HUNGRY GERALD

HG spent youthful years in the Jewish-Irish-Italian neighborhood of Kingsbridge Road in The Bronx. No Republicans. No Protestants. Kingsbridge Road was a bustling venue of meat markets (kosher and non-kosher); greengrocers; “dairy” stores; fish shops; “appetizing” stores; bakeries, etc. Dining was done at home. Restaurants were scarce. Most prominent was Tower Delicatessen, which served an overpowering multi-course 50-cent dinner (plus splendid corned beef, pastrami, hot dogs, knockwursts, etc.). Today, Kingsbridge is a very diversified neighborhood with many Cuban, Dominican, Puerto Rican, Mexican, Vietnamese, Russian and South American families. A stable, family-oriented, almost crime-free environment (still virtually no Republicans). And, restaurants galore. Here are some: Com Tan Ninh Kieu (best Vietnamese in the Bronx); La Cocina (Mexican); Caridad (Cuban); El Mangu Sabroso (Middle Eastern); Perista (Greek specialties plus encyclopedic breakfast, lunch and dinner dishes); Montezuma (Mexican and Cuban); Fordham (Philly cheesesteaks and huge ice cream sundaes); New Capitol (excellent old time diner food). Walk a few hundred yards northeast at the termination of Kingsbridge road and you’ll find Fordham Road and Gyro King (pita wraps) and Bulbap Grill (fiery Korean dishes). In another direction, walk downhill (west) where Kingsbridge terminates at Broadway. Along many blocks of Broadway, there are over a score of good Cuban and Dominican eateries including some exemplary steak houses. And, at 235th Street and Johnson Avenue in Riverdale is the best traditional Jewish delicatessen/restaurant in New York, Liebman’s. Besides corned beef, pastrami, etc., there’s lots of old time Jewish soul food like kasha varnishkes, chicken in the pot and stuffed cabbage. Yes, when it comes to food the Kingsbridge nabe is challenging Brooklyn.

Last night BSK cooked a BIG pot of green lentils. Unsure of precise portion measurements, BSK cooked enough to feed a military platoon. No matter, they will be eaten to the last morsel since they are so good. BSK cooked them in part water, part chicken broth plus leeks, garlic, green onions, thyme and dashes of tomato paste and hot sauce. They were good company for a pound of fresh haddock filets. HG dipped the fish in beaten egg, rolled them in Canadian fish fry mix and fried them for less than a minute in very hot oil. Frank’s Hot Sauce and PEI mustard pickle were the condiments plus some chopped cherry tomatoes and scallions. Argentine Malbec was the drink. Lovely dinner. Finished with the surprisingly good peanut brittle from the Atlantic Superstore in Charlottetown. HG was introduced to green lentils (as a salad served cold with olive oil and lemon juice) when he was a youngster in New York. They were part of the all you can eat starters (shredded carrots, pickled beets, etc.) that were served at Larre’s, the pleasant and very inexpensive French restaurant that was a hangout for French art world expatriates during World War Two. HG enjoys lentils in many forms. BSK’s red lentils soup is a warming pleasure as is Indian dal (made with yellow lentils it is not favored by BSK). In yesteryear New York, many restaurants (and some diners) served super hearty brown lentil soup enriched by many slices of boiled or grilled frankfurters. Very filling. A large bowl quelled hunger in satisfying fashion.

There are many Yiddish words that contain a “ch” sound that can elude non-Yiddishists. Some of these words are: tuchis (buttocks); chuchem (wise man); chazer (pig); chalerya (cholera); chutzpah (extreme self-confidence). The “ch” sound is gutteral. It is achieved by something like a slight clearing of the throat. There are exception to the rule. “Cholent” for example, This is a dish of meat, potatoes, onions, garlic, etc. baked in the oven for 24 hours. Not an HG favorite. It is pronounced “chawnt” with a soft “ch” as in English “champ.” HG mastered the Yiddish “ch” sound early in life since HG, with affection, called HG’s late Mom, “Chaika”. a Yiddish rendering of “Ida.” BSK, through her loving association with HG, has conquered the Yiddish “ch.” A s the country song says: “If My Woman Can’t Do It, It Can’t Be Done.” BSK can do it all.

