HUNGRY GERALD

One frosty winter night in Montcalir, N.J., many years ago, HG/BSK (and family) joined their friends, the great jazz duo Jackie Cain and Roy Kral (plus their daughter, Dana) for ice skating on the frozen pond in the center of town. BSK and Roy were graceful skaters, HG was a klutz. Everyone else displayed moderate skills. Lots of laughs as appetites were sharpened under the starry suburban skies. Apres skate, the group gathered around the Cain/Kral dining table for a perfect winter dish–steaming bowls of Texas chile. The hungry folk topped their bowls with grated cheddar cheese and chopped raw onion. The fiery heat of the chile peppers was tamped down with some dollops of sour cream. Jackie confessed that the secret of the chili (best HG had ever tasted) was the use of Wick Fowler 2-Alarm Chili Mix. It was the only packaged mix that Jackie ever allowed in her home. The mix included numerous packages–chile powder, sage, super-hot cayenne pepper, masa flour, oregano, paprika, garlic, salt. These ingredients were added to two pounds of browned ground beef, a can of Ro-Tel (or canned tomatoes) and two cans of water. A half hour (or a bit more) of simmering and you had a noble Texas treat. According to chili history, Wick Fowler in 1967, won the first world chili cook-off. The event was held in Terlingua, Texas, and the Chili Mix company was born soon after. Roy Kral died in 2002. Jackie died last week in the Montclair home where we first tasted her (and Wick Fowler’s) chili. So, here in New Mexico, HG/BSK (and granddaughter Beautiful Sofia R.) paid tribute to HG/BSK’s dear friend and lovely artist of song: Jackie and Roy cd’s were on the Bose. Wick Fowler’s 2-Alarm Chile was on the table. A bittersweet occasion as rollicking times were recalled and toasts were drunk to Jackie. Happily, her voice filled the room with its essence of champagne bubbles (SJ’s memory) and eternal spring.

New York 1953 or 1954. HG was combining two careers: journalist and night club (mostly jazz joints) press agent. HG was press agent for the short lived midtown Clique Club where the late Sammy Benskin, a superb jazz pianist and an HG pal, was headlining with his trio. Sammy called HG and told him to get down to the club the next night when a vocal duo, Jackie and Roy, would be making a guest appearance. You will be blown away, promised Sammy. And, so it came to pass. They did “Mountain Greenery” and it was a revelation. Did their takes on some standards and the tunes became as fresh as a Spring morning. How to describe Jackie’s voice? Champagne bubbles. A mountain stream. Silver. Warm, glowing verbal precision with the earthy hint of her Midwestern accent. No, words aren’t ample, HG was surprised at the couple’s appearance. Jazz performers either wore outlandish clothes (women in super snug “mermaid” gowns) or were drug addled and unkempt. Handsome Roy Kral looked like an Ivy League fashion plate and beautiful Jackie Cain wore tweeds. Yes, tweeds. Not sequins. The two best looking people in the jazz world. (No need to recount their career. The NY Times and LA times had good, accurate obituaries of Jackie this week). Listened to their albums but never saw them again until Fire Island in the 60’s. Jackie and Roy were beach neighbors and HG/BSK formed a close friendship that lasted through Roy’s death in 2002 and Jackie’s death this week. When HG/BSK moved to Montclair, NJ. in the 70’s, Jackie and Roy soon followed (and that’s where Jackie died). So many joyous memories. And, some tragic ones. Their strikingly beautiful daughter, Niki, died in an automobile accident. Jackie and Roy were wonderful to our children. Jackie, who had an ethereal beauty, was a surprisingly robust cook in the Czech/Polish tradition. Our families ate, drank, played and laughed together for many decades. Now, Jackie’s gone. Another bright light from HG’s life has been dimmed. Permit HG to share a memory: Roy once recalled that the first time he accompanied Jackie was at a Chicago night club. Jackie was 18 and fresh out of high school. Roy was reluctant. Didn’t think much of girl singers. She changed his mind. Jackie sang that great Harold Arlen/Yip Harburg song: “Happiness Is Just A Thing Called Joe.” Said Roy: “The place went nuts.” Years later, at an HG birthday dinner, sang the song (unaccompanied) as a birthday treat. HG went nuts.

HG/BSK’s dear friend Jackie Cain (one half of the marvelous jazz vocal and music duo of Jackie and Roy) has always looked beautiful and slightly ethereal but her tastes in food are robust. Cooked some powerful Polish and Czech specialties for her husband and musical partner, the late Roy Kral, and fortunate HG/BSK. While presenting a lush platter of long cooked spicy beef (or pork), puddles of spicy gravy and nicely absorbent dumplings, Jackie would say: “I just had a taste for it.” If it were a lush and savory noodle kugel (or the Polish equivalent of the dish), Jackie would introduce with the same words: “I just had a taste for it.” A few years ago, BSK enjoyed a hearty bowl of deeply spiced short ribs and soba noodles swimming in a fragrant broth. It was a temporary offering at Bones, the very good Asian fusion restaurant in Denver. Well, it seems that the dish had been haunting BSK. So, BSK did some intensive research (no recipe available at Bones) and found an approximation in the archives of Food & Wine Magazine. The dish, “Five-Spice Short Ribs With Udon Noodles,” is fairly labor intensive but BSK was up to the task. Chinese five-spice powder, garlic, thyme, red wine, chicken stock, ginger, celery, carrots, onions, daikon, mushrooms and konbu were involved. Meaty short ribs were browned and then simmered. Finally, the bowls of meat, noodles and vegetables were topped with poached eggs. Spectacular dish. Layers and layers of flavors. Exotic and earthy. HG expressed fervent gratitude. Said BSK: “I just had a taste for it.”

Frozen custard. Tastiest of all summer treats. In HG’s youth, frozen custard stands dotted the boardwalks of New York’s plebeian beaches — Coney Island, Rockaway and Brighton. Similar to ice cream, frozen custard contains eggs in addition to milk and sugar. That “egginess” added a thickness, a richness of flavor and texture. HG spent his summers consuming more than his share.

Then it disappeared from the east coast beaches and was replaced with tasteless soft serve ice cream.

HG’s dear friend, the great jazz singer, Jackie Cain, said the best frozen custard was served in her home town of Milwaukee. People from St.Louis still line up nightly for Ted Drewe’s famous custard

Does anyone out there know of any other frozen custard sites? It is not really summer without that yummy cone of goodness.