Yes, I hope the food was enjoyed by some, and not just thrown out. I wonder why the luncheon was cancelled. Did Pooty fear he'd be poisoned? I take it he passed up on the eagle, so why don't you write to Susie Wiles asking if you can have it?
Don't sell our armed forces short. I have a cookbook written by a guy who was a general stationed in many places between the 1930s and the 1950s. He learned some interesting stuff in pre-war China and other places in Asia. And there was almost NOTHING he made that didn't include several kinds of alcohol. I think the officer class was fed quite well, and probably still are, though not as lavishly as once upon a time.