Homesick Cooking by Maria Arenas

homesick cooking

ISSUE 01 / FALL 2015 New York City

EDITOR’S NOTE When you move away from home, feeling homesick is inevitable. Homesick Cooking is a quarterly publication about the stories behind the food that brings you back home: to your grandmother’s kitchen or to your favorite truckstop diner. If you grew up in a Filipino family like I did, you would know that most things revolve around food. Is it someone’s birthday, wedding, funeral? Potluck, potluck, potluck. In my family, everyone sits at the dinner table and shares a meal at least once every day, even if there’s a fight. This tradition continued even when we moved to Thailand, another place with a culture rooted in food. Now that I live in New York, food reminds me of family and home. Our first quarterly potluck, held in New York City, gathered up individuals who were missing their respective homes. This issue brings the food and the stories shared, from our table to yours.

ON THE MENU

CONTRIBUTORS

Paella de los Gualde

Pablo Gualde

Tony’s Ever-Evolving Spaghetti Sauce

Tony Mendoza

Summer S’mores

Katie Rablen

PHOTOGRAPHER, DESIGNER & EDITOR Maria Arenas

PABLO GUALDE from PANAMA CITY, PANAMA to BROOKLYN, NEW YORK 2

PAELLA WAS OUR TYPICAL SUNDAY AFTERNOON DISH WHILE I WAS GROWING UP.

Although not representative of Panamanian food, it certainly is a dish full of flavors and scents that bring back beautiful memories of my home, my family and my beautiful tropical country. As part of this weekly tradition, sundays would usually start with my dad going to the fish market very early in the morning to get fresh seafood before my mom, my brothers and I even dreamed of waking up, by the time we opened our eyes the sun was already at its highest and in through the windows the vibrant whites reds and purples of

bougainvilleas painted our

bedrooms, we would then one by one as we woked up proseed to the kitchen, as we all took some part in the making of the paella, the jobs were all interchangeable from week to week, one

would mince the garlic, the other one took care of

about issues pertinent to that point in time, eating

cleaning the string beans and so on, but mom and

chocolates out of my dad’s secret collection and

dad would usually then stay finishing up while we

scraping the last bits of passion fruit sorbet.

would run off to play football (the real one, not the american) under the tiering sun or play in an airplane made out of dining table chairs if a sudden but not odd rain storm happened to pass by. The house would rapidly be engulfed by the rich scents of saffron and golden garlic cooked in olive oil, you could smell the paella everywhere, so much that by the time the table was ready, several family friends had already walked through the kitchen door into the dining room, as if the scent of paella had silently called them home, not long after we were all enjoying a delicious paella all cramped in a table that was clearly too small for the amount of people present. The afternoon

IT BRINGS BACK ALL THOSE MEMORIES OF SUNDAYS WHEN I SPENT HOURS AROUND THE TABLE WITH THE PEOPLE I LOVE SO MUCH I’ve tried making paella twice now, since I’m away from home and It has been a journey of its own, It brings back all those memories of sundays when I spent hours around the table with the people I love so muchbut it has also proven that making paella by myself is not as easy as flying planes through the heavy rain with my two brothers.

would unfold and long after the paella was over it would still find us sitting on the table talking

PAELLA DE LOS GUALDE INGREDIENTS 2 pechugas de pollo, con hueso, sin piel ni grasita 1 libra de langostinos con cabeza (8 grandes o 10 medianos) 1 libra de anillos de calamar 1 libra de arañitas de calamar 8 mejillones grandes (1/2 concha) Aceite de oliva 2 o 3 dientes de ajo picados chiquito Un poco de azafrán (un pellizco) ½ lata de tomate en trocitos, finamente picado ½ libra o menos de habichuelas 1 puñado de petit-poids 2 tazas de arroz Uncle Ben’s Pimientos morrones en frasco o naturales asados.

PREPARATION 1.

4. 5.

e limpian las cabezas de los langostinos, removiendo S lo que tiene suelto; si tiene algo de coral rojo, dejar lo más posible. Se corta la parte de arriba de la cola y se le quita la vena negra que tiene. Salar para que tomen más sabor. Se limpian las pechugas sobándolas con sal y algo de limón (medio limón la exprimido) y se cortan en 2 o tres partes para que se cocinen bien. Secar bien las pechugas y langostinos. Enjuagar en un escurridor los anillos y arañitas de calamar, sobándolos un poco bajo el agua; dejar escurrir. Picar el ajo y reservar Picar la ½ lata de tomate en trozos pequeños dejando algo de su jugo; también se puede rallar 2 tomates maduros para conseguir su pulpa. Limpiar las habichuelas quitando los hilos y trocear en tercios o cuartos

INSTRUCTIONS 1. 2.

e pone una paella de 8 personas a fuego medio-alto, se le añade aceite de oliva hasta que esté a S dos dedos del borde (generoso pero no demasiado). Cuando esté caliente, se pone a freír el pollo un rato hasta que se dore un poco de ambos lados y se le añaden los langostinos. Si empieza a saltar mucho el aceite se pueden añadir los langostinos enseguida. Cuando los langostinos se hayan cocinado de ambos lados, se paran sobre la cola y la cabeza para que se cocine un poco esa parte y se sacan. Deben quedar “al dente” es decir firmes pero no muy duros o sobre cocidos. Dejar en un plato para añadirlos al final. Añadir el ajo picado y el azafrán y freír cuidando que el ajo no se queme. En cuanto esté dorado, agregar el tomate para que se sofría, luego de un rato, agregar las habichuelas y los calamares y sofreír otro rato. Agregar 4 tazas de agua y dejar que hierva un rato, salar. Agregar las dos tazas de arroz en un camellón. Cuando rompa a hervír, añadir los mejillones alrededor y los petit-poids en el centro. Hervir a fuego vivo hasta que el agua empiece a secar, bajar el fuego y cuando esté bastante seco, agregar el juguito que dejaron los langostinos en el plato y tapar un rato para que se termine decocinar el arroz de la superficie. Acomodar los langostinos y los pimientos morrones alrededor, y cuando se complete la cocción pero todavía esté húmedo el fondo, dejar reposar unos 10 minutos antes de servir.

