HUNGRY GERALD

Once upon a time, many years ago, there was an affordable, funky, comfortable city known, then and now, as New York. Among the city’s many amenities was the “appetizing store.” This was a small store that sold smoked fish (Nova Scotia salmon, salty lox, sable, sturgeon, kippered salmon, herring, whitefish); olives (green and black); pickles (from a barrel), cole slaw, potato salad. On the shelves were canned and jarred items such as salmon, tuna and anchovies. Some stores offered dried fruits, nuts and halvah. “Appetizing stores” were omnipresent on every shopping street in the Jewish neighborhoods of Manhattan, The Bronx , Brooklyn and Queens. Today, only two survive: Russ & Daughters on the Lower East Side and Murray’s Sturgeon Shop on the Upper West Side. (Yes, there are two big time smoked fish landmarks on the Upper West Side: Zabar’s and Barney Greengrass. But, Zabar’s is a megaplex offering housewares, cheese, prepared foods, breads, sweets, etc. Greengrass is as much a restaurant as it is an “appetizing store.”) R & D and Murray’s have loyalists. SJ insists that R & D has the ultimate smoked fish and salads. Others think Murray’s experienced hand slicers are accomplished artists. HG leans toward R & D but finds Zabar’s sable and red salmon caviar superior. HG has heard that Murray’s has become a bit moldy. R & D, on the other hand, has become reinvigorated with an energetic younger generation that has taken over and expanded the Russ & Daughter’s brand. In HG’s youth, it was HG’s Sunday task to shop at the “appetizing store” on Kingsbridge Road in the Bronx and bring home the fixings for the joyous Sunday brunch. It was the job of the father of the household to visit the neighborhood bakery for the essential bagels, bialys, pletzels and rye bread. Moms took care of the cream cheese, sweet butter and sour cream. In the immediate World War Two years, a certain casual jacket became popular among Jewish men. A four button affair, it had a tweed body and camel hair sleeves. It was designed for weekend casual activities. It was known as the “Bagel Coat” because it was the obligatory costume of men fetching those baked (but first boiled) treats.

Poached eggs. Scrambled eggs. Omelets. Those are the ways HG likes eggs prepared. Never liked fried eggs. Never a fan of the ubiquitous New York fried egg sandwich. HG likes to eat eggs at home because that’s where they are prepared perfectly. BSK is a talented poacher. BSK poached eggs always have soft (but gently firm) whites and lush, runny yolks. BSK enjoys them on French bistro salads of frisee and bacon or topping a bowl of buttery and cheesy grits. (Poached eggs are splendid served with corned beef hash but HG hasn’t encountered a good restaurant version of this hash since the wonderful Longchamps restaurants of New York closed years ago [SJ here…The Corned Beef Hash topped with a fried egg at Keen’s Chop House is pretty much killer!] ). HG likes ultra soft scrambled eggs with gentle, creamy curds. Impossible to find such eggs at diners and other casual breakfast eateries. They must be made at home with plenty of butter sizzling in the pan (Adding sweet cream is an option). Long deft stirring is the secret. Takes time. The Alice Toklas (Gertrude Stein’s companion) recipe for scrambled eggs suggests 30 minutes of stirring. That’s excessive. The HG family Christmas season late breakfast treat is soft scrambled eggs topped with red salmon caviar and creme fraiche (or sour cream). A warm buttered bialy goes nicely with this holiday treat. HG likes omelets with soft creamy interiors. HG has learned the secret of ordering omelets in Paris. HG orders them baveuse. The translation is “oozing.” BSK and SJ are masterful omelet cooks. HG likes his with a filling of feta cheese. (Pete’s Diner in Denver, home of the world’s greatest giant breakfast burrito, makes a quite acceptable version of this omelet). Yes, BSK and SJ make delicious omelets. But, the Queen of Omelets was a stern, unsmiling Frenchwoman, Mme. Romaine de Lyon. She ran an eponymous omelet restaurant (served only omelets) on New York’s Midtown East Side for some 65 years. How to describe her wondrous omelets? Exquisite. Lush. Divine. Yummy. Many famous folk dined at the restaurant. Anne Bancroft and Mel Brooks were regulars. Brooks wrote the screenplay for The Producers (the movie with Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder) at his regular table at Mme. De Lyon’s restaurant. If you want to learn the secrets of omelet cooking read Mme De Lyon’s book, The Art of Cooking Omelettes. She spells the dish with two t’s and the book contains 500 savory recipes.

