HUNGRY GERALD

“Tree hugger” is the contemptuous label for environmentalists, conservationists and those folks who love nature in all its complex but available beauty. Well, HG is a happy tree hugger. HG/BSK’s five-acre New Mexico property is filled with trees: Cottonwood, ash, Russian olive, locust, elm, blue spruce and more. Despite being high above sea level, the Jacona/Pojoaque valley (15-minute drive north of Santa Fe) where HG/BSK live, is green and fertile. There are many small farms (some are generations old). One of HG’s delights during HG’s pleasant self-isolation is to enjoy the cocktail hour seated on the portale (roofed veranda) and gazing at a favorite tree–a majestic cottonwood. The backdrop for the tree is an organic farm and Las Barrancas (rugged mesas). The slightest breeze sends the cottonwoods leaves into gentle movement. The sun adds glitter, from shining dark green at the top of the tree to flashes of gold and yellow on the lower branches. HG never tires of this sight even as HG’s gaze takes in other trees and calm meadows. For many years, urban HG paid little attention to trees and other foliage. However, there is one happy sight engraved in HG’s memory. HG/BSK had a wonderful dune house on Fire Island, the famed Long Island barrier beach that stretches for miles between Great South Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. No cars on Fire Island. It is reached by ferries from Bay Shore, Sayville and Patchogue. Ferries run from March to October. When HG/BSK and children reached Patchogue to board the first ferry of the year, they were confronted by masses of bright yellow forsythia in full bloom. A happy sight. It meant that a joyous summer of sun, sand, sea was on the way. Constricted by apartment living in New York, the kids welcomed the freedom to roam (but, no swimming without an adult watching).

That’s a song by the delightful pianist/composer/lyricist/singer Dave Frishberg (a Los Angeles resident). Wistfully, Frishberg admits he does. HG, born and bred in New York, does not miss New York. The New York HG loved has vanished. HG/BSK have lived in the west (where the deer and the antelope still roam) for 34 years. And, yes, HG/BSK’s home is truly part of The Land of Enchantment (New Mexico state motto). However, HG does miss New York food. Most of the restaurants HG enjoyed are gone. Happily, The Grand Central Oyster Bar is still serving their lush oyster pan roast. Russ & Daughters, Zabar’s, and Barney Greengrass still provide smoked fish. Manhattan’s Chinatown, Queens’ Flushing neighborhood, Brooklyn’s Sunset Park area are still wonderlands for lovers of Chinese and Asian food. Keen’s is still broiling huge mutton chops and many steak houses serve prime New York strip steaks (none match the wonders of the demised Christ Cella). HG’s all-time favorite restaurant, Gage & Tollner (ah, those clam bellies and shad platters) in downtown Brooklyn, is slated to reopen with refurbished interiors and astronomical prices. Alas, traditional dairy restaurants (Ratner’s, Rappaport’s, Steinberg’s, Famous, etc.) and great Jewish delicatessens (Gitlitz, the old 2nd Avenue Deli, Ben’s in Queens, etc.) are no more. HG expects to encounter them in Jewish Heaven (not too soon, HG hopes). Back to Dave Frishberg. He is the author (and singer) of the baseball song, “Van Lingle Mungo” Yes, Mungo did exist. He was a winning and cantankerous pitcher for the Brooklyn Dodgers. The song consists of the names of baseball players of the 40’s and 50’s with Van Lingle Mungo as a haunting refrains. If HG is blue (rarely), HG listens to the tune on Youtube. Lifts the spirits. Don’t miss it.

HG loves BSK’s cuisine and that’s because The Wonder Woman always adds an original tweak to her dishes that makes them sing. Okay. Polenta (or grits): BSK adds Hatch green chile cheese curds for a bit of bite and cheesiness (plus parmesan) and cream cheese (for creaminess). Congee: Ginger, garlic, shitake mushrooms (cooked to a silky goodness) plus a surprise. Bonito flakes. Pork chops: Heavy dusting of Goya Adobo. Serves them with Goya black beans (the best) topped with chopped onions. These usually get a dollop of sour cream. BSK gives them some spoonfuls of Mexican crema. Big lift for the beans.

