Irish Son

May 27th, 2018 § 0 comments § permalink

HG thinks of Bruce M. as his Irish son. Bruce is a tall, handsome, dark haired Irish-American from a multitudinous Long Island working class family. HG was Bruce’s mentor in the public relations business (art? craft? profession? scam?). In any case, Bruce was a gifted pupil. He not only had a good grasp  about how to gain media attention, he understood business strategy  (especially in the toy industry) and  had a gift for finance. Plus, he was interested in computers and the digital revolution. While HG was pounding away at his ancient, non-electric Royal manual typewriter, Bruce was instrumental in converting Gerald Freeman, Inc.. (later Freeman Public relations) to the new fangled electrionic wonders. Bruce has achieved much success in the PR  industry (outstripping his mentor). He is honored in the Public Relations Hall of Fame at Utica College. This was Bruce’s alma mater and one of the very few colleges offering a public relations curriculum. But, it is Bruce’s human qualities that has made HG think of Bruce as a son (he gives HG too much credit for his human and business success). Bruce has had to overcome obstacles that could have destroyed him. He battled. He won. With style and courage. He has become a political progressive and a caring father of three remarkable sons. He recently visited HG/BSK in New Mexico with his beautiful, stylish long time partner, Theresa T. When she was a home style executive with Ralph Lauren, Theresa and Bruce came to HG/BSK’s Colorado mountain ranch. Theresa gifted HG/BSK with a lush Lauren camel hair throw. The Bruce/Theresa coupling didn’t work out (timing?) but they got together again some years ago, They’re a joy to contemplate. As for the camel hair,it warms HG as he reads before his kiva fireplace on chilly nights., And, certainly, it conveys happy thoughts about HG’s Irish son and his lovely companion.

Phillip Roth R.I.P.

May 26th, 2018 § 0 comments § permalink

He was the best. No one wrote better about the America of HG’s lifetime. Inventive, penetrating, fearless and funny. Made HG reflect on being a Jew, an American, a man. He relentlessly explored facets of male sexuality, portraying it, in turns, as funny, tragic, angry and an expression of power. HG believes he was the last of the male authors who have dominated American fiction for the last 60 years (Bellow, Updike, Mailer, etc.). Women (like Rachel Kushner) are taking over. Alice Munro and Margaret Atwood are absolute fiction all-stars. (HG believes there are five great masters of the short story–Munro, Chekhov, Malamud, William Trevor and Raymond Carver). Women have a huge repository of experience that has been minimized, their intellect an object of condescension; they have often been barred from power and, of course, sexually abused. In mass culture they have been characterized as unrealistic physical wonders used to sell virtually everything. Now, it’s time for women’s fiction to have the readership and respect equal to that of the late, great Phillip Roth.

Smoked Salmon

May 22nd, 2018 § 0 comments § permalink

Yes, salmon cooked properly in the unilateral style (as noted by HG in a previous post) is delicious. But, salmon really scales the heights to heaven when it is smoked. There are few better things than “Novy” smoked salmon sliced professionally at three old time New York stalwarts: jason derulo dating; dating app m and http://hungrygerald.com/free-dating-sites-in-usa-without-payment-2022/. Thankfully, these sources ship their products nationally. Go online for their treats. HG likes his smoked salmon on a warmed bialy coated with scallion cream cheese. Also good on buttered Jewish rye or pumpernickel (Zabar’s is a good source). Irish and Scotch smoked salmon are very good but denser and smokier than Novy. BSK likes smoked salmon with lots of capers and squeezes of lemon. HG eschews these adornments. BSK fries onions and warms slices of smoked salmon and adds them to lush softly scrambled eggs. A dusting of dill. Accompanied by buttered English Muffins and cups of hot coffee, this is breakfast (or brunch) glory. Gravlax is another salmon delight. Good quality raw filet of salmon is rubbed with a brown sugar, salt and pepper mix. Doused with vodka or gin. Smothered in fresh dill. Placed in the refrigerator under some heavy weights for a day or two. Then sliced thin and served with a mustard/dill sauce. HG first tasted gravlax on the deck of a Fire Island home owned by a very crazy lady and her husband, a skilled cook and bartender. After a long day in the sun and sea, HG ate gravlax and washed it down with icy martinis. Definition of the good life.