Choucroute simply means sauerkraut. Choucroute Garnie (on French brasserie and bistro menus) is sauerkraut cooked with a variety of pork products. Chez Jenny in Paris has always been touted as a great place for Choucroute. HG disagrees. The Paris best is Brasserie de I’Isle St. Louis. Despite a touristy location near Notre Dame, the brasserie turns out serious, old fashioned French food. Dedicated foodies say that to taste real choucroute one must travel to Alsace. HG is not that dedicated and likes BSK’s home cooked choucroute. BSK rinses a jar of Bubbie’s sauerkraut and cooks it with onions, juniper berries and white wine (SJ notes that a nice Riesling is the preferable choice). Adds Kassler Rippchen (German smoked pork chops from Schaller & Weber online) and knockwurst. Serves it with boiled potatoes, French cornichons and Keen’s English Mustard. Noted food writer Jeffrey Steingarten attempted to codify the ingredients of Choucroute in his wonderful book The Man Who Ate Everything, but one of the joys of making the dish at home is going to a good German/Polish/Alsace butcher (SJ reccomends Jubilat Provisions for Brooklyn folk) and picking out numerous yummy things. Cold beer or ale with a shot or two of chilled vodka are the obligatory beverages.

Busy (and pleasant) day for the usually leisurely HG. Joined by BSK, HG finalized the purchase of a 2014 Toyota RAV at a Santa Fe dealership. Much tedious negotiation concerning warranties, etc. Considering that El Nino is predicted to impact New Mexico (California will bear the brunt) it seemed advisable that HG have a sturdy four-wheel-drive vehicle. Lunch was at Saigon Cafe where HG/BSK dined happily on steamed pork buns (surprisingly good) and Pho. Instead of beef (at HG’s request) the steaming bowls had plentiful slices of tasty tofu. With a ton of bean sprouts and mint (plus a splash of sriracha) this was good eating. Back home for a long stroll with Toby, The Wonder Dog. Then an hour of swimming. HG/BSK determined they hadn’t been to a cinema in a year. Heard good reports about “The Martian”. So off to the Dreamcatcher 10-Plex in Espanola. Eccentic theater. No signs indicating the parking lot. Eventually found it. (Off an obscure unmarked, unlit road). When things are strange in Northern New Mexico, locals shake their heads and say: “Es Norte.” Yes, things can be idiosyncratic here in Norte New Mexico. Early movie so HG had a quick dinner of Korean ramen mixed with lots of kimchi. (HG throws away the flavor packets in the ramen since they contain a megadose of sodium. The healthy kimchi adds the necessary, heat, flavor and crunch). As for the movie. HG/BSK saw it in 3-D The process has come a long way since the Bwana Devil days). Exciting, suspenseful, visually exhilarating. Don’t miss it. Another big win for director Ridley Scott.

