HUNGRY GERALD

Long beach walk on the sunny, windy shoreline near HG/BSK’s Prince Edward Island oceanfront home. HG/BSK, SJ, Handsome Haru, Adorable Teru were on the hunt for beach glass to add to the family collection. Found much. One misfortune, however. SJ tweaked his back while picking up an elusive specimen so was moving a bit gingerly after. Back home there were welcome hot showers. A few gin and vermouth cocktails for HG. SJ put a Beatles compilation in the CD player. The family exploded into hilarity. Teru and Haru proved expert dancers and Haru did a very melodious singalong. BSK, a great dancer, proved she’s still got the moves. The lady rocked out. An hour of music, dance and song. Great preview to a knockout dinner. Despite back pain, SJ produced spectacular linguine with clam sauce. (Using clams plucked from the shore of St. Mary’s Bay the previous day). SJ is not a hidebound traditionalist in the kitchen. His innovations are taste treats. First SJ chopped five pieces of bacon into one inch strips (SJ would have rather used pancetta!) and crisped them in a touch of olive oil. The bacon was then removed and set aside to drain and half of the bacon grease was discarded. Into the pan went a heap of garlic and a minced half of a sweet onion alongside more olive oil. When soft, SJ added about a cup and half of white wine and six halved cherry tomatoes. The clams were then layered on top of the sofrito, and the pan was covered. As soon as the clams opened, SJ plucked them out, made sure any clam juice was saved, and separated meat from the shell (shells were discarded). As soon as the pasta was nearing al dente, it was transferred to the pan with the clam meat to absorb the abundant clam juice/wine/garlic sauce (the large clams dug up at St. Mary’s provided an abundance of juice although their meat had to be chopped up to avoid any toughness). Right at the end, SJ tossed in the crisp bacon, chopped parsley and a hit of olive oil. The result was a silky masterpiece, fragrant with the sea; the clams were perfectly cooked with the bacon creating an undertone of smokiness and the tomatoes adding a hint of needed acidity. The pasta was followed by green salad with chunks of good blue cheese. Assorted sweets for dessert. Another happy day and night.

Dinner was surf and turf (HG family style). “Turf” consisted of thin slices of pork belly –another savory performance by Exquisite Maiko. The pork bellies were sliced into bite size portions and tossed into a very hot black cast iron pan. A loud sizzle as the pork crisped and released much fat. Dried on paper towels, the pork went on a platter and was covered with chopped scallions mixed with sesame oil, lemon juice and salt. Perfect combination with the rich, crisp piggy. Pork bellies are versatile and inexpensive (HG likes to cook them Chinese style, glazed with honey, oyster sauce and hot mustard). Pork bellies are rarely found in New Mexico (where HG/BSK live) but are found in the meat section of every Prince Edward Island grocery. The “surf” was linguine with white clam sauce. The linguine was the Garofalo brand. In HG’s opinion, this is the best packaged pasta. (Even better than beloved De Cecco). Rarely found in the United States, HG/BSK stock up with numerous Garofalo shapes from Sobey’s Supermarket. The clam sauce dish was a collaboration between BSK, Lesley and Massimo R. BSK created the flavorful sofrito, using good clam juice, white wine, garlic, parsley and the broth resulting from the steaming of two dozen small quahogs. Lesley R. did much sous chef chopping of all the ingredients (Massimo R. assisted in the clam chopping). Massimo R. trained his vigilant and discerning Italian gaze on the pasta. Italians consider soft, overdone pasta a criminal assault on the taste buds. Massimo always aims to produce pasta that is “al dente”, that has a slight snap as it is chewed. This evening, Massimo R. hit the bullseye. Pasta perfection, a happy partner of the sea kissed sauce. The four cooks who prepared this great meal did so with grace and ease. HG paid tribute. HG ate a lot.