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May 19th, 2018 § 0 comments § permalink

Leaving for glorious Prince Edward Island in a few days so BSK is trying to make use of all of what remains in the refrigerator. Last night, BSK did a fridge exploration and sourced vegetables: Baby bok choy. Red and yellow peppers. Broccoli. Zucchini. Half of a sweet onion and some fresh spring onions. A lot of fervent slicing and chopping followed as HG cooked a package of Chinese stir fry noodles. As vegetable oil sizzled in a wok, BSK began a disciplined stir fry. Onions, garlic and ginger cooked gently and then the process heated up as HG cooked each vegetable separately in order to maintain their integrity. The bok choy went in last as HG flavored the melange with mirin, soy sauce and chile garlic sauce (for a bit of heat). HG heated the noodles in a bit of oil and spread them on a heated platter. The veggies went on top and were sprinkled with some drops of sesame oil. A delicious (and healthy) meal.

Salmon Unilaterale

May 17th, 2018 § 0 comments § permalink

If there was an ASPCF (American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Fish”), salmon would head the list of fish mangled and mishandled by careless (or unknowing) cooks. Invariably, salmon is overcooked, bland and tasteless. Salmon should only be cooked to medium rare so the interior is pink and flakes into silky nuggets. There are few better meals than properly cooked salmon and spring season asparagus. (Haricots vert or baby zucchini can be substituted). HG follows the French bistro method of cooking salmon: Unilaterale. The salmon filet is cooked (skin side down) in a small amount of vegetable oil on a hot cast iron pan. HG watches the fish carefully. Puts a fork in the fish and when it has achieved the right texture and color, HG turns it over for a very brief (30 seconds) browning. Then to a heated serving platter where the salmon gets a generous dousing of melted butter, lemon juice and dash of soy sauce. HG is very fond of the savory crisp salmon skin, which contains health supporting fish oils and other nutrients (Japanese often use it as a topping for sushi). BSK does not like salmon skin (too oily for BSK’s pristine palate). Thus, HG gets a bonus. BSK’s portion of the skin. Is this the secret to HG’s ongoing vitality?

Mom, Lebron and Michael Phelps

May 15th, 2018 § 0 comments § permalink

The latest AARP Bulletin calls cupping a fad. Cupping has been used by such athletic stars as Michael Phelps and LeBron James to relieve muscle pain and cramping. In traditional Chinese medicine, hot glass cups are placed along sensitive trigger points on the body to create suction and blood flow. HG’s beloved late Mom would sneer at the notion that cupping is a “fad.” She would stand with LeBron and Phelps and call cupping a useful, sometimes essential, part of the medical arsenal. Mom called cupping haiseh bynkes (hot cups). When HG was a very little fellow growing up in the East Bronx, “haiseh bynkes” were part of the cure when the little fellow was suffering from bronchitis. The “Bynkes Man” was summoned. He was a small, old Jewish man with a derby, whiskey breath and grimy clothes. He carried a satchel of glass cups and a candle stand used to heat the cups. The very hot cups were applied to ailing HG’s body. Ouch!! Ouch!! After the “haiseh bynkes” ordeal, HG drank a guggel muggle. This hearty beverage consisted of hot milk, honey and a very generous shot of rye whiskey (the “bynkes” man received a glass of the whiskey along with his modest payment). The old fashioned cure worked. Little HG was soon alert, lively and healthy. We should all acknowledge after the recent celebration of Mother’s Day: MOTHER KNOWS BEST. (Postscript: An ineffectual tactic or strategy to avert failure is known by the Yiddish phrase helft vee taiten bynkes. Translation: It helps like dead (cold) cups.)

The Bronx? No Thonx!

May 15th, 2018 § 0 comments § permalink

Yes, that was how the gifted master of light verse, Ogden Nash, sneered at HG’s hometown, a splendid borough. Stupid comment about a borough filled with wonders. One of the great zoos in the world. The best botanical gardens. The Bronx Community College in University Heights (the 55-acre campus was purchased from NYU in 1973) which contains outstanding architecture by Stanford White and modernist Marcel Breuer. Plus the majestic Hall of Fame, busts of famous (and not so celebrated) Americans. There’s Riverdale and Fieldston, lofty apartment houses plus distinguished houses (once occupied by people like Arturo Toscannini and Henry Morganthau). It’s a neighborhood that has housed many artists like Elie Nadelman who found studio space in the spacious residences. The Bronx has Arthur Avenue, the site of the best Italian food in the five boroughs. The Grand Concourse (and Promenade) features some of the most outstanding art deco architecture in New York. And, there’s some odd landmarks like Poe Cottage where Edgar Allen Poe allegedly composed some of his works. The Mott Haven neighborhood is now sprouting breweries and good ethnic restaurants plus the lofts are beginning to house some intrepid folk. Borough President James J. Lyons was furious at Nash’s putdown and demanded an apology. Nash apologized in 1964: “I can’t seem to escape the sins of my smart alec youth. I shudder to confess them. Now an older and wiser man I cry ‘The Bronx, God bless them'”.