The explosive growth of the Chinese population of New York has led to the creation of a number of new “Chinatowns” scattered throughout the five boroughs. The Flushing neighborhood of Queens is much larger than Manhattan’s Chinatown and far outclasses it in terms of quality and variety of cuisine. (Along Northern Boulevard and in the surrounding community of Murray Hill, there are also many good Korean restaurants and supermarkets). SJ is a Flushing expert and has led HG and BSK to some extraordinary eating adventures. There are also growing Chinatowns in Brooklyn. Sunset Park is the largest. But, for nostalgic HG there is only one true Chinatown: Manhattan’s Chinatown. HG has been dining in that Chinatown for 76 years. It all began when 10-year-old HG and his late beloved sister, Beulah Naomi, would board the Third Avenue El at the Fordham Road station in The Bronx. The leisurely train voyage had its delights. We would peer into tenement windows along the route (saw some remarkable family scenes). A highlight was the huge shiny brass brewing vats of the Jacob Ruppert Beer Company in the East 90’s neighborhood. (A sidebar: Ruppert, which went out of business in 1965, was once America’s best selling beer and Jacob Ruppert, son of the founder, was the owner of the New York Yankees baseball club. He brought Babe Ruth to New York, a move which led to decades of baseball supremacy.) HG and his sister descended from the El at Chatham Square. Chinatown was quite small in these days (bounded by the Bowery and Canal Street with Mott, Pell, Bayard, Elizabeth and Doyers as its principal streets. It was many years later that Chinatown metastasized, taking over much of Little Italy and the Lower East Side.) The street scenes of Chinatown delighted little HG (they still do). The strange and often inscrutable foods spilling onto the sidewalks. The exotic, musical language. The appearance of the neighborhood inhabitants (Years ago, many older Chinese men still sported pigtails). Luncheon choices for HG and sister were conservative. Won ton soup. Egg rolls. Barbecued spare ribs. Chicken chop suey (or chow mein). Rice. Tea. Almond cookies. It was a feast. The cost (for two) was 65 cents (with tip). The El fare was 5 cents. A wonderful day of sightseeing and feasting for less than a dollar (for two happy people). HG’s Chinatown food tastes became more sophisticated through the years. Shrimp in lobster sauce, Moo Goo Gai Pan, stir fried beef and broccoli became favorites. Chinatown remained wonderfully cheap, the perfect venue for college dates. In the 1950’s, HG and pals would dine at Yuet Sun. Our table of six or eight would devour shrimp in black bean sauce, pork livers, fried dumplings, garlicky greens, stir fries of pork, beef and chicken; noodles, rice. On the table were many cans of icy beer purchased from an nearby grocer. The jolly meal cost about 2 dollars a person. Later, HG’s favorite restaurant was Bo-Bo’s on Pell Street.Esther Eng, an imperious lady of the theater and one of the first (and greatest) female directors of Chinese language films, ran Bo-Bo’s. Bo-Bo’s was one of Ms. Eng’s five restaurants and enormously influential in exposing the sophistication of Chinese cuisine to America — the lobster rolls and steak dishes were outstanding. HG took BSK to Bo-Bo’s on their first date in 1963. When living in New York and New Jersey, HG/BSK and children were weekly visitors to Chinatown. Oriental Garden for great squab and pepper-and-salt grilled shrimp. Hong Fat for fried crabs. Phoenix Garden for flounder in black bean sauce, HSF and Nom Wah for Sunday dim sum brunch. (For years, Nom Wah on Doyers Street was the only dim sum eatery in New York). There were other places on the Bowery and elsewhere (names forgotten) that specialized in fried chicken, snails, clams in black bean sauce, etc. Chinatown changed and grew. Big Hong Kong-style dim sum palaces. Bubble tea store fronts. Congee made an appearance. Shanghai soup dumplings became a craze. HG still likes Chinatown food. Sad news is that Full House on Bowery near Hester has morphed into Flaming Kitchen. This super-modern, hi-tech space prepared superb Cantonese fish dishes and now caters to the hip, new style of Szechuan heat. However, Dim Sum Go Go is still dispensing good dim sum. Big Wong does superior congee and maintains the funky, old time Chinatown flavor. Nom Wah has been spruced up but retains its original vibe although foodwise HG/BSK had one good and one bad experience there. Bo Ky on Grand serves very good Vietnamese food. There’s good ethnic eating from a variety of Chinese regions on Eldridge, Chrystie, Allen, Forsyth and East Broadway. Yes, Flushing and Sunset Park have stolen some of Chinatown’s food luster but, HG remains loyal. And, it’s easier to get to than Flushing.

