HUNGRY GERALD

SJ, Exquisite Maiko, grand-son Haru, grand-daughter Teru are on Prince Edward Island with HG/BSK. EM, much to the delight of HG, has been busy in the kitchen. EM is a masterly chef and turns out some dishes that have Japanese soul but are rarely found on the menus of Japanese restaurants. Some nights ago, EM accompanied braised chicken with a tureen of sauteed bean sprouts, snow pea pods and oyster mushrooms. Bean sprouts are usually innocuous but EM does something magical and they became succulent while retaining crispness. Last night, EM soared. The meal started with a chawanmushi, a savory Japanese custard made with eggs beaten with dashi broth, soy sauce and salt. Slivers of mushrooms, yellow beans and corn kernels were added (no chicken or shrimp which she usually adds). The mixture was poured into individual bowls and steamed. The result was food poetry: a silken custard, accented with the smokey notes of dashi, that yielded exquisite bites of the fresh vegetables that were suspended within — a delicate, yet robust dish where EM’s masterly technique celebrated the integrity of the ingredients. The main dish was equally unusual. Buta no Kakuni, pork belly with daikon radish and hard boiled eggs. Served over rice and enriched with the fragrant braising liquid created by cooking the pork belly and daikon. This is a two day dish. The pork bellies are first seared, then cooked at a low boil with ginger, scallions, sake and water. Finally they are left in the pot and refrigerated overnight. In the morning, all the fat is removed and the pork is simmered together with mirin, sugar, soy sauce and dashi broth — the daikon and the eggs are also added. EM’s attention to detail is revealed in the shape of the daikon, each piece cut into a uniform size reminiscent of a child’s building block. The dish is powerful and rich in flavor but oddly light on the palate. A piece of Japanese culture illuminated by EM’s creative wizardry.

HG has been rereading some works by I.B. Singer (In My Father’s Court, The Magician of Lublin, Satan in Goray) and I.J. Singer (Yoshe Kalb.) This is a plunge into the vanished world of the Jewish Chassidim of Poland, a strange environment of fervent religiosity, Talmudic scholarship, superstition, mysticism. A world wiped out by the German murderers. Beyond the spiritual, the Singer books provide plenty of descriptions of traditional Eastern-European Jewish food-ways from everyday eating to wedding dinners to the opulent feasts of the more prosperous rabbinical courts. HG was struck by the omnipresence in these descriptions of kasha (buckwheat groats). Kasha with milk for breakfast. Kasha in chicken soup. Kreplach (a sort of Jewish ravioli) stuffed with kasha. Knishes stuffed with kasha. Bowls of kasha with onions. Indeed, kasha seemed the staff of life for many Polish and other Eastern European Jews. HG, the son of Jewish/Belorussian immigrants, ate lots of kasha at the family table. Loved its robust nutty flavor. Still love it. HG enjoys it in a bowl of steaming beef or chicken broth. Enjoys it as an accompaniment to brisket and gravy. Enjoys it mixed with farfalle (butterfly shaped) pasta in a dish called kasha varnishkes. HG has a fervent attachment to this dish when it is topped with fried onions and mushrooms. Accompanied by a bowl of sour cream or Greek yogurt, of course. When winter chill arrives, HG watches NFL playoffs on TV. Before HG is a bowl of onion-mushroom-kasha varnishkes, Sour cream. A bottle of dark beer. A glass of ice cold vodka. Happy times.

Rhubarb (classified as a fruit by American agricultural agencies) grows easily in warm weather and is abundant on Prince Edward Island. In conversation, BSK noted that in the Ohio of BSK’s youth, rhubarb “always grew behind the garage.” Prince Edward Island neighbor Chuck P. presented HG/BSK with a big bunch. “Where did you get it?”, queried HG. Answer: “Behind my garage.” Okay. Mysteries of the world outside of New York continue to abound. BSK promised to cook it. HG took this news glumly. HG’s Mom would always cook up a big batch during the summer and did nothing to mitigate the fruit’s tartness. “Roobock (her pronunication) is good for you. Cleans you out.” Mom was referring to rhubarb’s properties as a laxative. Well, BSK cooked a batch of rhubarb with sugar and the first strawberries of the season. Delicious. HG is gobbling it up with fresh fruit and Greek yogurt. Needless to say, HG has the cleanest colon on PEI. Moral: Always listen to your Mother and always rely on BSK’s culinary skills.

Clams Posillipo was one of the long time menu fixtures of New York’s red sauce Italian restaurants that has gradually faded into obscurity. A simple dish of clams steamed in a marinara sauce. On Prince Edward Island, fortunate HG/BSK can purchase very fresh cherrystone clams (known in these parts as quahogs) for less than five bucks a dozen. So, nostalgic HG/BSK decided to revisit this dish last night. BSK got busy chopping: onions, garlic, garlic scapes, basil, parsley, oregano. (Oops. BSK doesn’t chop basil — BSK tears the leaves apart). These are sauteed in olive oil. They go into a pot with good quality canned San Marzano plum tomatoes, white wine and clam broth. When all is boiling away, the clams are added. They get a dusting of red pepper flakes plus some Pimenton( smoked Spanish paprika). The clams are added and the pot is covered. Due to the magic clam clock in BSK’s head the heat is turned off the moment the clams open and before they turn rubbery. The result of BSK’s endeavor is a dish of tender clams floating in a magical, smoky broth redolent of the flavors of Italy and Spain. Chunks of ciabatta are dunked. BSK says the secret is slowly cooking the broth to develop full flavors and making sure the alcohol in the wine has burned off before adding the clams. Whatever. Sure tastes good.

