HUNGRY GERALD

A respite for Gifted Daughter LR and Profesore/Dottore MR. These busy professionals never have time for restaurant lunches. HG (resident in landlocked Santa Fe) often dreams about freshly shucked oysters and clams freshly dug from the seashore. The solution: Monday lunch at Hemenway’s, a bright, lively restaurant overlooking the river in downtown Providence. A few dozen oysters (from the shores of Rhode Island, Connecticut, Long island and Rhode Island). A few dozen little neck clams from Rhode Island (known as Quahogs in New England). All sparkling with freshness and full of briny flavors. Then a lobster salad with big chunks of juicy Maine lobster. A platter of fried squid with hot peppers (a Rhode Island specialty).

With sun pouring through big windows and a reasonable amount of Murphy-Goode Fume Blanc being poured, this was memorable New England dining.

HG arrived at waterfront home of Gifted Daughter LR and Profesore/ Dottore MR in Riverside, R.I.. After lengthy travel from Santa Fe, HG was truly hungry….and thirsty. Awaiting HG was a bottle of Vinho Verde (the semi-sparkling, delicious “new” wine of the Minho region of Portugal) and Gifted Daughter LR’s version of a crab and avocado salad (really a nautical guacamole). This is an HG favorite. It was followed by a garlicky stew of Rhode Island clams (best in the world), shrimp and Italian sausage which was served on a bed of creamy polenta. Great bread. Two Vermont cheeses. White grapes.

Dining a La Famiglia. Beats any restaurant.

HG’s gifted daughter LR and her distinguished husband, Profesore/Dottore MR, hosted Romano Prodi at dinner in their Rhode Island home last week. Prodi, a voice of political and economic sanity in an increasingly crazy and disjointed world, is the former Prime Minister of Italy and President of the European Commission. Because of his low key manner, unusual in an Italian public figure, he has been nicknamed “Valium.” Less flattering, he has been nicknamed “The Mortadella.” That’s because he is a bit round, a bit pink and is from Bologna (birthplace of that delectable salume). This has led HG to muse on the subject of food nicknames. As noted in an earlier post, Charles De Gaulle was “La Grande Asperge”, of course. New York’s late and lamented Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia was often greeted by shouts of “pastafazoole” because of his stated fondness for pasta e fagioli. Any other nicknames? Of course, many big wigs and titans of industry have been called “The Big Cheese” but given the recent, rotten actions of the Republican party, HG may well dub them, the “Overripe Gorgonzola.”