HUNGRY GERALD

Prince Edward Island–where HG/BSK spend many months at HG/BSK’s oceanfront home–is famous for its numerous potato farms. Spuds are the Island’s major crop and they are shipped all over Canada and to some northeast USA locations. They have a unique and tasty mineral flavor (PEI’s red soil is the reason.) BSK cooks them in many ways –all delicious. Weeks ago, BSK made a dinner of fresh steamed cod and seasonal asparagus. This was accompanied by a saucepan of browned sliced onions and local potatoes. The sliced spuds were gently sauteed with the onions, dusted with turmeric and other spices and simmered in chicken broth until soft. Sensational. Spuds merged beautifully with the fish dish and a salad of avocado and cherry tomatoes.

HG loves softly, softly scrambled eggs. (HG uses a special rubber tipped small spatula to move the curds around and this needs focused attention). Soft scrambles are the best when topped with red salmon caviar and sour cream. Like everything The Wonder Woman does, BSK makes excellent soft scrambles. Except in France, it is impossible to get good scrambles in restaurants. (A coffee shop in the E.50’s –sadly, long closed–did good scrambles accompanied by a warmed and buttered bialy). Many decades ago, Andre R., an eccentric Fire Island friend, made super rich scrambles. He beat the eggs with a pint of heavy sweet cream and a dash of Tabasco. It was not designed for health food converts. Today was chilly and windy at the HG/BSK/RIVA Prince Edward Island oceanfront home. Wonderful daughter Lesley R. is here to help close down the house as HG/BSK leave PEI for their Rhode Island residences. Thoughtful Lesley warmed her Dad with a lunch of scrambles and buttered biscuits, Oh, my!! These were the best scrambled eggs. HG ever tasted. Scrambles? Lesley is the Champ!!

BSK’s delicious suppers at HG/BSK’s Prince Edward Island oceanfront home are made extra special by BSK’s creative tweaks–additions and substitutions, This  was the case with two dishes that provided suppers and lunches for two days. Alas, HG/BSK will  soon be leaving the green and serene Island for HG/BSK’s spacious 3,100 square foot loft in Central Falls, RI. It has been imaginatively decorated by BSK  –so arriving there will not be unhappy.  BSK’s  two PEI suppers were Chinese Mapo Tofu and Jewish Kasha Varnishkes. HG is a lover of Chinese and Jewish Ashkenazi dishes so these  are HG faves. Ma Po Tofu is a spicy ground pork and tofu stew mixed with rice noodles and spicy sauce. BSK made it special by adding plentiful sugar snap peas and mushrooms. No rice noodles so BSK cooked Japanese buckwheat noodles–this added an earthy taste. The pantry didn’t have Kasha, the buckwheat groats that are traditional for Kasha Varnishkes . So, BSK substituted RED MILL Sarrasin, a buckwheat grain. The grain cooked to a smaller and firmer size than traditional Kasha but was equally tasty. No traditional butterfly (farfalle) pasta that is traditionally mixed with Kasha. BSK substituted tortellini–a good choice. Lots of mushrooms and fried onions enhanced the dish–plus a topping of sour cream. Sea salt and many grinds of black pepper added a spicy touch. Once more, BSK rose to the occasion and made HG happy with BSK culinary magic.

HG/BSK’s multi-talented, helpful and gifted daughter, Lesley R. is at the HG/BSK/Riva Prince Edward Island oceanfront home. She is here to close down the house and pack up wintry clothes for life in Rhode Island. Lesley and BSK will share the driving (a very long one day journey)  to Rhody and HG (plus Toby, The Wonder Dog), will keep them company. Marking Lesley’s arrival in PEI, BSK made a big pot of yellow squash soup. This was a soup invented by HG’s beloved late sister, Beulah Naomi Katz. It was always served midday before the big Thanksgiving Day feast. It was very tasty (with a dollop of sour cream topping it). BSK’s version is much better flavored with many tongue tingling spices (Aleppo pepper among them). HG had two and a half big bowls for supper followed by a dish of leftover (Waste Not-Want Not) buckwheat noodles topped with feta cheese and cherry tomatoes. Happy eating–and there was enough soup in the pot for lunch.. Cooking was done by Lesley for the following night’s supper– linguini with a sauce of tomatoes, peppers, onions, garlic , olive oil and juicy, silky sea scallops. It was a fabulous dish. Are HG/BSK lucky to have Lesley in our lives? As they say in the midwest USA—-YOU BETCHA!!!

The “shtetl”, glorified in the movie and play, “Fiddler on the Roof”, did not resemble  the “shtetl” where HG’s late Mother, Ida Kopkind Freeman, spent her childhood and young womanhood. Her home was in the town of Plestyanitz in Belorussia, Pale of Settlement (geographical area where Jews were allowed to live). Shtetl life was unpleasant. Sewage and sanitary facilities were primitive. Rats abounded (A large rat bit my beloved Mom’s toe and cracked a bone. Some 40 years later, USA surgery repaired it). Mom’s father was a fur trader. He sold the skins in Vienna (Access was secured by bribes.) Transportation was horse and wagon. He was accompanied by a paid Cossack bodyguard and rifleman. (Many wolves in the forest and roads). Mom’s father was away for nine to ten months a year. (HG presumes he had another family or mistresses in Vienna). HG’s Father, Hershele Tsvi “Grisha” Freimann (Later anglicized to Harry Freeman) had a pleasant time in the town of Smulovitch in the Ukraine (HG believes it’s now part of Belorussia). Don’t know how they managed it, but they were prosperous and secure. The Freimann family managed the estates of absentee Russian noblemen (And probably used their influence to prosper). The family owned a wheat mill and a vodka distillery. Young  “Grisha” Freimann was a skilled horseman and delivered vodka to taverns via horseback. (Many decades later, he never passed a Bronx horse without giving it a friendly nuzzle).  “Grisha’s” older brother Philip , (The first to emigrate with his family to America), owned a glove factory which was burnt down in a pogrom after the Russia-Japan War (Russia’s military woes were the fault of the Jews, of course).  This violent anti-Jewish event spurred Philip’s migration. “Grisha” left soon after as he was facing a draft into the Russian army. He managed to get to Hamburg where he worked as a stevedore to earn ship passage. “Grisha” enjoyed German beer, herring, wurst and black bread. He spent jolly times with German socialist stevedores (He had been a member of the Jewish Labor Bund in Russia). Finally, he sailed to America on the SS Pennsylvania and became Harry Freeman. (Here’s a happy postscript. HG/BSK are lucky to have two distinguished English friends–Antony and Claudia Cragg. HG/BSK love these two life enhancing, generous, thoughtful people. On an HG birthday some years ago, they presented HG with a Smulovitch soccer team pin. HG will never know how they found it. HG wears it proudly on the lapel of an HG English tweed sport jacket. Go Smulovitch!!)

Few things are more symbolic of the grim 1930’s depression years than HG’s Mom’s reliance on unidentified A & P cans whose labels had been washed off or torn off. (HG called them “mystery cans”). The A & P store manager displayed them in a big barrel–they were cheap–five cents or less for a can. The late beloved Ida Kopkind Freeman bought them for dessert. She thought contents like peaches, pears, pineapple or prunes could be determined by shaking a can near her ear. Surprisingly, she had a very good batting average and most family meals in The Bronx ended with a canned fruit dessert. However, sometimes Ida missed. A  can was opened and revealed lima beans or brussel sprouts or something equally unpleasant. These contents were served for dinner next night with boiled chicken or stewed meat (“gedempte fleisch”). Waste not. Want not. However, there were times when we ate, under protest, cold brussel sprouts for dessert. “Eat, eat. It’s a vegetable. It’s good for your health,” Ida insisted.

