HUNGRY GERALD

When young HG was growing up during the Great Depression era of the 1930’s, HG’s late, beloved Mom was a paragon of thrift. Many things–noodles, rendered chicken fat, pungent horseradish, chicken and meat stock, baked goods, etc.–were home made. Robust. Delicious. Condiments like mustard and ketchup were purchased. Pickles cost pennies for garlicky wonders from the barrel of a local shop. Mom used a big pot to cook lusty one dish meals. A favorite was a large bowl of what my late sister, the wonderful Beulah Naomi, called “the everything soup.” Mom made chicken soup and added to the steaming bowls many ingredients. Kreplach (Jewish beef ravioli); thick home made noodles; kasha (buckwheat groats), cooked carrots and onions. The chicken was skinned (skins later fried in chicken fat to make savory “gribenehs”) and shredded before adding to the bowls. Pickles, horseradish, kosher salt and black pepper on the table. Adults drank beer. Little HG drank Dr. Brown’s Cel-Ray Tonic (HG still favors this soda as an accompaniment to a traditional pastrami sandwich a la Katz’s and of course, the ultimate pastrami sandwich served by HG’s son at his Freeman Shokudo izakaya/restaurant in Tokyo)..