HUNGRY GERALD

Besides being green and gentle, Prinice Edward Island is a place of intense musical traditions — Acadian, Scottish and Irish. Almost everyone on the Island plays a musical instrument, sings, step dances (some folks do all three at the same time). Almost every church (and there are scores ) hosts a “Ceilidh.” This is a neighborhood get together with music and song. All ages participate. Very rousing. There are many very good professional musicians with loyal followings on the Island and throughout the Maritime regions of Canada. One of the best places to hear great music is the Trailside Cafe in Mt. Stewart. There’s music every Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Also a “Gospel Brunch” from 11 AM to 2:30 PM on Sunday. Tickets are $20 (this includes coffee and breakfast food at the brunch). Doors open at 6:30 PM and music starts at 8. How’s the food? Meh. HG suggests eating before arriving. Trailside has some nice wines and Gahan’s splendid beer on tap. The blueberry cheesecake is tasty. But, the point of the place is the music. BSK’s sister and brother-in-law, Noel and Yossi M. (now PEI residents for most of the year) steered HG/BSK to Trailside to hear the Amanda Jackson Band. Wow !! This woman can sing. Backed by four musicians playing drums, guitar, harmonica, saxophone, keyboard, Amanda and her pals rocked the room. A great night.

July 2, 1963. Fifty two years ago in New York. HG/BSK wed in the Foley Square chambers of Judge George Postel. Wedding brunch at Longchamps on lower Broadway. Sweltering heat wave, but BSK glowed with chic loveliness at HG/BSK’s afternoon reception in the St. Regis Hotel’s elegant Library Room (Bucky Pizzarelli supplied sublime guitar melodies). Dinner that night (with BSK’s family) at Fleur de Lys, little French restaurant near HG/BSK’s 27 W. 67th Street apartment. HG indulged in a platter of heavily garlicked escargots. This caused BSK discomfort as HG secreted pungent waves of garlic in the non-air conditioned apartment. BSK pondered (and not for the last time) whether the marriage was an error. HG/BSK and the marriage survived the evening. Today, on blissful Prince Edward Island, the duo raised breakfast coffee cups and agreed that their long journey together has been very rewarding. Tonight’s anniversary dinner will be a platter of shucked oysters (with BSK’s invigorating shallot vinaigrette), linguine con vongole (loads of little neck clams). Lessons have been learned. Garlic will be handled judiciously. Pecan butter tarts with ice cream for dessert. HG’s wish: Many more years with the love of HG’s life, the lovely, generous, talented, compassionate, sensitive BSK, the best wife, lover, mother, grandmother and companion. And, happily, BSK can cook.

End of a perfect day on Prince Edward Island. HG and Toby, The Wonder Dog, walked by the sea (HG gulped big drafts of salty intoxicating air. Toby bounded into the ocean. Bounded out. Too cold. Too salty.). HG shucked a dozen Savage Harbor oysters (from the By the Bay Fish Mart in St. Peters). Big, briny wonders. Given the strengthening of the US dollar, these cost about 80 cents each. Vodka on the rocks for HG as HG gobbled up the bargain bivalves au naturel. BSK topped them with shallot vinaigrette and sipped white wine. This was followed by Asian chicken salad (Chicken from last night’s savory spatchcocked bird). Shredded chicken was mixed with radish, cucumber, fennel, scallion, sweet onion, carrot slices plus cooked and chilled rice noodles. Dressing was BSK’s invention: Grated ginger and garlic, soy sauce, sesame oil and mirin. Canadian pecan butter tarts for dessert. (one of the thoughtful homecoming gifts provided by Sharon’s sister Noel M. and husband, Yossi M. They now live on PEI for much of the year and their presence is a blessing.) HG/BSK’s dinner was enhanced by a Mozart string quartette and views of sea and sunset outside a 60 foot window expanse. Yes, HG/BSK have relished many sunsets: The sunset over Great South Bay from the Fire Island rear deck. The sunset over Vancouver’s English Bay from the Mt. Pleasant loft. The sunset over the Hudson River from the 12th floor Upper West Side apartment. But, none were as panoramic, dramatic, colorful and long lasting as the sunsets HG/BSK enjoy on PEI summer nights.