Alexander Lobrano lives in Paris and his books on restaurants and cuisine are essential reading if planning a trip to France. Lobrano recalls meeting the late Julia Child at a Paris bistro. The regal lady was eating sliced radishes with salted butter and drinking chilled white wine. Don’t see that appetizer on many American restaurant menus. HG likes to start a summer dinner with buttered radishes and Maldon Sea Salt. BSK uses sliced radish in BSK’s chopped salads which include tomatoes, fennel, celery, sweet onion, scallions and leafy herbs. Good olive oil makes the salad a treat. HG’s late Mom often served slices of super pungent black radish with her excellent chopped liver; all drenched in chicken fat. Sammy’s Romanian on New York’s lower east side used to serve black radishes as an accompaniment to garlic and chicken fat dishes. Horseradish, of course, it the most searing of all radishes. Rodney’s Oyster Bar in Vancouver, B.C., serves fresh shredded horseradish with its splendid shucked oysters. Nice palate cleanser. As a little fellow, it was HG’s job to grate jars of horseradish for family meals. The powerful fumes from the horseradish made tears pour down HG’s rosy cheeks.

HG believes that the problem with sandwiches is there’s too much bread involved. Two slices are too much. And that holds true for rolls and hamburger buns. HG prefers open-faced sandwiches. In HG’s college days at CCNY, the Campus Diner near Convent Avenue served a roast beef (or turkey) platter. The meat rested on a slice of white Wonder Bread and was flanked by mashed potatoes and pallid string beans. All was covered with a maximum amount of dark brown gravy. Appetite honed by football practice on the grassless field of Lewisohn Stadium, HG devoured these dishes with gusto. These days HG is partial to fried haddock sandwiches on the bottom half of a burger bun. HG eats this with knife and fork since the fish is doused with tartar sauce and Tabasco. Franks are removed from their bun and eaten au naturel with mustard and sauerkraut (or pickle relish if kraut isn’t available). Hamburgers get similar treatment. HG rarely eats them anywhere but in the kitchen of BSK, The Burger Baroness. BSK grills them in a seasoned black cast iron pan; tops them with melted cheese and sweet onions. No buns. Just glory. HG concedes there are sandwiches where two slices of bread are essential: The Reuben sandwich (best ever was served at Reuben’s Restaurant on Manhattan’s upper east side. Alas, long closed).; the classic diner grilled cheese (doused with plenty of Worcestershire Sauce); bacon, lettuce and tomato on whole-wheat toast (heavy on the mayo). And, of course, New York’s Katz’s Delicatessen pastrami sandwich. The best, and messiest, two slices of bread sandwich was at HG’s favorite Jewish delicatessen, Gitlitz on the upper west side (HG/BSK lived two blocks away). This was composed of (HG’s orders) chopped liver, pastrami, sliced onion, coleslaw, and Russian dressing. Very untraditional but super delicious. Waiters frowned. One day (if health luck holds out) HG/BSK will visit the Scandinavian countries and eat the famed smorrebrod: open faced sandwiches often featuring herring and smoked fish. Pass the icy Aakavit and beer.

Beans are an essential part of HG/BSK dining in New Mexico. Every Mexican and Tex-Mex restaurant serves abundant amounts of refried beans with their dishes. “Charro” beans are also a feature (Pinto beans cooked with bacon, onions, tomatoes, cilantro). The best canned beans are the Goya brand (Disclaimer: Years ago, HG had the pleasure of serving as public relations consultant to this wonderful Hispanic company). Their cannellini beans are exceptional. HG likes them mixed with olive oil and chopped garlic as an accompaniment to rare pan-broiled rib steak. These are also splendid in a bowl of Italian canned tuna seasoned with olive oil, lemon juice, sweet onions and garlic. A mound of Goya black beans is topped with chopped onions and sour cream. Worthy companion to fried pork chops which have been dusted with Goya Adobo spice powder. In HG’s New York/New Jersey days, HG frequently dined in Cuban eateries and had fried shrimp with “Moros y Cristianos.” This was composed of black beans topping white, fluffy rice and recalled Spain’s embattled history. BSK likes Goya’s garbanzo beans and uses them in a hearty chickpea soup. BSK uses the brand’s pinto beans cooked with Indian sauce. It’s a favorite (served with rice) after school snack for both Hindu and Muslim children. Sadly, Prince Edward Island supermarkets don’t carry Goya products. The canned beans they carry are inedible.

