The Literate Chef

Posts Tagged ‘The Bronx’

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Luigi the Barber

In General Articles on July 28, 2013 at 11:20 AM

That bastion of the male world, the Barber Shop, with its candy-striped pole, leather strop and copies of the Police Gazette lying around for your perusal as you wait for your favorite barber to call you next, may have for the most part disappeared; but the art of conversation between a man and his barber (for want of a gender-neutral term) has not. For the past 30 or more years I have had my hair cut by Luigi, who with his brother Enzo, runs “The Isaia Hairstyling Salon” in the Riverdale section of The Bronx.

Luigi (Louie) and Enzo emigrated with their parents from a town near Salerno in the Campania region of Italy when they were children. They started life in America in the Belmont section of the Bronx, also known as Arthur Avenue. When Louie was a stylist working at Vidal Sassoon in Manhattan, he was known as Bernard. That name stayed with him for a time after he left, but eventually he became Louie once again, as the brothers’ own business began to flourish, back in Da Bronx.

When my hair used to grow more quickly, I’d schedule a visit to Louie about once every 4 or 5 weeks. These days visits are usually 8 to 10 weeks apart, and it’s not because I’m letting my hair grow longer, there’s just less of it to cut. So I figure that Louie and I have had at least 250 conversations over the years. We’ve discussed politics, sports, the economy, crime, religion, family and the changes in the neighborhood. But every visit has included a conversation on our two favorite topics, movies (principally Italian Cinema) and food.

Louie enjoys cooking and sometimes, when he knows I am coming in for a haircut, he surprises me, as he recently did, with something he whipped-up the previous night. On our most recent visit to our hometown New York, which included a haircut from Louie, the surprise was Mussels Marinara, not with linguine, nor tagliatelle nor penne or some of the more fashionable cuts of macaroni, but with good, old-fashioned, comforting, spaghetti. It was delicious and Grammy and I devoured it that night when we returned to Falmouth.

The other day,  I made a visit to The Clam Man, our local fishmonger, and as luck would have it, they had a batch of big, black, shiny mussels. With an eye to preparing Louie’s mussels and spaghetti, I bought 2 dozen of the bivalves. Remembering what Louie had told me about his three special additives: brandy (I used Martell Cognac, which I use for my Steak au Poivre), jalapeño pepper and Knorr’s Caldo con Sabor de Camarón and guessed at the proportions. I don’t think it was exactly the same as Louie’s version, but it was delicious.

So here it is folks, the real deal, Mussels Marinara with Spaghetti alla Luigi.

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Where Have All the Germans Gone?

In General Articles on November 2, 2012 at 3:31 PM

Once upon a time German restaurants were abundant in New York City. On East 14th Street & Irving Place, there was the famous Lüchow’s, and in the Yorkville neighborhood, once known as Germantown, along East 86th Street one could find Kleine Konditorei, the Lorelei (a new Lorely Biergarten has popped up on the Lower Eastside), the Ideal Café as well as many others. There were also numerous German butchers, bakers, delis and even a famous candy store, Elk, which carried delicious marzipan and was very popular around Easter and Christmas and is now, apparently, only on-line. Thankfully, the great butcher shop, Schaller & Weber still exists.

My introduction to German food occurred at Ehring’s, a small gem of a place located on W. 231st Street in the Kingsbridge neighborhood of The Bronx. My friend, Jimmy Murphy (R.I.P.), loved the place and convinced me to try the food. I even took my future wife there on our first date. Unfortunately, like the aforementioned establishments, Ehring’s is now but a happy memory.

Hearty German fare, such as Sauerbraten, Hasenpfeffer, Kasseler Ripchen, and Wurst Platters were plentiful in those German restaurants. You never left any of them hungry, and to help wash the food down, there was plenty of fresh German beer on tap. The entire Yorkville neighborhood always seemed like a party and was a favorite destination for those of us who loved food, beer and conviviality.

Then, along came changes in the U.S. Immigration Laws and urban re-development. With the former, fewer Germans immigrated to the U.S., and with the latter, the low rise apartment houses that once harbored the German retail establishments began to slowly disappear, only to be replaced by high rise apartment houses and generic retail stores. Eventually, most of the German culture disappeared as well, having been replaced by younger non-German speaking residents. Food tastes also changed, German food was deemed to be too heavy and didn’t sit well in the new atmosphere of health-consciousness and fitness. The City is much poorer for the loss.

Finding a good German meal in the City these days is an unexpected pleasure. One such place that is still thriving is Zum Stammtisch in Glendale, Queens, where I had a superb meal a few weeks ago with friends. With the cold weather now settling in here on Cape Cod I decided to make a Sauerbraten this week. A few years ago, when we had weekend guests, Captain Jack brought his firehouse Sauerbraten, it was a treat. Jack is a retired New York City Fire Captain and a good friend. He was kind enough the share this recipe, and I hope that you will enjoy it as much as we just did.

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The Best Italian Restaurant

In General Articles on January 21, 2012 at 3:13 PM

Inspired by a dish that she had on our most recent visit to Roberto restaurant in the Belmont neighborhood of the Bronx, my wife suggested the ingredients for Chicken Campagna. That is not the name that Roberto applied to one of the ‘specials’ that he offered that evening. We thought of the name because the dish that we developed in a failed attempt to replicate Roberto’s reminded us of a rustic Italian chicken preparation, one that you would find in a country restaurant practically anywhere in Italy. Campagna translates to countryside. Despite the fact that it is not à la Roberto, Chicken Campagna is delicious in its own right.