Glance down at the illustration. That’s the breakfast dish BSK presented to lucky (and hungry) HG this morning. Pay attention to to those perfect poached eggs. Slightly firm whites. A touch of a fork and yellow golden lush yolks pour over the yellow grits. Oh, my!! The grits are perfectly moist and lush with a wee bit of heat. Yes, that’s the distinctive BSK touch. BSK cooks the grits with Beehive Cheese Company’s Hatch Chile Curds. This brings a Canadian touch (cheese curds are an essential ingredient of poutine, the odd gravy-over-curds combo that’s a Canadian obsession). The New Mexico ingredient is, of course, the green chile. The dish is another original BSK culinary wonder.

Reading has always been a solace for HG. Did not have the money to buy books growing up during the Great Depression but, armed with a library card, literary riches were available for HG (starting at age five) at the Highbridge and Bainbridge public libraries in The Bronx. During this period of isolation at HG/BSK’s New Mexico home, HG (as always) is finding pleasure in books. Yes, books. No Kindle. The old guy likes the feel of a book in his hands. And, an illustrated book adds to the pleasure. So, what has HG been reading? There were two gifts from gifted daughter, Lesley R., and husband, Profesore Massimo R. One was “The Europeans” by Orlando Figes, an illuminating analysis of the making of a cosmopolitan culture. (Figes books on Russia and the Russian revolution are essential reading.) The other gift was “The Seine: The River That Made Paris” by Elaine Sciolino (she also wrote a delightful book about Rue des Martyrs, HG’s favorite Parisian street). HG is a devotee of everything English so had a good time with Penelope Lively’s “A House Unlocked” (learned much about the English countryside during World War Two; was taught the difference between a walk and a ramble). John Le Carre’s “Agent Running In The Wild” was not up to the master’s scintillating standard. “Boulevard of Dreams: Heady Times, Heartbreak, and Hope Along The Grand Concourse In The Bronx’ by Constance Rosenblum, is pedestrian but brought back many memories from HG’s youth. While browsing the bookcase, HG discovered “Italian Holiday” by Ludwig Bemelmans. Haven’t read it in 37 years but it remains relevant and sprightly despite some dated and condescending remarks about homosexuals (illustrations are as charming as ever). Brendan Gill’s: “A New York Life: Of Friends and Others” is the best bedtime reading. His mini-profiles of New Yorkers and others are clear-eyed, graceful and devoid of sentimentality — the product of a steely intelligence, a searching eye and a satisfying prose style. Ben Katchor’s “The Dairy Restaurant” is a very eccentric book. The drawings by Katchor are magnificent. Page after page of prose tells the reader more than he or she might ever want to know about Jewish dietary laws and the tortuous history of New York’s (and Europe’s} Jewish dairy restaurants. Happily, the book ends with profiles (and reproductions of their vast menus) of HG’s favorite four dairy restaurants (all gone) Rappaport’s (Second Avenue); Ratner’s (Delancey Street); Steinberg’s (Broadway in the West 80’s); Famous (West 72nd Street). Made HG very hungry.

Yes, HG/BSK are isolated on HG/BSK’s New Mexico property as Covid-19 threatens the state. HG hasn’t ventured out in more than a month. BSK dons rubber gloves and a mask and shops every ten days. Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods take precautions. Customers have to wait outside and only a limited number are allowed in the stores. Personnel are properly masked and gloved. So far so good. BSK keeps busy each day with gardening and maintaining the complicated fish ponds. HG waters the gardens and does a daily walk around HG/BSK’s five acres with Toby, The Wonder Dog. HG writes the hungrygerald.com blog. and checks investments (could be worse). BSK tracks household expenses and pays bills online. HG/BSK exercise (BSK with yoga online and HG with weights and tension cords). Both swim in HG/BSK’s heated lap pool in the pool house. Prescient BSK stocked up some weeks ago with ample toilet paper and paper towels at Sam’s Club. The BSK-designed wine room is well stocked and there’s a whiskey for HG’s post-dinner sips. BSK makes sure dinner is a joy (last night it was a lusty variation of Vietnamese pho with plenty of rice noodles). A few minutes of venting fury at Der Trumperer’s latest outrage. Then, some escapist TV and so to bed. Hey, life in isolation isn’t so bad. (Few complaints from HG who has the love of his life and a splendid doggy for company).