HG uses a question mark in describing last night’s meal as “The Perfect Meal.” That’s because perfection is something we can strive for but can’t really achieve. But, last night’s dinner came mighty close. The elements were all there. Dinner companion: Beloved BSK. Atmosphere: Fire crackling in the fireplace on the first chill night of New Mexico autumn. Light: Candles and last rays of flickering sun. Sound: Bill Evans. And, the food. HG/BSK nibbled Shishito peppers and drank chilled Pinot Grigio. BSK dusted the bottom of a favorite cast iron pan with kosher salt and pan broiled a thick nicely marbled rib steak. BSK’s method is to keep turning the steak every 40 seconds over medium high heat. The result is a steak which has a crusty (but not charcoaled exterior) and a lush, red and juicy, rare interior. BSK sautéed Chantarelle mushrooms in butter to a silky consistency. A big salad of assorted greens with a dressing that combined oil, vinegar, a bit of Dijon mustard and a plentiful amount of ripe Gorgonzola. Drank an abundance of Chilean and Australian red wines. Robust and full of fruit. Finished the last glasses with New Mexican Biscochitos (traditional anise and cinnamon cookies). Perfect ? Don’t know. But, close.

Okra. This rather strange vegetable (It traveled to America with the earliest slave ships), provokes strong emotions. Some love it. Some hate it. Count HG among the lovers of this rather slimy treat. In HG’s college days (at uptown CCNY), HG often supped at plain spoken Harlem eateries that served ribs, pork chops and fried catfish. They were not focused on “health” food. Three vegetables were offered: Onions (fried); Collard Greens (cooked with ham hocks); Okra (breaded and fried in sizzling lard). HG often ate pork chops smothered in caramelized onions and accompanied by delicious fried okra. The okra were doused with vinegar steeped with fiery Scotch Bonnet peppers. (Young HG’s appetite was honed by football practice at Lewisohn Stadium so HG filled out the meal with a big bowl of macaroni and cheese). HG’s love affair with okra continues. Texas pickled okra is great condiment. Okra is essential in a good gumbo. (SJ’s chicken gumbo, reigning king of all gumbos, contains mucho okra). HG is looking forwards to a favorite meal tonight. Fried pork chops dusted with Goya Adobo. Goya black beans topped with chopped sweet onions and a dab of sour cream. Sauteed peppers. And,of course, pan fried okra and onions (no breading) enhanced with plenty of Slap Yo Momma Louisiana Cajun spice. Anchor Steam Beer mixed with Guinness Stout will be the beverage.

HG’s followers will note that HG loves Goya products: Beans of every variety; Adobo and Sazon seasonings, green olives, chorizo, etc. Goya Foods, the largest Hispanic owned business in the United States (private and family owned) sells some $1.5 billion worth of their 2,200 (give or take) products annually and employs 3,500 persons. The company was founded by Prudencio Unanue Ortiz in 1936 after arrival in the United States from Puerto Rico. Born in Spain, Ortiz named the company after his favorite Spanish painter, the great Francisco Goya. In 1980, HG had the happy experience of working with the Unuanue family and Goya Foods as public relations counsel. HG admired the family’s unfailing courtesy and dedication to the quality of their products. The company was very philanthropic and was the sponsor of numerous events celebrating the Hispanic presence in America. Today, it is a prominent member of Michelle Obama’s “Eat Healthy” initiative. Also in 1980, a brash young man named Donald Trump was making his first big splash in New York real estate by announcing his ambitious renovation of the dowdy Hotel Commodore at New York’s Grand Central Terminal. Trump, fueled by his father Fred’s multi million dollar fortune, was eager for media visibility. HG handled public relations for the architectural firm designing the renovation. In that capacity, HG had many meetings with Donald. Though grotesquely self important and overbearing, HG found the outer borough youngster appealing. HG and others induced Mayor Ed Koch to participate in the press conference announcing the renovation. Koch, in his usual “haimish” manner, congratulated Trump but diminished the importance of Trump’s great endeavor compared to other things happening in New York at the time. (This was the beginning of mutual dislike between Trump and Koch that continued during their careers). HG has been thinking about the wonderful contribution to America made by the Hispanic family behind Goya Foods and the positive benefits brought to America by the latest wave of Hispanic immigrants from Mexico, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, etc.. Donald Trump’s disgraceful remarks about Mexican immigrants and his ludicrous immigration policy ought to disqualify him from any role in American political life. However, his presidential campaign goes on. It seems The Donald (like other nonsensical TV “reality” personalities) has captured the affection and attention of a considerable audience. HG can only hope that The Donald is a temporary aberration who will disappear while HG continues to sup on Goya black beans topped with chopped onions and a dollop of sour cream.