HG is very fond of fried fish. Fish and chips is a meal. For a snack (or a very light lunch) a fish sandwich is just right. Like many great edibles, a fish sandwich must be simple; and the key to elevating that simplicity is that every element of a fish sandwich must be correct. The buttered bun must be soft with a crisp, toasted surface. There must be high grade tartar sauce and a sprinkle of Tabasco. The fish should be cod or haddock, fried to a greaseless crisp. During HG’s summer sojourn on Prince Edward Island, HG often lunches on a fish sandwich at Rick’s Fish and Chips on St. Peters Bay. An exemplary nosh. Fish sandwiches do not abound in landlocked Santa Fe where HG lives for much of the year. HG’s craving sometimes forces HG into Burger King for a sad fried fish sandwich — for shame, for shame. Today, HG/BSK stopped at Blount Clam Shack in Riverside, R.I., for a quick lunch. Ordered a specialty: “The Fish Reuben.” This is a generous piece of fried cod topped with Swiss cheese, cole slaw and tartar sauce served on a buttered, grilled bun. This is the gold standard of fried fish sandwiches. Sea heaven on a bun. The Shack also offers a “Fish BLT.” In this version the fried cod is topped with lettuce, tomato, smoked bacon and mayo. Must try.

For more than a year, HG has been suffering (not quietly) from mussels deprivation. This past June, upon arriving at HG/BSK’s oceanfront summer home on Prince Edward Island, HG received some dread news: The Mussels Interpretive Center in the town of St. Peter’s had closed. Besides housing a mussels mini-museum, the center offered dining under the creative command of masterly Andrew MacDonald. On offer was the world’s best mussel stew, steamed mussels with melted butter and South Lake oysters on the half shell. A saddened HG repaired to the By the Bay Fish Mart for a bag of mussels to prepare at home. Unfortunately, the knowledgeable proprietor told HG the mussels were below par this past season. She was right. Upon returning to New Mexico, HG gave the PEI mussels at Whole Foods a try. Maybe autumn weather had improved the mollusks. No luck. HG was left with memories. Best mussels ever were served in a Sicilian restaurant (Vincent’s ?) in gritty Harrison, N.J., more than three decades ago. HG/BSK and hungry pals would eat a tub of steamed mussels accompanied by crisp fried zucchini and good bread to sop up briny juices. These were big, plump mussels filled with juice and flavor. HG once asked where these mussels were found. Got a one word answer: “Joisey.” In Denver, HG enjoyed the “finger burning” mussels at Mel’s Restaurant (long closed). These were inspired by the mussels served at La Cagouille Restaurant in Paris. A very simple dish. Mussels were grilled on a cast iron plancha until they opened. Risking burnt fingers, these juicy morsels were dipped in melted lemon butter. HG had a happy Paris memory of the stuffed mussels at Pied de Cochon in Les Halles. HG’s mussels deprivation ended last night. HG had been suffering from a stomach ailment for three days. Deprived him of appetite. Appetite returned. Resourceful BSK found some great PEI mussels at Whole Foods (asked the sales clerk to find a freshly arrived bag in the rear). Steamed with onions, garlic, Italian parsley, clam broth and white wine, some five pounds were served over linguine. Joy.

HG/BSK agree: Best restaurant ever when hungry beyond delirium was the China Barn (Memory slips — it was either located in Waitsfield, Vermont or adjacent to Sugarbush Mountain. Anyway, it’s long closed). HG/BSK, very young SJ and daughter Lesley, would rush to the restaurant after a frigid, high energy day battling Sugarbush’s icy ski runs. Temperature usually hovered around zero. Slopes were demanding (HG ended an undistinguished ski career there after a right leg spiral fracture). When the HG/BSK family were seated at China Barn their collective appetites were honed to sheer madness. HG, a renowned over-orderer, kept the food coming. Dumplings, Noodles. Stir fries of pork, beef, shrimp, chicken and vegetables, won ton soup (a kiddy favorite). Did appetite have something to do with the family admiration of China Barn? As they say in the middle west: You betcha!! After the sumptuous Chinese feast, it was back to the rented condo for hot showers and ice cream in front of the TV. This was recalled by HG/BSK last night at a very late Chinese dinner following a long (no lunch) day of Prince Edward Island shore walking, sun bathing and swimming on a perfect, sunny, cloudless day. HG cooked a spicy Chinese eggplant dish. BSK stir fried Souris sea scallops and delectable snow peas with ginger, garlic, oyster sauce, etc.. BSK provided a pot of fluffy rice. Red wine. Gahan’s IPA brew. Sugarbush-type appetites were appeased.

