HUNGRY GERALD

That’s what they call Rhode Island, that magical small state where HG’s beloved Gifted Daughter Lesley R., her brilliant husband, Profesore Massimo R. and equally brilliant granddaughter Arianna (lookalike Italian movie star) all live. Fabulous granddaughter Sofia lives and works in New York but will be in Rhody for holiday delights. Cuisine emphasis has been on the fruits of the sea. Tony’s Seafood is a treasure. For last night’s feast, Tony’s provided super Atlantic cod, Rhody clams (world’s best), exemplary snail salad, sublime smoked bluefish (even better than the Nantucket version). The salad and bluefish were the preludes and the main was Lesley’s superb codfish, clam broth, clams, potato, onion, garlic, herb stew. Oceanic delight. HG preceded this wonder with an ample vodka/Aperol cocktail and drank much Argentine cabernet with the main and the following cheese platter. Joy.

Too often Thai food in the USA consists of dishes that either numb your mouth, leaving a dizzy head or sweet, mushy noodles in a gloppy sauce. ( Pad Thai is often the culprit. When done well, it is a master class in contrasting textures and flavors; unfortunately in our faltering democracy the dish is often just cloying) So, imagine the surprises HG/BSK faced at Maenam, a beautifully designed, very innovative Thai restaurant on Fourth Avenue in the Kitsilano neighborhood of Vancouver. Dinner was a reunion with HG/BSK’s pal of some 20 years, Jamie S.. He’s a Van native and a splendid foodie companion. Haven’t seen Jamie for a few years so there was catching up. Some good news and some grim. Jamie did the ordering. Crispy corn salad. Roasted chicken salad with toasted rice powder and fried shallots. Grilled Thai sausage with crispy rice. Eight spice fish caramelized with tamarind and palm sugar. BSK drank chilled rose. Jamie and HG drank Bamboo Hustles, potent gin-based cocktails. Dessert maintained delicious creativity. Coconut cream over sliced coconut and coconut ice cream. Fitting climax to a dinner of unusually spiced, light, tantalizing dishes. HG/BSK never tasted Thai food like this. A revelation.

Yes, cod is a very versatile fish. Tasty when fried, roasted, steamed. Wonderful as an ingredient in chowders, brandades and a host of other savory treats. There’s fresh cod and dried cod (“baccala”). HG prefers fresh with the exception, sometimes, in brandade. Cod is important in history. “Baccala” allowed for long sailing journeys as ship crews now had a reliable source of protein that would not spoil. Cod liver oil, despite little HG disliking the spoonful he was fed each morning by HG’s late Mom, was a significant nutritional supplement. One of HG’s favorite cod dishes is baked cod done in basque or Provencal style. BSK made the dish a night ago and it brought warmth to a cold, rainy, windy Prince Edward Island day. Happily, BSK saved a half pound of the fresh cod for crisp and juicy fishcakes last night. BSK constructs them with the right balance of fish, PEI potatoes, panko, etc. Here’s how she does it. Poaches cod in white wine and clam broth. Boils potatoes. Removes spuds when done. Retains fish broth. Mixes potatoes (crushed) with chopped onions, a bit of garlic, Spanish pimenton, dill, and parsley. Moistens with broth and adds flaked fish. Crunches it all together with a beaten egg and broth. Forms mix into thick patties and rolls them in panko. Into a pan of sizzling canola oil. Result is crisp, juicy wonders. The accompaniments were chopped salad (turnips, radishes, fennel, scallions); the last of BSK’s home grown cherry tomatoes to be dipped into sea salt. And, best of all, Prince Edward Island mustard pickles. Pure, organic and one the best condiments in the world.