For decades soft pretzels have been served as a snack on New York’s street corners. Vile. The worst were the soggy specimens sold by a sad man in front of Bloomingdale’s Lexington Avenue facade. HG once had a much-touted Pennsylvania Dutch soft pretzel with mustard at Philadelphia’s farmers market. It was okay. Not great. For HG, the only worthwhile pretzels were in big glass jars on the counters of Bronx candy stores. These crisp pretzels–twisted or vertical– were much enjoyed by HG with a cold egg cream. Info for the uninitiated: An egg cream contains no egg and no cream. Just seltzer, U-Bet chocolate syrup and ice cold (or semi-frozen) milk. HG’s recipe, reprinted from the New York Times, is included in The Jewish Encyclopedia. HG notes that pretzels are having a makeover in the form of crushed pretzels as a coating on fried foods, as pretzel bread, pretzel rolls and biscuits. HG still craves those old time candy store crispy delights.

From the 19th to early 20th-century Celery was not just a popular vegetable in America, it was a national obsession. Other than coffee and tea, celery appeared on more menus than any other foodstuff — raw, fried, mashed, fed to ducklings, jellied. Wealthy families displayed celery in cut crystal vases as a lavish table setting. On one early 20th century menu dug up by the New York Public Library, a dish of caviar is priced at 25 cents; celery is 30 cents. Times have changed. Celery is a neglected vegetable. Not by BSK. Celery is included in BSK’s mirepoix that enhances many dishes. It is also an ingredient in chopped salad a la BSK with scallions, onions, radishes, baby turnips, fennel, parsley and cherry tomatoes. (HG, lover of Asian food, likes it mixed with cold Vietnamese rice noodles and gilded with lemon juice, fish sauce, sesame oil, soy sauce and chili oil). Don’t see celery on many restaurant menus these days (Sometimes used as a modest garnish). A great cooked celery dish was the braised celery served in years past at The Oak Room in New York’s Plaza Hotel. If memory serves, it was topped with a bit of beef marrow. Lush. For many years, diners at New York restaurants were served with a dish of celery and green olives on ice. These were nibbles to accompany the pre-dinner cocktail. That custom has vanished. Pete Meehan, in his book, “Lucky Peach: 101Easy Asian Recipes,” has two celery recipes HG/BSK will try. One is for “Spicy Cold Celery.” Thin sliced celery (cut on an angle) is smothered in a dressing of sesame oil, chili oil, rice vinegar, sugar, soy sauce and a few crushed Szechuan peppercorns. Sounds like a good warm weather appetizer. The other recipe is for “Szechuan Chopped Celery With Beef”. This calls for chopped celery and chopped beef to be stir-fried with Korean chili-bean paste and other ingredients and served over rice or Asian noodles. HG intends to cook this and will add Sambal Oelek to the HG portion. Some (include HG) like it hot.

Excellent fruit. For some obscure reason, HG has been neglecting bananas for some years. Now, they are an integral part of HG’s breakfast. HG tops fruit yogurt with thin banana slices and adds a dash of Canadian maple syrup. Delicious, healthy, and filling. These slices are nice over a bran cereal or muesli (the maple syrup is obligatory). Growing up, HG’s Mom often served Little HG with a bowl of sliced bananas and sour cream. As a special treat, HG had the bananas with sweet cream and chopped walnuts. Sauteed, brown sugared bananas were a wondrous side dish at Forno’s, the long closed, delightful Spanish restaurant on Manhattan’s midtown west side. In yesteryear Bronx, ice cream parlors like Addy Vallins and Krum’s, served banana splits. Bananas were sliced vertically and toped with three scoops of ice cream. Whipped cream, chocolate syrup (or hot fudge or butterscotch), chopped nuts and a Maraschino cherry topped it. (Do banana splits still exist?). Best banana dish was Bananas Foster served at Brennan’s in New Orleans. Bananas were sauteed in butter and sugar. Topped with ice cream and flamed with brandy. Easy to make at home. (NY Times has a good recipe). Give it a try and have some N’awlins delight.