The New Yorker Magazine writer, Adam Gopnik, HG’s favorite essayist, wrote a charming account of his psychoanalysis, “Man Goes to a Doctor” in his collection Through The Children’s Gate. The protagonist of this lightly comic but deeply felt memoir is Gopnik’s late, imperious analyst, a European Freudian of the old school. During an analytic session, Gopnik expresses a desire to visit Venice. The analyst immediately makes a reservation for Gopnik at his favorite Venetian hotel. He then gives Gopnik a list of good Venetian restaurants (all old fashioned and traditional). “Order linguine con vongole (white clam sauce). You will be happy, at last.” Excellent advice. HG has rarely been happier than when eating linguine con vongole. Many decades ago HG/BSK and family would collect clams from the bottom of Long Island’s Great South Bay, a short stroll from HG/BSK’s home perched on a sand dune facing the Atlantic Ocean. HG had a very effective clam shucking instrument and could shuck a few hundred clams in a short time. This meant raw clams on the half shell (with a dash of lemon juice); clams casino (clams dotted with bread crumbs, garlic, parsley, drenched in olive oil, topped with bacon and given a quick broil in the oven) and the main course — BSK’s incomparable linguine con vongole.

An added Prince Edward Island joy. HG/BSK can see a lot of BSK’s sister, Noel M., and her husband, Yossi. The couple are now in residence on a magnificently verdant property in the town of Gasperaux, not far from Panmure Island on PEI’s southeast coast. Just a few minutes away is St.Mary’s Bay, a renowned site for clams and oysters. So, a clamming expedition was planned. The aim was to gather the bivalves for linguine and clam sauce, the centerpiece of a dinner celebrating Noel and Yossi’s 44th wedding anniversary. Noel and Yossi have a vast collective of talents (a championship level of equestrian performance and training skills; music; construction; special education and during Yossi’s Israeli days, paratrooping and other military service). Clamming, however, is not one of their talents. Their uneducated toes came up with only a single clam in an hour of effort. BSK was hampered by being the official expedition photographer. BSK still managed to garner a half dozen. Soaring in to save the day were HG’s talented feet, honed by decades of Fire Island/Great South Bay experience, which plucked some two dozen from the Bay bottom. A bucket full of the clams — chowders, cherrystones and little necks (all called Quahogs on PEI) — provided a beautiful sight. Dinner started with quickly grilled squid Rhode Island style (smothered with garlic, olive oil and super hot pickled peppers). This was accompanied by a platter of sliced seasonal tomatoes, Nova Scotia feta cheese and Kalamata olives. A salad of mache rosettes dressed simply with a drizzle of olive oil and a squeeze of lemon. BSK’s main dish reached new heights through the freshness of the clams, the briny quality of the broth, the exquisite balance of oil and garlic and the al dente quality of Garafolo linguine (the best packaged pasta). Dessert was a sampling of pecan butter tarts (plus raisin tarts for Noel, a butter tart traditionalist) and vanilla ice cream. Cocktails before dinner. White wine with dinner (tea for Noel, not a fan of alcohol). A happy evening indeed.

Last night BSK sauteed calamari in olive oil with a heap of sauteed garlic and hot and sweet Greek-style pickled cherry peppers. HG fried some catfish filets (Dust the fish in Zatarain’s Fish Fry, dip in beaten egg, roll in panko crumbs and fry in very hot grapeseed oil). BSK stir fried some baby bok choy. Lemon wedges, Frank’s Hot Sauce, chilled Spanish rose. Big time feast. HG first encountered the calamari with peppers dish in Rhode Island, where it is a regional specialty. HG was cycling along the bike path between Riverside and Bristol some years ago. Hunger took over. HG stopped at a plain spoken little diner alongside the path. Ordered the calamari-and-pepper appetizer and a bowl of linguini with white clam sauce. The “appetizer” must have contained about two pounds of calamari and the pasta dish could have fed four hungry long distance cyclers. HG, a champion Clean Plate Ranger, met the challenge. Finished it all. HG has wanted to repeat this modest snack. The restaurant, alas, has closed. Another dismal sign that fast food chain hamburgers are diminishing local food treats.