Steak Row

May 11th, 2018 § 1 comment § permalink

There was a time (namely the 50’s and 60’s) when New York City was world capital of steak. And, the carnivorous center was Steak Row (E.45th Street from Lexington to First and its environs). The Daily Mirror was published an E. 45th and the Daily News on E. 42nd. In addition, the area housed lots of news and wire services, and feature syndicates. Some of the steak houses had news related names: Pen and Pencil, Press Box. The Editorial, Front Page, Late Edition, Fourth Estate. Other steak joints on 45th and the surrounding area were Joe and Rose, Palm, McCarthy’s, Pietro’s, Danny’s Hideaway, Assembly, Mike Manuche’s and Christ Cella. In the west side theater district there were Gallagher’s and Frankie & Johnny. On 23rd Street, the wonderful Cavanagh’s. Of course, in Brooklyn the kingpin was Peter Luger’s (still reigning). Of them all, HG’s favorite was Christ Cella. Not content to serve the best steaks, salads and cocktails HG ever savored, Christ Cella would greet the spring season with the ultimate platter of shad, shad roe and bacon (Christ Cella was one of HG’s seven favorite New York restaurants of all time. The others were Le Pavillon, Fornos, Luchow’s, Gage and Tollner, Gitlitz Delicatessen and Keen’s. Only Keen’s remains). When HG/BSK lived in Colorado, their favored dining spot was the Denver branch of Palm. Unlike Palm on Second Avenue in New York (“Where Tough Guys Feed Big Shots”), The service was gentle and friendly in the western mode. HG’s favorite dish was sliced rare sirloin served over a tossed salad. BSK replicates this dish, improving it with lush blue cheese dressing. Like New York, Denver Palm adorns its walls with cartoons of local celebrities. As a leading local PR pro, HG felt like a Big Shot as HG dined beneath a flattering cartoon of HG’s handsome mug.

The Drug Store

May 10th, 2018 § 0 comments § permalink

In HG’s youth, The Bronx was dotted with small “drug stores.” They were never called “pharmacies” and the man in charge was a “druggist,” not a “pharmacist.” The drug stores have disappeared, replaced by the huge impersonal pharmacy chains: Walgreens, CVS and in New York, Duane Reade. The old time druggist presided over his domain behind a counter with a background of multi-colored apothecary jars. He was a valuable resource in Bronx neighborhoods. He performed quasi-medical tasks like removing a cinder from an eye, putting iodine on a scraped knee. He gave free medical advice. If things looked grim, he would say: “See a doctor.” Timid young men would whisper “Trojans” to the druggist and would receive the condoms without comment. Then the condoms would nestle in a wallet (often for years) until the long awaited romantic moment arrived.

Bronx Bakeries: Goyish

May 9th, 2018 § 0 comments § permalink

Okay. “Goyish” means not Jewish. And, “goyish” bakeries abounded in The Bronx of HG’s young days. The Cushman’s chain was venerable. It had a 109-year history with the last unit (in the Port Authority Bus Terminal) closing in 2014. At its height, Cushman’s had 45 stores in New York. Closed them in 1964. Cushman stores had a makeover in the 1930’s. They were instantly recognizable with their beautiful art deco exteriors. Art deco design denoted optimism during the dark days of the Great Depression as exemplified by the exquisite Grand Concourse apartment buildings that can still be viewed today. Cushman’s sold splendid cookies and a lush, egg shaped pastry filled with custard. Hanscom’s was another big chain with exterior design by architect Horace Ginsbern (later the favorite architect of post-World War Two apartment house developers in New York). Their chocolate cream pie was heavenly. The chain went out of business in 1956. Sometimes little HG took a long walk to the Italian bakeries on Arthur Avenue off Fordham Road. Brought back glorious loaves of Italian bread, pignolia cookies and cannoli. (During their New York days. HG/BSK’s favorite Italian bakery was Zito’s on Bleecker Street. Incomparable loaves). The greatest of all bakeries was Sutter’s. Spacious store on the Grand Concourse in The Bronx plus branches in Manhattan (Greenwich Village) and Brooklyn (Flatbush). Sutter’s utilized three baking styles–French, Danish and Viennese. Wonderful croissants and brioche. Pecan rings, And (sorry, Paris) the best baba au rhum in the world.

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