All have left (Victoria Freeman, SJ plus Haru and Teru). Quiet and serene. It’s a second honeymoon. Long walks on Maclaren beach. Watching white caps on the windy Prince Edward Sea. Pleasant candlelit dining. Fried hake. Sweet corn. Digby Bay scallops on fresh greens. Newfoundland shrimp salad appetizer (for HG and not, alas, for allergic BSK). Tonight there will be a Portuguese dish of baked haddock with potatoes from Ocean Mist Farm, onions, capers, garlic, pimenton, and herbs. Today (a bit chilly and windy), HG made a corn casserole using Cope’s dried corn and leftover corn from last night’s dinner. Should be perfect for breakfast with a splash of Canadian maple syrup. Yes, life as a duet is delightful. However, HG/BSK are a bit wistful when thinking about the long absences from family.

BSK and SJ form a mighty culinary team. HG benefits happily from their skills and creativity. Dinner last night started with Red Head Select oysters shucked expertly by SJ. These oysters (HG’s favorites), like Johnny Flynn’s Colville Bays, have green-tinged shells. They are plump, briny, delicious. This was followed by an appetizer teaser. SJ cut thin vertical slices of young zucchini (from BSK’s garden). Dipped them in a simple batter and gave them a quick fry. Wow.!! Then BSK took over. Sauteed a pound of Digby Bay sea scallops. Don’t know BSK’s timing secret. But, BSK scallops always hit the peak of tender juiciness. The scallops got a hit of lemon juice and were the preface to the main dish that expressed BSK’s creativity. BSK made an unusual pesto. The ingredients: Garlic scapes, fresh garlic, walnuts, flat-leaf parsley, olive oil, feta cheese, parmesan. Linguine was cooked to al dente perfection. The pesto and pasta created one of the most creamy, fragrant, lush dishes in HG’s long history of pasta eating. Viva BSK!! Dramatic sunset. Ice cream dessert. Climax to a day of beach sun and swimming. That’s life on Prince Edward Island.

HG has always enjoyed Chicago food. When SJ lived there, excellent son led HG/BSK to wonderful eating experiences. Now closed, Soul Kitchen served splendid oysters and the best ever shrimp and grits adorned with fried sage leaves. Cafe Ba Ba Reeba pleasured HG with hearty blood sausage (morcilla)and cannelloni with tuna and a creamy vinaigrette. Funky Korean and Mexican joints. And, Frontera, refined Mexican cooking. SJ/HG/BSK were not fond of Chicago’s deep dish pizza. Allegiance was to New York and New Jersey. Street food was sublime. The two famous (deserved) examples are the Chicago Hot Dog (Vienna Brand frankfurter, yellow mustard, green pickle relish, pickle spear, tomato wedges, pickled sport peppers, dash of celery salt) and the Italian Beef Sandwich (slices of Vienna brand beef with a lush brown gravy enriched with Worcestershire Sauce, wine and bacon fat). These good things are tasty but messy. Cover up when eating. A tarp would be helpful. When in Chicago on business, HG ate often at traditional Gene & Georgetti. “Garbage Salad” to start (shrimp, onions, tomatoes, garlic, olives, etc.). Main dish was calf’s liver grilled medium rare and accompanied by thick-cut bacon, fried onions and garlic mashed potatoes. Finale was grappa. Happy memories.

Blame it on Massimo R., HG/BSK’s talented, tactful, amiable, athletic son-in-law (married to HG/BSK’s gifted daughter, Lesley). Massimo is a Professor and head of Italian studies at Brown University. He is the author of a number of books and an authority on Italian culture, specifically the school of”melancholy” in art and literature; Italian cinema (heads film festivals at Brown) the career of Garibaldi; modern Italian literature. He has been honored by the Italian government with the “Ufficiale” title and is a leader in the digital humanities. He is also a loving and devoted husband and father. Plus, still a skilled and competitive tennis player (a room in the parental home in the Veneto region was filled with his tennis trophies). Quite a guy. However. Massimo is the cause of a marital conflict: HG vs. BSK. The subject is the texture of pasta. HG likes it medium soft (“Mushy,” says BSK). BSK likes pasta super al dente (“Cardboard,” says HG). Massimo, like many Italians, is very knowledgeable about wine, cheese, bread and food. He likes pasta extremely al dente. BSK, to HG’s discontent, has followed the Professor’s lead. HG/BSK have found a way to compromise. Flat pasta: Linguine, spaghetti, tagliatelle, fettucine, pappardelle, etc. are removed from the pot for BSK when done to BSK’s liking. HG’s gets a minute or so more boiling. Both HG and BSK are satisfied. When it comes to shaped pasta like penne, rigatoni, farfalle. conchiglie, etc., they are cooked in separate pots and both eaters add the sauce (and some additional pasta water) when done to their taste. Peace reigns at the HG/BSK table.

