CELEBRATING THE 45TH ANNIVERSARY OF TRUMAN CAPOTE’S BLACK AND WHITE BALL WITH INA GARTEN’S CHICKEN HASH

An entire book was written about Truman’s Black and White Ball

 In 1966, Truman Capote was flush with success.  His ‘non-fiction novel’, the term he used to describe “In Cold Blood”, was a hit.  He decided to throw himself a party.    On the night of November 28th, exactly 45 years ago, Truman had invited 540 of the most glittering people in the world to his masked “Black and White Ball” at New York’s Plaza Hotel. He billed it as a kind of “Coming Out Party” for Katherine Graham who had taken over as President of the Washington Post Company following the suicide of her husband Phillip some three years earlier.  In point of fact, it was more likely a “Coming Out Party” for Truman himself.  It was hugely publicized before it took place so that when it did, the Plaza was mobbed with Papparazzi and just plain folks. They all turned out the see the rich and famous in their spectacular Black and White costumes and masks.   At midnight, supper was served.  The menu had only one main course.  Chicken Hash.

The Plaza Hotel, now sadly a condominium and the home to Russian billionaires who seldom live there. The remaining hotel rooms all face the back.

         Chicken Hash?  Well if you’ve ever tasted the food that came out of the Plaza Hotel’s catering department, you might have found that a wise choice.  I distinctly remember going there for a benefit for ‘The Friends of Oxford’ (University).  Every ex-pat Brit in New York was packed into the ballroom that had been recently gilded by Ivanna Trump, the then wife of the then owner, Donald Trump.  (In the department of wretched excess, Mrs. Trump was at the head of the class.)  Into this sea of Britons and their American friends, waiters carried platters of overcooked beef, tasteless vegetables, and potato croquettes you could have used as tennis balls.  The food was so bad that even the Brits balked at eating it.  If there was one thing they knew about when they tasted it, it was what good beef is. Truman, it seemed, had known the limitations of the Plaza kitchens.  He chose something so homespun and forgiving, they couldn’t really screw it up. 

Since Ina Garten would have been about 18 when the Ball took place, Truman couldn’t have had the supreme good fortune of serving Ina’s recipe for Chicken Hash.  But I have on numerous occasions, most recently on a cold night when I had half a roast chicken left over and a yearning for some real comfort food. This dish with its crispy potatoes and onions, its lovely chunks of red pepper and breast of chicken all laced together with a very flavorful spice mix, is absolutely delicious.  Ina’s recipe calls for roasting bone-in chicken breasts rather than using leftovers.  I’ve done it both ways and believe me when I say, it’s worth the effort to roast the breasts, it just takes a little longer.  Even with the roasting, the dinner takes just over an hour to make and the prep time is about 45 minutes all told. So raise a glass to both Ina and Truman and make this delicious dish. Here is the recipe: