HUNGRY GERALD

HG does not recall eating peanut butter in HG’s youthful days in The Bronx with his late mother and father. Peanut butter was unknown in Mom’s “shtetl”, Plestyanitz, Belarus; the same goes for Pop’s “shtetl” in Smulovitch, Belarus. In The Bronx, Mom’s cooking was Eastern European Jewish with an emphasis on chicken fat. Her borscht, brisket, stuffed cabbage, blintzes, potato latkes, noodle kugel, chopped liver, cold sorrel soup (“schav”)and rugelach, provide HG with happy memories. There were no peanut butter encounters until HG married BSK, the Canadian love of HG’s life. HG’s first taste of a slice of Zito’s bread (long closed Greenwich Village bakery) spread with peanut butter and topped with strawberry jam, was a revelation. These days HG/BSK use peanut butter in a variety of ways. It’s the main ingredient for a fiery version of dan dan noodles. HG uses it in a Thai dipping sauce for grilled chicken or pork. When in a hurry, BSK lunches on slices of apple spread with peanut butter. BSK touts the sandwich of BSK’s youth: Peanut butter, lettuce, and mayonnaise. HG sneers at this concoction. The greedy fellow likes to finish a meal with glasses of red wine and Keebler’s Club crackers spread with chunky peanut butter and Prince Edward Island strawberry/rhubarb jam. The French would be shocked.