles.
But we already know that. We already know that Donald Trump loves Big Macs and fries and Hillary Clinton keeps the hot sauce close. And like too many of this year's election-related topics, this one is likely to give us heartburn.
But isn't it better to focus on someone else's food choices as you fizz up those Alka-Seltzer tablets? With Election Day just a few days away, this may be your final chance to deflect from the junk food guilt you've been lugging.
Here's a glimpse of what might be on the candidates' plates:
Donald Trump:
From Trump's scandalous former Mar-A-Lago butler, Tony Senecal, we know that the boss preferred his burgers and steaks severely overcooked, with ketchup. From his former Mar-A-Lago chef, Aaron Fuller, we can surmise that the kitchen staff catered to the rock-hard-steak requests. (Bound by a confidentiality agreement, Fuller would not discuss the food choices.)
"The best time I've had in my career is when I've made the client happy. It really comes down to what the client wants," Fuller said when asked for his culinary opinion on overcooked meat. "We all have different opinions about how we like our meat. That doesn't mean mine is one that is better than the other."
Trump's fast-food habits have been well documented, as he's been caught on camera ready to devour some KFC aboard his plane, snapped with a questionably timed taco bowl at the office and immortalized with heaping amounts of fries.
Those hard-cooked steaks that he so loves? They once had culinary promise. We learned during one of the candidate's local appearances that Trump steaks were steaks purveyed by Bush Brothers, the 91-year-old West Palm Beach provision company known for supplying some of the best beef in the country.
In an interview last year with Bloomberg's "With All Due Respect," Trump made a confession: "I love steak and hamburger and pasta and French fries, all of the things that we shouldn't be eating."
He also admitted that he can't resist bacon and eggs. "I eat what I like," he said.
Hillary Clinton:
As for Clinton, while she was spied holding a pork chop on a stick at last year's Iowa State Fair – and yes, that was Clinton seated before two tempting cheesecakes at Junior's restaurant in Brooklyn in April – the former secretary of state is more disciplined in her food choices.
She eats like a world traveler, one who has learned to eat well and selectively, rather than to simply eat and be done with it. Then again, as the Huffington Post notes, she was the most-traveled secretary of state in history, visiting 112 nations and clocking more than 950,000 miles.
Earlier this year, she played food critic for Thrillist.com, penning a review of "not-to-be-missed dining experiences" across New York state. Her picks included a few references that reveal some foodie tendencies: Chef Marcus Samuelsson's Red Rooster in Harlem, Fox Run Vineyards boutique winery on Seneca Lake (for riesling and a light lunch), the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park and Dinosaur Bar-B-Que in Syracuse.
Closer to her Chappaqua home, Clinton is loyal to Crabtree's Kittle House Restaurant & Inn, where she gathered with locals on the night her nomination was announced in Philadelphia. It's also where she celebrated Chelsea Clinton's baby shower.
The place serves farmhouse-fancy food and tempting, Hudson Valley-inspired dishes, including grass-fed Angus beef cheeseburgers and New York strip steak with buttermilk Vidalia onion rings. Of course, Clinton might order them many shades rarer than overdone.
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