You will never find a cucumber, cooked, fresh or pickled, on an Italian menu. For some strange reason, Italians believe cucumbers have a near lethal effect on the digestive system. Oh, well, that only means more cucumbers for the rest of us. Cucumbers make a very superior cold soup, perfect for summer. Cucumber slices with lemon juice and dill are perfect with many German and Scandinavian dishes. Chopped cucumber (and radish) should always be added to cold beet borscht or cold sorrel soup (schav). Chopped cucumber, radish, scallions, lemon juice are added to Greek yogurt in order to make the Indian salad, Raita, which can cool down a blazing vindaloo curry. Cucumber slices with sour cream (or yogurt) and lots of dill is a happy companion of cold poached salmon. These are a few of the good things HG does with fresh cucumbers. But, it is when art is applied to cucumbers, the vegetable becomes a pickle, and few things in life are better than a good pickle. Sour (and half sour) Jewish pickles with their inimitable dill and garlic taste, are the necessary accompaniment to pastrami, corned beef, chopped liver and a host of other kosher (or kosher style) delicacies. French cornichons are a delight to consume with country pates, saucisson and other masterpieces of French charcuterie. Slightly sweet “bread and butter” pickles (the Bubbie’s brand is the best) are nice with sandwiches. In HG’s Bronx youth, the hungry lad evinced a passion for pickles. HG bought them straight from the barrel at the “appetizing” stores that were a fixture in all Jewish neighborhoods. HG never ate popcorn at the movies. Instead, HG munched a pair of sour pickles. Tasty. Healthy (low in calories). Cheap. They cost a nickel in HG’s youth.

New Mexico homecoming dinner with friends and neighbors: Karen K., Polly B. (and her visiting daughter from China, Jen); David F. New Mexico cuisine. BSK produced two sizable pork butts from the Pojoauque Super Market. These were scored with a paring knife and thin slivers of garlic were inserted in the slits; an SJ spice-rub followed (chile powder, cumin, smoked paprika, garlic powder, salt, pepper, brown sugar, mustard powder..and more) and finally the butts were roasted at a low temperature for more than 3 hours. Yes, autumn green chiles are roasting all over The Land of Enchantment and BSK picked up a few pounds at the Santa Fe Farmers Market. They were the basis (with onions, garlic, etc.) for BSK’s fiery green chile sauce. There are few things better than long roasted piggy doused with this killer sauce. Also on the kitchen buffet was a pot of Goya black beans (with accompanying chopped onions and sour cream); garlicky, sautéed Shishito peppers (now in season); sliced tomatoes and avocado; celeriac slaw (a non-mayonnaise BSK invention); big stack of warm tortillas. Vodka (Karen K.’s own pink infusion); red and white wine; ale and Guiness stout. Cookies and salted caramel ice cream for dessert. Brandy. A fun feast of local flavors.