Last night, HG/BSK motored from HG/BSK’s north shore Prince Edward island oceanfront home to the south shore Ocean Mist Farm (40 minute shlep). This is the verdant farm/equestrian center that is home for BSK’s sister, Noel, and her husband, Yossi. Dinner was a fabulous feast. It started with glasses of Sauvignon Blanc  –dry vermouth with a splash of Angostura Bitters for HG. Noel’s lasagna followed–one of the best HG ever tasted. Meaty. Cheesy. Perfectly cooked pasta. HG had  two robust helpings with a splash of son Jeremy’s hot sauce and many glasses of a tasty red wine from an Ontario vineyard. Can’t get fresher than that green salad with lettuce plucked minutes before from Yossi’s garden . Dessert was stewed fruit topped with much vanilla ice cream–a meal that was pure joy from start to finish.

Oh, the days dwindle down to a precious few. (Walter Huston did the best vocal of this wistful song). Yes, HG/BSK are awaiting the arrival of Gifted Daughter, Lesley R. The helpful daughter will help close down HG/BSK’s Prince Edward Island home–an oceanfront paradise. If the fates are gentle (HG will be 95 in November), HG will return. In the fridge were preserved lemons, parsley, fresh lemons, zucchini, a red bell pepper,and two cauliflower florets. The pantry provided onions, couscous, garlic, stock, cumin,Aleppo pepper and ras el hanout (Moroccan spice mix).Defrosted chicken thighs were at hand. Waste not–Want not–is BSK’s guiding principle and the resulting supper was a fabulous Chicken Tagine. It was enlivened with spoonfuls of Harissa, (for some additional heat).  Another in a very lengthy list of BSK culinary triumphs.

Shakshuka, which was first created in Tunisia, is a popular breakfast dish throughout the troubled, violent Middle East. It is omnipresent in Israel where it is found in family kitchens, gas stations, diners, casual restaurants (Israeli and Arab). BSK makes Shakshuka with BSK’s usual flair. The ingredients are chopped red bell peppers, canned San Marano tomatoes, olive oil, feta cheese, garlic, onions, cumin, paprika, cayenne or hot chili powder, sea salt and black ground pepper. It is topped with BSK’s spectacular poached eggs.  Too spicy for breakfast but a perfect supper at HG/BSK’s Prince Edward Island oceanfront home. Before tasting the Shakshuka (HG likes fiery spicy food) HG reached for  Harissa and Frank’s Hot Sauce. BSK warned, “Taste it first before you add anything.”. HG obliged. First spoonful–a sizzler–just the way HG likes it (Too much heat for ordinary folk). Garlic and lemon juice yogurt sauce, pita and Pinot Noir were welcome companions. HG’s mouth cooled with a dessert of vanilla ice cream.

Shawarma is a wonderful way to prepare chicken, lamb or beef. Though Shawarma is of middle eastern origin, it is now sold in restaurants and street vendors throughout Europe, Japan and the United States; in Mexico, Shawarma —introduced by Lebanese immigrants — evolved into the beloved “Al Pastor” taco. Traditionally, Shawarma is a vertically stacked, rotating “cone” of seasoned lamb, beef or chicken that is shaved to serve as it cooks against open flame or electric heat. Last night, BSK adapted Shawarma for the home kitchen – roasting deeply seasoned chicken in a sheet pan; and served it with leftover Fregola (Waste Not-Want Not.). A sensational supper. Here’s how BSK did it:  Slices of skinless/boneless chicken thigh went into a mix of olive oil, coriander, cumin, turmeric, Hungarian paprika and Spanish pimenton, salt, Aleppo pepper. When fully covered with the mix, chicken went on the sheet pan with wedges of red onion and roasted. When served,it was topped with a Greek yogurt sauce–the yogurt was flavored with olive oil and grated garlic (using a garlic press).  To add color, the dish was sprinkled with chopped parsley. (HG had some Harissa on the side). Hey, life is tasty –BSK does culinary magic every night–at HG/BSK’s Prince Edward Island oceanfront home.