Roberto Paciullo, who with his brother opened his original restaurant in this Little Italy of the Bronx more than 20 years ago, is an incredibly superb chef. The current restaurant located on Crescent Avenue, around the corner from the well-known Arthur Avenue, is one block west of where the original was situated at the intersection of E. 186th St., Crescent and Belmont Avenues. For those of you unfamiliar with New York and especially with the Bronx, that is the same Belmont Avenue that gave rise to Dion and The Belmonts.

While the printed menu at Roberto contains plenty of excellent and creative dishes, the ‘specials’ offered on the blackboard each evening are replete with imaginative surprises. For his legions of fans, they are the only way to order. From the very beginning, Roberto’s cooking has been an inspiration to me as well as to many others.

His dishes are filled with ingredients and that are common to la cucina italiana, but are combined in inventive ways that are vastly different than the standard Italian restaurant fare. In my opinion, there is no equal, and I agree with John Mariani, the writer and columnist for Esquire and Bloomberg News, Roberto is ‘The Best Italian Restaurant in America’.

Thanks Roberto, for many years of good eating and inspiration. I can’t wait to return to see what you have developed next.

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Brother Devil

In General Articles on July 27, 2011 at 4:27 PM

The first time I had Shrimp Fra Diavolo was about 45 years ago at a now defunct Italian restaurant on City Island, The Bronx. Fra Diavolo was not on the menu in our household, which is surprising, given that my mother loved hot spicy food, as exemplified by her homemade hot sauce. As pointed out by her granddaughters, she loved it so, that much to my embarrassment, she even carried a little jar of her hot sauce in her silver-metallic purse.

We took her to dinner once at Roberto, perhaps the best Italian restaurant in NYC, and she ordered a special homemade pasta dish for which Roberto is deservedly famous. Mom tasted it, said it was delicious and then proceeded to whip out her little jar and spoon some of its contents onto her pasta. Thankfully, no one other than my wife and I noticed this cardinal sin and when I commented that if Roberto had wanted it to be eaten spicy, he would have added the hot pepper himself. Mom completely unabashed merely smiled and said that’s the way she likes it and since she’s paying for it, what should he care! I didn’t bother pointing out that I was paying for dinner.

Fra Diavolo (Brother Devil) is the name given to a spicy hot tomato-based sauce that is usually married with some form of seafood: lobster, shrimp, calamari, scungilli, mussels or a combination thereof. It is also frequently served with a side of pasta, or over pasta, such as linguine. Purists will try telling you that you never add cheese to seafood pasta dishes. I was lectured about that once by a South American waiter in an Italian restaurant in Little Italy, NYC. I told him thanks for the advice, but I always eat my macaroni with cheese, even if it has seafood it in, so please bring some.

For Linguine with Shrimp, Fra Diavolo, I tried making it several ways. First I made a hot sauce similar to an Arrabiata and merely added the raw shrimp to the sauce to cook them. The shrimp were lost in the sauce. Then I tried sautéing the shrimp in garlic and oil and adding them to the sauce at the last minute. That was preferable to my palate. Finally, I tried making a basic marinara sauce and then sautéing the shrimp as before, but adding hot pepper and white wine to the sautéing process, this proved to be the best approach in that the shrimp stood out against the sauce. This technique has the added benefit that if one of your family or guests is not a seafood lover, you can merely serve them linguine with marinara sauce and avoid having to make two meals.

In my recipe connected with this article, you can prepare it either way, by adding hot pepper to the sauce and the shrimp, or just to the shrimp; however the circumstances dictate. Buon appetito!

Continuing on with seafood, since it is summer and the grilling season is well under way, please see: Catching Wild Salmon in Alaska and Cooking Wild Salmon at Home.

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Everybody Has a Story

In General Articles on April 9, 2011 at 2:52 PM

Everybody has a story. It is how these stories are conveyed that determines the ability of the storyteller to attract the attention of the listeners. The same may be said of food. Everybody is capable of preparing a meal, but it is how the food is prepared and presented that attracts those for whom it is prepared and whether or not it will be memorable.

Growing up in my family, mealtime, primarily dinner, was always a special time for us. When my father came home for work at the Post Office, we would sit down together to eat and to discuss the day. On Sunday’s, after Mass, invariably we would gather with my aunts, uncles and cousins at Grandma & Grandpa’s apartment off of Webster Avenue in The Bronx. We called it ‘Grandma & Grandpa’s’, but the apartment was actually that of my aunt and uncle, the building superintendent. Those meals were the most memorable!

Grandpa & Me in Inwood Park

Grandma with Cousin Bobby

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Those memories actually begin with the anticipation and excitement of being all together, eating delicious food, hearing new and often repeated family stories, as well as the jokes and laughter that accompanied each anecdote. Upon walking into the building lobby, taking that first breath and inhaling the aromas emanating from their apartment, we knew that an enjoyable time awaited us.

As my wife and I began to raise our own family and entertain relatives and friends, we first learned to cook basic meals. Then we began to experiment with more elaborate ones. The ones I liked best were those where we tried to re-create a dish, after experiencing something in a restaurant. We would play the guessing game: What ingredients made this particular dish unique? What spices were added? What cooking method did the chef employ? How did he prepare that sauce? Imitation is said to be the sincerest form of flattery, well if that is the case then we flattered a lot of chefs over the years.

What follows are stories from some of those meals, both original meals, as well as those which we re-created, accompanied by recipes for one or more of the dishes that comprised the meal and made it so memorable.

Please Continue to: Pasta Memories

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