Early Life and the Consistent Steak Dinner
In his prime, Howard Hughes was known for his love of a very specific meal. For a long period, his dinner of choice was a New York strip steak, butterflied and cooked medium-rare. This consistent request was a clear indication that meat was a central part of his diet during his more public and active years. The preparation, however, was anything but ordinary. It was subject to his increasingly rigid and compulsive rules.
His obsessive nature manifested in precise instructions for his personal chefs and restaurant staff. The steak had to be prepared with painstaking cleanliness, including scrubbing the grill to prevent any contact with other food. This meticulous process was driven by his intense fear of germs and contamination, a hallmark of his severe, undiagnosed obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
The Ritual of the Peas
Alongside his steak, Hughes would eat exactly one dozen peas. This wasn't a casual part of the meal; it was a ritual of its own. He would meticulously arrange the peas on his plate and only consume the smaller ones, pushing the larger peas aside. This quirk was so well-known that he was even said to have a special fork for organizing them. In the film The Aviator, this bizarre habit is famously depicted, showing his need for extreme order even in the most mundane tasks.
The Shift to a Hyper-Restrictive Diet
As Hughes's mental state declined and his reclusiveness intensified, his diet shifted dramatically. In 1947, during one of his most infamous periods of isolation, he locked himself in a dark screening room for four months. During this time, he survived almost exclusively on milk, chocolate bars, and chicken. While he still consumed meat (in the form of chicken), the diversity of his diet vanished. The steak dinners were replaced by repetitive, low-effort sustenance, reflecting his complete withdrawal from society.
This shift wasn't a dietary choice for health or ethical reasons. Instead, it was a direct consequence of his psychological deterioration. His germaphobia became so pronounced that he developed elaborate, multi-step procedures for his staff just to handle his food. A manual on how to open a can of fruit was a testament to the extent of his compulsions. His later diet became less about nourishment and more about control and minimizing perceived risks of contamination.
The Impact of His OCD on Eating Habits
Hughes's obsessive fear of contamination was the primary driver of his eating habits. This wasn't a standard, health-conscious clean-eating routine. It was a debilitating condition that dictated his every interaction with food. His staff received detailed, bizarre instructions for handling his meals, from scrubbing surfaces to wrapping utensils in multiple layers of tissue and cellophane. This compulsion and need for control intensified over time, contributing to his ultimate state of severe emaciation and poor health at the time of his death.
Comparison of Hughes's Diet Phases
| Aspect | Early/Public Life | Later/Reclusive Life |
|---|---|---|
| Primary Meat | New York Strip Steak (medium-rare) | Chicken |
| Other Food | Exactly 12 small peas, salad | Chocolate bars, milk |
| Variety | Limited to his ritualized meal, but with some variation | Extremely limited, bordering on monotonous |
| Rituals | Precise pea arrangement, grill scrubbing | Staff manuals for food handling, extreme sanitary precautions |
| Motivation | Early eccentricities and perfectionism | Severe OCD, germaphobia, reclusiveness |
His Bizarre Food Preparation Rituals
- The Meticulous Peas: Hughes required exactly 12 peas of the same size, rejecting any that were too large.
- Sterile Grilling: He insisted that the grill be scrubbed to ensure no residual food touched his steak.
- Canned Food Protocol: A detailed staff manual existed for opening canned fruit, requiring the can to be scrubbed until it was bare metal.
- Utensil Handling: Spoons and forks were wrapped in layers of tissue and cellophane by his staff, which he would then use without removing the wrapping.
- Food Cart Rules: The cart used to transport his food was not allowed inside the kitchen to prevent picking up debris.
Conclusion: A Complex Relationship with Meat
In conclusion, the answer to the question "Did Howard Hughes eat meat?" is definitively yes, but the story is far more complex than a simple yes or no. His meat consumption—whether his signature steak or later, chicken—was always governed by his severe, untreated OCD and crippling germaphobia. His early, consistent steak dinners evolved into a diet dictated by psychological distress and extreme rituals. He was not a vegetarian or a vegan, but his food choices and the manner in which they were consumed were anything but normal. His relationship with food is a poignant example of how a severe mental health disorder and an intense fear of contamination can impact even the most basic human necessities, transforming them into a series of bizarre and solitary rituals. For a detailed psychological perspective, the American Psychological Association provides insight into his germaphobia and reclusive behavior American Psychological Association (APA) - Hughes's germ phobia revealed in psychological autopsy.