Yes, in the sultry heat of summer, HG, like many other folks, prefers lightly fried, sauteed or steamed fish; also salads, fresh vegetables and fruits. Clams, scallops, mussels, shrimp and lobster go hand-in-hand with the summer months. Plus oysters ( eating oysters only in months with an “R” is not applicable on far north Prince Edward Island). However, there were two summer feasts — totally delicious and totally inappropriate for the season — that remain prominent in HG’s culinary memory bank. They were prepared by two very different people — Rex Reed and Andre Reudi. Rex Reed, an urbane television personality and newspaper arts/theater/music critic, was on Fire Island, the colorful barrier beach off Long Island, New York, where HG/BSK had summer homes for many years. Rex was visiting HG/BSK’s dear friends, the inimitable jazz duo, Jackie and Roy. Blazing hot day in August. Temperature in the 90’s. Rex prepared dinner, drawing upon his southern roots. A long cooked piece of roast beef liberally sprinkled with Cajun spices. The beef swam in a lake of dark brown, winey, spicy gravy. It was accompanied by super buttery mashed potatoes and slices of Wonder bread (to soak up any excess gravy). Reed baked lemon meringue pie. Every bit of the meal was consumed. With joy.

Andre Reudi, a Swiss nudist-futurist, prepared his memorable meal on a blazing June day some 50 years ago, just weeks before HG/BSK married. En route to Fire Island in their 1960 Cadillac, HG/BSK picked up Andre at the great Upper East Side German butcher shop, Schaller and Weber. Reudi had picked up a pork knuckle, sausages, sauerkraut, lentils, beer, pumpernickel bread, pickles, three kinds of mustard and Liederkranz cheese. All were loaded in an ice filled cooler. Upon arrival at HG/BSK’s home, the pork knuckle, sausages, lentils, sauerkraut, dark beer and some unidentifiable spices were dumped in a big pot. The oven was turned to a low heat. And, there the robust German stew simmered all day while HG/BSK played on the beach, body surfed in the ocean and gathered beach glass in walks by the shore. After the sun had set and pre-dinner Martinis (wine for BSK) were drunk, the pot was removed from the stove and ravenous HG/BSK and Reudi fell upon food. Absolutely Fabulous feast.

Over the past years HG has lauded a few hot sauces — Sriracha, Matouk’s West Indian Flambeau Sauce, Frank’s Red Hot and the old stand-by, Tabasco. Great hot sauces are “improvers,” a concentrated burst of piquant flavor that help lead a dish to the Promised Land by elevating the essential flavors rather than overwhelming them. Well, HG is happy to welcome a new Hot Sauce to the pantheon of tongue tingling heroes: Queen Majesty’s Scotch Bonnet & Ginger Hot Sauce. Handmade in Brooklyn (where all the good food seems to be coming from), the sauce blends the scorching, yet fruity, flavors of Scotch Bonnet peppers with the zing of ginger. The result is a highly nuanced hot sauce with pronounced Caribbean notes that works especially well with meaty stews like oxtail or robust curries. HG has also found that a couple drops of QM’s sauce in a Bloody Mary takes that classic cocktail to epic heights.

In general, HG is not a big sandwich fan. Most of the time HG feels that most things that could be stuck between slices of bread are improved by eliminating the bread. However, there are exceptions and these days HG enjoys just a few classic sandwiches: A traditional bacon-lettuce-tomato (when tomatoes are in season — flavorful and juicy) with good, thick cut bacon and mayo on toasted wheat bread; a pastrami on Jewish rye (alas, now only available in all its splendor at Katz’s in New York, Schwartz’s in Montreal and Langer’s in L.A.); and finally, a corned beef Reuben, also on Jewish rye. The Croque Monsieurs and Croque Madames HG has enjoyed in Paris don’t really qualify as classic sandwiches. In the past HG was more adventurous in sandwich choices. On Nantucket Island, HG liked the specialty of a health food shop there: Sharp cheddar cheese, avocado, sprouts and chutney on whole grain bread. On the opposite health pole, HG relished the roast beef sandwiches consumed many years ago at Henrich’s Restaurant (long closed) on B. 116th Street, Rockaway Park, N.Y. These were constructed of thinly sliced rare roast beef, sliced raw onion and Jewish rye bread spread with (your choice) 1/8th or 1/4th of an inch of chicken fat. This was sprinkled with coarse salt and black pepper. Accompanied by a sour dill pickle. HG ate another unhealthy treat at the late Gitlitz Deli on New York’s Upper West Side. This was a combination of chopped liver and pastrami on rye with Russian dressing. The Gitlitz waiters, food conservatives, did not approve. At another long closed New York eatery, Belmont Cafeteria, the hangout for taxi drivers on Lexington Avenue, HG would accompany morning coffee with a heavily buttered onion roll enclosing muenster cheese and lettuce. In the past, BSK based her sandwich choices on peanut butter. No PB and J for BSK. Instead, the young woman ate peanut butter with lettuce and mayo sandwiches or peanut butter and sweet pickle slices sandwiches. While off on a hike with her Girl Scout troop, BSK carried “walking sandwiches” — peanut butter wrapped in cabbage leaves. Apparently these peanut buttery treats were the norm for BSK’s midwestern environ, but for HG, they sounded as exotic as the Zanzibar speciality Boku-Boku. Yes, many Italians love mixing Nutella with roasted peanuts on white bread and Elvis Presley mixed peanut butter with bacon and bananas but, for pure messy eccentricity, nothing beats the HG retro delight: The chow mein on a bun served at Nathan’s Famous on Coney Island.