PAELLA PAIRING Paella de los Gualde is a variation on Paella Valeniciana which pairs well with both red and white wines, because it has a combiniation of both meat and seafood. Spanish wines pair best, we suggest: REDS Tempranillo Garnacha

WHITES Albarino Brut Cava

TONY MENDOZA from DIAMOND BAR, CALIFORNIA 1 to WOODHAVEN QUEENS, NEW YORK 2

How does that saying go… ‘Home is Where the Heart is’. Homesick for me is more of a feeling, not a physical space. It speaks to my core. Much like the feeling I often get of being born in the wrong era. I have an old soul in a young body.

TONYâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S EVER-EVOLVING SPAGHETTI SAUCE INGREDIENTS 1 pounds ground beef 3 tablespoons olive oil 1 large yellow onions, diced 1 large fresh tomato, diced (optional) 2 cloves garlic, minced One 28-ounce can of diced tomatoes One 6-ounce can of tomato paste 1 jar store-bought pasta sauce 2 - 3 tablespoons sugar 2 teaspoons kosher salt 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper

INSTRUCTIONS 1.

tart by boiling a large pot of water for spaghetti. When S it boils, add a couple of pinches of salt and pasta. Cook to al dente. 2. Drain pasta using a colander. Stir in a pat of butter to keep pasta from sticking to each other. 3. Heat a deep skillet or medium pot over moderate heat. 4. Add oil, crushed pepper, garlic and diced onion. Cook until onions are soft. 5. Add ground beef and cook until brown. Drain oil and excess water from pot. 6. Add diced tomatoes, tomato paste and sauce to the cooked ground beef. Stir to combine ingredients. 7. Partially closed the lid on the pot and let it simmer for about 10 - 15 minutes. Stir occasionally. 8. Add sugar. Vary amount to suit your taste. Add optional diced fresh tomato to give sauce more body. 9. Reduce heat to low. Partially close lid again. Let it simmer for another 10â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 15 minutes. Stir occasionally. 10. Serve with bread or garlic bread, and a side of grated Parmesan cheese.

I THINK THE VERY FIRST REAL ATTEMPT at making spaghetti was way back in college. Before that I would help my parents make it, or watch them make it. It seemed simple enough to do. This time around I had a reason to make it myself. A group of us were presenting our senior art thesis in a gallery setting. It was tradition, or more to the point… it was expected that for every group’s gallery opening, some kind of food was to be prepared. Some groups would just provided chips and dip. My group decided to up the ante and do a potluck. I brought my spaghetti and it was a hit! Or maybe because we were just a bunch of starving artists. In any case, we set the bar high that year. That first recipe was basic, no frills and bought on a college student’s budget. I bought whatever I could afford at the time. Generic pasta and sauces, etc. Nowadays, I’m picky with my ingredients… how it’s made and where. I can now afford to pay for quality, which in turn makes for a better, healthier sauce. The spaghetti I made in college was one of the things that made me feel like an adult. It represented the first real meal I made in my kitchen of my apartment. True independence. Really empowering stuff. That feeling is what I carry with me wherever I go.

KATIE RABLEN from NORWICH, CONNETICUT 1 to BROOKLYN, NEW YORK 2

NORWICH CONNECTICUT IS NOT VERY EXCITING UPON FIRST GLANCE It’s a medium-sized town, not particularly wealthy anymore, but we have a few simple but great amenities. There’s an ice rink, blowing alley, golf course, a few good restaurants, and a marina. One thing that sets it apart is New England. Fall has always been my favorite season and fall is all it takes to make a mundane town look beautiful. It might sound boring to always know you’re going to run into people you know at minor league baseball games, the quarry where we go cliff jumping, our local ice cream shop on Wednesday nights, but there’s also a great comfort in familiarity, and sharing these things unique to where I live with people I’ve grown up with is a good feeling that nothing else compares to. It’s home because I have lived here since I was born. I love it because I’ve lived there long enough to discover the hidden treasures (forgive the cliché). There aren’t a ton of places to go for people my age who are in school or haven’t started careers yet, but probably much like other towns, Norwich has a few great places to watch the sun rise, get drunk, get ice cream and make memories.

SUMMER Sâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;MORES

INGREDIENTS

INSTRUCTIONS

Graham Crackers Hersheys milk chocolate Fat, puffy marshmallows

1. 2. 3. 4.

Assemble marshmallow on stick Toast over open flame (campfire or gas stove) Rotate mallow slowly until toasted Remove from stick, place on a cracker, top with chocolate, then close with another cracker (see next page) 36

For me, s’mores symbolize summer. Most s’mores I’ve eaten were in the presence of familiar things. The rickety swing set I’ve known my whole life, that familiar rustling of trees the sounds of crickets. But most importantly, the people I’ve grown up with. I’ve never eaten a s’more alone

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