For years, the freshest, cheapest seafood was available just a few minutes drive from HG/BSK’s home.
By the Bay Fish Mart in St. Peter’s was a staple, HG went there daily to pick up fresh fish, smoked salmon, oysters, mussels, lobsters, etc. The proprietor was Cheryll O’ Hanley, educator/actress/fish merchant. Well, bad news has arrived. By the Bay has closed. Permanently. Have been unable to reach Cheryll for an explanation. For fresh seafood, HG/BSK are now dependent on the fish counter at the Saturday Farmers Market in Charlottetown. Picked up salmon and haddock there for two meals. Both were splendid. Salmon was the best HG has ever tasted on PEI (Silver lining?). Also, there’s a fish truck in Montague and a fish truck in Morell. Have to inquire about their hours. Mussels and oyster and clams are daily available at Mussel King and Island Shellfish on Red Head Lane in Morell. Lobsters and Johnny Flynn’s Rollo Bay oysters are available at The Lobster Shack in Souris. Of course, Exquisite Maiko will still head down to the docks to load up on free mackerel. HG/BSK will, with regret, get by without By the Bay.

Yes, that’s how old HG will be on Nov. 9 (if luck holds out). Thoughtful Atlanta nephew Paul Freeman inquired if any event is planned. No. However, BSK, the loving, creative, capable wife of almost 56 years (July 2 is the anniversary) has kept HG alive and arranged the perfect 90 years birthday gift: One week in Vancouver, B.C., HG/BSK’s favorite big city. BSK secured a luxurious apartment with water views and building amenities including swimming pool, hot tub, fitness center. With BSK’s collaboration, HG will dine on Chinese, Malaysian, Japanese and Indian food. Vancouver is the most Asian city in North America and the food celebrates diversity. (HG will post full reports). HG is surprised at reaching such an august age. COPD (Thanks to 50 years of smoking and inhaling Marlboros,Gauloises, Gitanes and Punch Dark Maduro leaf cigars. ) hampers some of HG’s activities. But, HG gets great pleasure from New Mexico and Prince Edward Island. And, there’s the delights of being still in love with BSK. Much family pleasure from daughter Lesley R. and husband, Massimo; SJ and Exquisite Maiko, dazzling chef/wife; HG’s generous daughter, Victoria Freeman, and husband/chef, Marc Meyer, the great New York restaurant team. And, the array of wonderful grandchildren: Arianna and Sofia R. (now grown up with A. in her own loft/apartment and S., a recent graduate with honors from Columbia. Big Boy Haru and Teru, the glittering bundle of cuteness, will leave Tokyo and accompany SJ for a month stay (August) in Prince Edward Island. Maiko may not be able to leave her chef job. (No tempura or shumai, sob, sob!).! Yes, life’s good. Ninety is a lot but greedy HG wants more.

Yiddish is a language that is always close to death but survives. Miraculously. Speakers and readers of Yiddish diminish due to old age, Israel’s embrace of Hebrew and, tragically, the Holocaust, which murdered millions of Eastern European Jews and their Yiddish culture. There is no other language that tops Yiddish in expressing irony, sarcasm and the bleak comedy of life. Yiddish words have multiple meanings. It’s all in the inflection. A number of Yiddish words have become part of everyday American English. Chutzpah. Schmuck. Shlep. Shtick. Tuchis (and its variants “tushie” and “tush”). There are more. On the edge of acceptance are the toasts “L’chaim” (to life!!) and “Gesundheit” (health). Anatomical words are gaining ground. “Puhlkes” (thighs). “Puzzeh” (large paunch). And, of course, “Putz” (penis). Hey, ‘Putz” may already have arrived.