I had meant to write my next food & art adventure about a recent excursion to Flushing, NY; home to one of the largest and dynamic Asian populations in New York City. I promise to return to this soon, but current events seem to loom large at the moment!

Hevreh Ensemble’s planned PARMA ( our Recording Label) Tour to China was canceled – we were originally slated to depart today- March 11th. What timing! We will look forward to the tour when all returns to normal! In the meantime, we are finishing plans for our next tour to Argentina at the end of July. We will presents concerts in Synagogues and Jewish Community Centers in Buenos Aires, Cordoba and Rosario. In Buenos Aires we will present a concert for the stunningly beautiful Templo Libertad.

For the Argentina tour, we are thrilled to be joined by my daughter, Alicia DePaolo who sings with the ensemble Miryam among many other groups. Interspersed with Hevreh’s repertoire she will sing cantillation from the soulful and stirring Book of Lamentations, which is a collection of poetic laments about the destruction of Jerusalem. The planned performances coincide with the observance of Tisha b’av, which marks the destruction of the two temples in 586 BCE and 70 CE.

Hopefully our Argentina plans will be able to go forward without much of a hitch but we will have a contingency plan in place to reschedule the dates if necessary. We await daily updates about the spread and impact of the virus and about school and university closings. Hofstra University announced the cancellation of classes before spring break. Group member Laurie Friedman and I both teach there. Right now, the one thing that we still have control over is comfort food!

Last Saturday I decided that a return trip to DiPalo’s Fine Foods on Grand Street in Manhattan’s Liitle Italy would be a perfect tonic! We had just run out of grated Pecorino and their amazing Parmesan cheese. As I walked into the store, the atmosphere was a bit more muted than usual as people seemed preoccupied with thoughts about the Corona Virus. As I stood in line, I could feel the customers palpably relaxing as the owners Lou, Marie and Sal talked to them and offered samples of cheese. An elderly Asian woman, having trouble deciphering the signs on the wall, asked me how much a ¼ pound of imported prosciutto cost. When I was helped by owner Marie, she handed me a large piece of paper with an antipasto sized helping of prosciutto. She had overheard me helping the Asian woman. As I shared my bounty with a few other people, another man was ordering a cheese I had never heard of- Mantasio. I asked him about it and he told me that he lived part of the year in the Swiss Italian Alps and they could never get this cheese there. They had to make a trip over the border into Italy to get it. But, he could always get it at DiPalo’s!. On the other side of the counter, I noticed a large platter of freshly made broccoli rabe sauteed with garlic, olive oil and red pepper. Another customer placed a bag of DiPalo’s cheese tortellini on the counter. A few dinner plans started to come to mind! Maybe some chicken broth with tortellini and grated Pecorino cheese or some whole wheat fusilli pasta topped with the sauteed broccoli rabe…….

But now it was time for lunch and right across the street from DiPalo’s is a great Malaysian restaurant, Nyonya! I ordered the perfect comfort food: a large steaming hot bowl of Wonton Mee-chicken soup with fresh egg noodles, minced shrimp and pork dumplings, scallions, bean sprouts and Chinese greens. Knowing that it was way too much to eat at one sitting, I could not resist ordering Roti Telur, an Indian influenced flatbread stuffed with onion and egg and served with a spicy curry dipping sauce. The combination of the soup and roti was delicious and while I ate, I enjoyed eavesdropping on a few conversations at the other tables. It seemed that everyone was concerned about the current health situation, but for a while all was mitigated by the excellent food.

A few weeks ago we held our annual International Dumpling Party and I will leave you with one of the desserts that we served for the party, Chocolate Cream Pie With Oreo Crust. Based on a recipe from the NY Times Online Cooking articles, this is truly comfort food! The chocolate custard filling is so silky and rich you can eat this alone! Enjoy and stay safe!

Judith Dansker 3/11/20

Chocolate Cream Pie With Oreo Crust

Ingredients:

For the Crust:

2 cups Oreo Crumbs ( I used one whole package of Paul Newman’s Organic Oreo Cookies)

4 tablespoons unsalted butte ( 1/2 stick) melted

1/2 teaspoon salt

For the Custard:

1/2 cup sugar

3 tablespoons cornstartch

2 tablespoons cocoa powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

3 cups whole milk

6 large egg yolks

8 ounces bittersweet bar chocolate ( I used Ghirardelli)

2 tablespoons unsalted butter cut into small cubes

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the Topping:

1 cup heavy cream

1 tablespoon confectioners sugar

Crushed Oreos for garnish

Preparation:

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Add Oreos to the bowl of a food processor and process until fine crumbs form. Add melted butter and salt, and process until crumbs are evenly moistened. Tip mixture out into a 9-inch pie plate, and press crumbs evenly into bottom and sides of pan. Bake until crust is fragrant and set, about 12 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool.
Set a fine mesh sieve over a medium bowl. In a medium saucepan, whisk together granulated sugar, cornstarch, cocoa powder and salt. Pouring just a little at first, whisk the milk into the sugar mixture until you have a smooth paste. Gradually add remaining milk, whisking constantly. Whisk in egg yolks. Cook mixture over medium heat, whisking constantly, until it has thickened and just come up to a low boil, about 8 to 9 minutes. Continue to cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute.
Pour custard through sieve, pushing it through with a rubber spatula. Discard any solids. Stir in chocolate, butter and vanilla, and let it stand for 1 minute. Stir until smooth. Pour mixture into prepared crust. Let cool slightly, then cover loosely with plastic wrap and chill until firm, at least 6 hours.
To serve, whip cream and confectioners’ sugar until soft peaks form. Top with whipped cream and sprinkle with crushed Oreos, if using.
I made this a day before our party and leftovers also kept well for 3 days, if this lasts that long!!
ENJOY!!

A Major Change in Plans!