Let's Eat at the "West Wing": Season 4 Quiz

Answer: dry rub

They get the dry rub, which is the specialty of the house. As Earl explains "You dry rub the beef with spices for a day or two. Sauce is a myth." When Josh mentions the dry rub to C.J., she starts discussing how she loves dry rub.
Toby initially ordered cheeseburgers, and steak sandwiches are what they ate on Air Force One (which Josh and Toby missed). Soybeans are mentioned quite a bit at the start of the episode.
(Episode 4.01, "20 Hours in America, Part I", written by Aaron Sorkin)

Answer: potato salad

According to Leo, Milos the chef "has got a secret ingredient that he puts in the potato salad that makes you crave it beyond what's reasonable for something like that." He informs Attorney Jordan Kendall about the potato salad as they discuss the assassination of Abdul Sharif.
Leo has an egg salad sandwich on a kaiser roll along with the potato salad, or "a potato in any other form" if Milos is absent.
(Episode 4.03, written by Aaron Sorkin)

Answer: banana muffin

Donna accidentally voted Republican on her absentee ballot, so she was seeking a Republican to vote for President Bartlet. She had been out there several hours when Sam comes by and gets her a muffin.
(Episode 4.07, "Election Night", teleplay by Aaron Sorkin)

Answer: California

President Bartlett informs her that it is "California white sturgeon from the Stillman Sea Farm in Elverta." When Toby asks "Is that caviar there?," Abby responds "Not really, no."
Elverta, California is a real location in Sacramento County. It is over 100 miles from the Pacific, so the Stillman Sea Farm is a figment of Sorkin's imagination.
(Episode 4.08, teleplay by Aaron Sorkin, story by Paula Yoo and Lauren Schmidt)

Answer: pizza

Donna tries to convince Sam to come to the party by mentioning "cake" several times. Amy Gardner talks about how much she likes shrimp. And Bruno mentions watermelon to get out of a conversation with C.J. so that he can attempt to pick up women. Amy also brings up Omaha steaks as part of an election wager.
(Episode 4.08, teleplay by Aaron Sorkin, story by Paula Yoo and Lauren Schmidt)

Answer: Chinese

C.J. and Danny were eating Chinese food. Danny specifically mentions soy sauce and C.J. gives Danny an egg roll to shut him up. For Italian food, turn to Donna, who meets with a chef named Giuseppe. He tries to feed her salmon and fettucine.
(Episode 4.12, written by Eli Attie, Kebin Falls and Aaron Sorkin)

Answer: zabaglione

While Tal mentions cupcakes (that his wife made) and tuna melts, he is preparing a zabaglione, a type of Italian custard sauce. It is made with egg yolks, sugar and sweet wine. It originated in Italy, but is popular in France and Latin America as well where it is known as sabayon.
(Episode 4.13, "The Long Goodbye," written by Jon Robin Baitz)

Answer: rice krispie treats

Toby mentions rice krispie treats to Toby twice, and Will's sister Elsie also brings them up.
Other foods that came up in "California 47th": President Bartlet mentioned salmon and bananas; CJ complained that hecklers threw an avocado at her new suit; and Sam got salsa on his shirt.
(Episde 4.16, teleplay by Aaron Sorkin, story by Lauren Schmidt and Paula Yao)
Note: Three of the speechwriting interns in the episode were named Lauren.

Answer: pastrami

"We've got pastrami from Krupin's. It's tissue paper thin," notes Leo. President Bartlet later confirms these facts. Leo talks about the other luncheon meats, and has C.J. squeeze a piece of rye bread. Krupin's is a real New York Style delicatessen, in the Friendship Heights section of Washington D.C.
In other food references, C.J. brings up the Passover Seder and Toby calls her "Suzy Cream Cheese." C.J. also attempts to balance an egg because it is the Vernal Equinox.
(Episode 4.20, teleplay by Aaron Sorkin, story by Eli Attie and David Handleman)

Answer: salad

Charlie mentions that Toby is eating a salad, leading Toby to go off on a classic Tobyesque rant about salads. "It's a bowl with weeds" says the Communications Director.
"Here I am eating a salad, which by the way, you could cover this thing in barbecue sauce and it would still taste like the ground..." complains Toby.
Charlie is eating a roast beef sandwich with ketchup on a kaiser roll. (roast beef with ketchup!? Blasphemy!) Lauren Chin brings up the salad much later in the episode.
Toby is eating the salad in order to convince his ex-wife that he has changed his ways, so that she will agree to remarry him.
In other food news, the interns had sandwiches; Cassie had the turkey and Lauren Romano had the chicken. Staff members covered Joe Quincy's (Matthew Perry) parking spot in mayonnaise. And Toby compares the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals to pistachio nuts.
(Episode 4.21, teleplay by Aaron Sorkin, story by Paul Redford and Dee Dee Myers)