Yes, HG has waxed rhapsodic about this year’s crop of heavenly PEI sweet corn. Unmatched. Unbelievable. So much so that HG sometimes goes overboard and puts up too much corn to cook — the basic Eyes-Bigger-Than-The-Stomach problem. So, what to do with all that wonderful corn the next day? Corn pancakes. Yes, light, delicious pancakes that can be used for both sweet and savory effect. Directions are simple: Use your usual pancake recipe but instead of using flour in your batter use a mix of half flour, half corn meal. Cut kernels off the cob and add to the batter (leave them whole or mash them up a bit). Eliminate sugar and use buttermilk instead of whole milk. You will now have a savory pancake that will taste great with a dollop of salsa or pico de gallo (plus a grating of Mexican white cheese known as Queso Fresca). For more Mexican flavor, add some chopped jalapeño pepper and cilantro to the batter. Crack open a Dos Equis and enjoy. For breakfast, use whole milk and sugar in the mix. HG likes these pancakes with thick cut bacon and plenty of maple syrup. Happily, pure maple syrup is very modestly priced on Prince Edward Island. There are daily deliveries from nearby Quebec.

An added Prince Edward Island joy. HG/BSK can see a lot of BSK’s sister, Noel M., and her husband, Yossi. The couple are now in residence on a magnificently verdant property in the town of Gasperaux, not far from Panmure Island on PEI’s southeast coast. Just a few minutes away is St.Mary’s Bay, a renowned site for clams and oysters. So, a clamming expedition was planned. The aim was to gather the bivalves for linguine and clam sauce, the centerpiece of a dinner celebrating Noel and Yossi’s 44th wedding anniversary. Noel and Yossi have a vast collective of talents (a championship level of equestrian performance and training skills; music; construction; special education and during Yossi’s Israeli days, paratrooping and other military service). Clamming, however, is not one of their talents. Their uneducated toes came up with only a single clam in an hour of effort. BSK was hampered by being the official expedition photographer. BSK still managed to garner a half dozen. Soaring in to save the day were HG’s talented feet, honed by decades of Fire Island/Great South Bay experience, which plucked some two dozen from the Bay bottom. A bucket full of the clams — chowders, cherrystones and little necks (all called Quahogs on PEI) — provided a beautiful sight. Dinner started with quickly grilled squid Rhode Island style (smothered with garlic, olive oil and super hot pickled peppers). This was accompanied by a platter of sliced seasonal tomatoes, Nova Scotia feta cheese and Kalamata olives. A salad of mache rosettes dressed simply with a drizzle of olive oil and a squeeze of lemon. BSK’s main dish reached new heights through the freshness of the clams, the briny quality of the broth, the exquisite balance of oil and garlic and the al dente quality of Garafolo linguine (the best packaged pasta). Dessert was a sampling of pecan butter tarts (plus raisin tarts for Noel, a butter tart traditionalist) and vanilla ice cream. Cocktails before dinner. White wine with dinner (tea for Noel, not a fan of alcohol). A happy evening indeed.

HG has never liked string beans, haricots vert or whatever you choose to call them. When cooked briefly, HG finds them stringy. When overcooked, they are oblongs of mush. Yellow beans. That’s a whole other story. Don’t see much of them in the United States but here on Prince Edward Island they are a summer staple. Cheap and abundant, they are featured at every roadside stand from June to September. A delicious vegetable with a rich (almost buttery) taste. Here’s how BSK prepares them. Boils them and then douses them with cold water when they reach an al dente stage. They get a shower of olive oil, lemon juice, sea salt, smoked pepper, chopped scallions and an abundance of fresh cut herbs. HG/BSK dined on them last night accompanied by sautéed sea scallops (from the nearby PEI town of Souris), crisp fried PEI potatoes, butter lettuce from a local farm. Dessert: A pecan studded butter tart. O, Canada!!

Bittersweet sadness. Summer is ending here on Prince Edward Island. In too few days HG/BSK will return to the Land of Enchantment. As the wistful song has it: “The days dwindle down to a precious few.” In the meantime, HG/BSK are eating plenty of incomparable sweet corn from the Deb and Gary and Blum’s trucks in Montague. Yes, it will be many months before HG/BSK and family have another sweet corn orgy. Sweet corn has been particularly good this season. HG/BSK have had much corn on the cob; corn chowder (both clam and cod); corn griddle cakes; peppers and onions with corn kernels; a succotash with yellow beans. A surprise was corn tempura prepared by the magical Japanese chef, HG/BSK’s daughter-in-law Exquisite Maiko. That hit all the taste buttons: crispy, sweet, salty, savory. Garrison Keillor wrote: “People have tried and they have tried but sex is not better than sweet corn.” In HG’s opinion, Keillor overstates, But, then, the sage of “Prairie Home Companion” has not had the benefit of 51 years of marital bliss with BSK.