The New York Times recently mused whether (given lack of enthusiasm for Biden) young voters, fans of Bernie Sanders, African-Americans, Latino-Americans and undecideds would not vote for him this year. David Sedaris, the brilliant and very funny writer, made the most incisive comment on this dilemma (HG believes it appeared in The New Yorker): “In perspective, I think of being in an airplane and a flight attendant comes down the aisle with her food cart and eventually parks it beside my seat. ‘Can I interest you in the chicken ?’, she asks, ‘Or would you prefer a platter of shit with bits of ground glass in it ?’. To be undecided in this election is to pause for a moment and then ask how the chicken is cooked.”

Sadly, HG/BSK’s son, Jeremy, will no longer hear that greeting from Adam Schlesinger, his lifelong best friend and virtual brother. For HG/BSK, Adam was a second son, watching him from birth to growing up on New York’s Upper West Side and Montclair, N.J. . From his earliest years, Adam was precociously musical. HG will not comment on Adam’s musical career. There have been numerous obituaries (from the New York Times to Rolling Stone) praising his contributions to popular music, movies, and the stage. The best critical analysis of Adam’s work was by Jody Rosen of the New Yorker. What HG can comment on is that Adam was brilliant and funny, a serious wit. It is very hard for HG and BSK to write or think about our second son without becoming tearful. However, we will never forget him. HG/BSK have a memorial grove on HG/BSK’s New Mexico property. There are three pine trees in the grove memorializing three remarkable people: HG’s sister, Beulah Naomi Freeman Katz, beloved by all whose lives she touched; BSK’s father, Roy Kent, a decorated bomber pilot in World War Two. A true war hero; BSK’s uncle, David Kent, a Canadian judge specializing in family and juvenile law. He focused his Christian beliefs on justice and mercy. When the pandemic allows, HG/BSK will plant another pine in the grove. In memory of Adam Schlesinger. Be assured the tree will get much sunshine and water.

HG has often posted about the comforting virtues of risotto (see this POST for instructions on how to prepare). HG never orders risotto in American, Paris or London restaurants. The exception is Venice where risotto is good. (The best, although wildly expensive, is at Harry’s Bar). Risotto takes a long time to prepare (constant stirring after adding ladles of stock to rice). Obviously, the labor costs are extreme so flavors and textures suffer because of shortcuts. In Italy, making risotto (or polenta) is a job for men. HG follows that example. BSK is in charge of vegetable additions. In spring, it’s asparagus (last night BSK added perfect steamed asparagus which BSK, masked and rubber-gloved, bought at Whole Foods in the morning). In other seasons BSK adds peas or baby spinach. HG is very generous in adding butter and parmesan to the creamy rice. A robust red wine like Sicilian Nero d’ Avola is the best companion.

Unlike millions of people around the world, HG is not fascinated by English royalty. The other day, inadvertently, HG listened on CNN to Queen Elizabeth Two’s speech to her nation on the coronavirus pandemic. Surprisingly, HG was impressed. The Queen was rational, eloquent, reassuring. No medical information. She leaves that to the scientists. And, she looked great (though a few years older than HG). Regal and rather chic. For a while, HG was a semi royalist. Big contrast between her and the former TV reality host and would-be dictator. HG agrees with the St. Louis Post Dispatch editorial. TV media should stop broadcasting Der Trumperer’s “daily briefings. They provide no useful health information and are nothing but campaign speeches our taxes pay for.