Followers of HungryGerald.com have learned that BSK is an excellent, inventive cook. BSK’s dinners, breakfast omelets and casseroles, provide daily delight for discerning HG. Fortunately, HG/BSK’s children, Lesley R. and SJ, have both learned kitchen skills from BSK and are splendid home cooks appreciated by their families. (SJ’s wife, Exquisite Maiko, is a professional chef and the favorite of the entire clan including HG’s daughter, Victoria, the noted New York restaurateur. But, Maiko is glad to turn pasta and barbecue over to SJ so she can get a rest from culinary work). HG may have erred in emphasizing BSK’s cooking. This is just one of BSK’s mundane talents which include gardening, home repairs and interior design. Plus, well paid professional ventures as a political and economic development strategist, public relations counselor and publicist. An avocation is ecological activism. Primarily, BSK is an artist. Permit HG to fill in some biographical details. BSK’s first interest in the arts was theatrical. BSK studied theater at Ohio State University, performed on stage in student productions, was on local television, did improvisations at Columbus coffee houses. Later, BSK did summer stock in Hyde Park, N.Y., and repertory in the Ford Foundation-sponsored Fred Miller Theater in Milwaukee. BSK came to New York to study with Lloyd Richards and Lee Strassberg. Had to make money to support herself while making the casting rounds. Became an office temp. Worked at HG’s office (among other things, BSK was a skilled and accurate typist and efficient in office administration.) That’s how HG/BSK met. The rest is 56 years of loving history. In the early years of marriage to HG, BSK was occupied with raising children but found time (with a partner) to design pillows (sold at the Henri Bendel, W.J. Sloane and Lord & Taylor in New York). Sloane featured the pillows in the store’s Fifth Avenue showcase window. The partners also invented and manufactured a tote called the “Billybag”. And, in spare moments, BSK painted. At first, BSK’s art was representational, many painting inspired by old photos. (A BSK Fire Island-inspired landscape hung for many years over the bar at Bradley’s, the jazz club and restaurant on University Place in Greenwich Village. Bradley’s closed a few years after the owner, Bradley Cunningham, died in 1988). As years went by, BSK did color field work, abstractions, landscapes inspired by Milton Avery and paintings more expressionist than naturalist. For decades, BSK was the photographer and art director for HG/BSK’s growing and successful public relations firm. (BSK photos appeared in newspapers and magazines throughout the country including Time Magazine, Metropolitan Home and The New York Times). BSK was a skilled photo printer utilizing a basement darkroom in HG/BSK’s Montclair, N.J. home. Beyond commercial work, BSK also did fine art photography often incorporating hand-painting. Since moving to New Mexico, BSK has become a wonderful potter. BSK’s large studio building has a kiln and BSK has been hand forming and glazing an astonishing array of pots, sculptures, bowls, trays, etc. BSK’s pottery is included in collections from California to New York. HG/BSK’s children (and grandchildren) love BSK’s art and their homes are decorated with an array of her works. HG/BSK homes in New Mexico and Prince Edward Island are suffused with BSK art. On PEI, there’s a long foyer wall lined with various PEI seascapes. The master bedroom’s walls feature brilliant blue, white and green abstractions of PEI. In New Mexico, there are many pots on the living room mantelpiece, the coffee table, and an antique linen table. There are paintings in the bedrooms and HG’s office plus photos of Florence, Venice, Bologna, Nantucket, Coney Island, etc. BSK’s work enhances HG’s life and every day HG is stimulated by another aspect of BSK’s artwork. Best of all, are HG’s long afternoon swims in HG/BSK’s New Mexico pool house As HG paddles in the pool, HG gazes at three oversized canvases of nudes, a landscape, two collages and two abstractions. Also Montclair swimming pool photos of HG and Fire Island snapshots. Thanks to BSK, HG is plunged into visual and physical pleasure. Ah, BSK, you are a treasure.