As noted previously, excellent Nova Scotia smoked salmon (affectionately called “Novy” in New York), is available at HG’s favorite Prince Edward Island seafood vendor, By the Bay Fish Mart, in the town of St. Peter’s. Before setting out on a long sea walk, HG/BSK fortified themselves with a platter of scrambled eggs with onions and “Novy” (accompanied by toasted English muffins and coffee). BSK’s version of this dish is masterful. Eggs are scrambled with a bit of milk and a dash of Frank’s Red Hot Sauce. Spring onions are fried in a just a drop of canola oil (butter is traditionally used but BSK is a confirmed enemy of cholesterol) in a non-stick pan. The heat is turned to low, the “Novy” is warmed. Then, BSK adds the eggs. Using a wooden spoon, BSK stirs the eggs with slow, gentle movements. The eggs form soft, delicate curds. Perfection. And, then comes a master stroke that is uniquely BSK. The dish is given a shower of freshly chopped dill. Wow. The dill enhances the salmon flavor and brings the right touch of color. Sure, dill and salmon are traditional partners (as in Gravlax). But, in years of consuming “Novy” (or lox) and eggs in New York “dairy” restaurants, HG never encountered dill. That is the distinctive BSK flourish, also evident in her unexpected, and rewarding, use of fresh rosemary, tarragon, oregano and basil in a host of unexpected and savory dishes.

There are tastes — namely the sour sting of sorrel and the sweet freshness of watermelon — that HG associates with the sunny days of
summer’s past. HG’s Mom used sorrel to make Schav, a mouth puckering Eastern European sorrel soup. This was a thin soup of sorrel leaves, served ice cold and accompanied by a hot boiled potato and sour cream. Very refreshing. BSK makes a different version of sorrel soup. Sorrel (cultivated by BSK in her Prince Edward Island herb garden) is cooked with lettuce, onions, butter and some egg yolks in chicken broth. When done, BSK purees the mixture with a hand blender. Sublime where HG’s mom’s soup was simply refreshing. Terence Conran, the multi-talented furniture and design merchant and prominent restaurateur, describes the soup as “very useful for lifting jaded appetites.” True…Athough HG’s appetite rarely needs leverage. On the sweltering sands of Rockaway Beach HG used to savor a thick slice of watermelon, the chilled juice running down HG’s chin — a wonderful, minimal pleasure. BSK, on the other hand, uses watermelon in an inventive summer salad. Chunks of watermelon are mixed with chopped tomatoes, scallions and parsley. Feta cheese is added to the mix and BSK gives it a hit of a secret ingredient — fig vinegar. Last night, BSK served demi-tasse cups of hot sorrel soup (the perfect amuse geule). The watermelon salad accompanied batter fried hake. A Perfect meal of updated summer pleasures.

HG/BSK are lucky. They do not just eat fresh fruit and vegetables. They eat fruit and vegetables so fresh that they have been plucked or dug from the earth only hours (or minutes) before they arrive on the HG/BSK dining table. In New Mexico, HG/BSK live adjacent to “Mister G’s,” one of the state’s most renowned organic farms. Almost daily, the duo pick up lettuces, escarole, kale, radishes and other things that have the scent, bite and succulence of truly fresh produce. On Prince Edward Island, HG/BSK eat tons of freshly picked vegetables including just-dug potatoes, the red PEI earth still clinging to them. The majority of potatoes that are eaten in the US are long stored and sometimes even months old. These freshly dug spuds are a revelation with real texture and a certain mineral tang that is unsurpassed. A simple PEI boiled potato with a pat of butter and a sprinkle of sea salt is a treat. Prince Edward Island is also covered with both wild and farmed strawberries, blueberries and raspberries which you can pick yourself of have them picked for you at a modest additional cost. HG contemplated the joys of freshness last night while enjoying BSK’s stir fry of snow pea pods and garlic scapes (both a few hours old) and bean sprouts (an import from Nova Scotia, alas). BSK enhanced the stir fry with chopped garlic and ginger, soy sauce and a dash of white wine. The dish accompanied HG’s lightly battered and sauteed hake (caught off PEI hours before) plus soba with sesame oil and sriracha. Memorable and very fresh meal.