HUNGRY GERALD

HG has never liked string beans, haricots vert or whatever you choose to call them. When cooked briefly, HG finds them stringy. When overcooked, they are oblongs of mush. Yellow beans. That’s a whole other story. Don’t see much of them in the United States but here on Prince Edward Island they are a summer staple. Cheap and abundant, they are featured at every roadside stand from June to September. A delicious vegetable with a rich (almost buttery) taste. Here’s how BSK prepares them. Boils them and then douses them with cold water when they reach an al dente stage. They get a shower of olive oil, lemon juice, sea salt, smoked pepper, chopped scallions and an abundance of fresh cut herbs. HG/BSK dined on them last night accompanied by sautéed sea scallops (from the nearby PEI town of Souris), crisp fried PEI potatoes, butter lettuce from a local farm. Dessert: A pecan studded butter tart. O, Canada!!

American provincialism is exemplified by attitudes toward Canada. This vast, greatly diversified country is still viewed by most Americans as an icy wasteland filled with igloos and polar bears. Only a very rare American can identify the Canadian provinces and recognize their geographic and climatic differences; on the other hand, Canadians know a great deal about the United States. However, they are puzzled by the American attitudes toward health care, abortion and gay rights. Many Canadians feel that Americans are perpetually fighting battles resolved by them years ago. Maybe so. In viewing Canadian culinary attitudes, HG is bemused by the love for poutine, a vile cheese curd and gravy substance served over french fries. Canadians also have an unusual affection for Tim Horton’s an omnipresent fast food chain specializing, as far as HG can tell, in bad coffee and stale doughnuts. HG rates it very low. HG does, however, share the Canadian passion for butter tarts. These are delicious tarts that look like mini pecan pies. No nuts but lots of raisins and not overly sweet. HG discovered these tarts at the beginning of his marriage to Canadian BSK. A parcel of butter tarts baked by BSK’s late grandmother arrived and HG became addicted. HG has devoured butter tarts all over Canada. But, the best were those prepared by grandmother Beatrice Page Kent. Curiously, you can never find butter tarts in the United States. Can it be that the crafty Canadians have forbidden their export?

It’s corn harvest time on Prince Edward Island and HG and BSK are shucking and nibbling. So fresh and sweet is this corn that no butter is needed. Just a sprinkle of kosher salt. BSK, the official corn cook, always makes sure we have some extra ears for morning time corn pancakes.

HG, official pancake cook, mixes flour, two beaten eggs, a bit of vegetable oil, a teaspoon of baking powder and the shucked kernels. HG fries the pancakes in grape seed oil and serves them with Canadian maple syrup. Makes breakfast a meal to remember.

And, here’s a sweet dessert idea. Butter tarts (only available in Canada, for some obscure reason) resemble mini pecan pies (but better crust and less sweet). The perfect end to dinner is a butter tart topped with vanilla ice cream.