Art in Unusual Places

In normal times Hevreh Ensemble would have returned from our PARMA China tour on Monday March 23rd, exhausted, but also elated remembering the many experiences and interactions that we had with our audiences.

In my jet lagged state, I would be starting to think about our Passover Seder menu and looking forward to seeing our dear friends who join us each year. This year we will participate in a virtual Seder.

Happy to be safe and well for the moment, I instead will write about one of my past excursions; a trip to the Bronx Museum of the Arts last fall. Dinner is cooking on the stove- a curried red lentil and quinoa soup with ginger, turmeric, garlic and onions. I got the idea from a can of Amy’s soup! I had black quinoa on hand and I read that it was once called the “gold of the Incas” for increasing the stamina of Incan warriors. We can all use that!

Curried Red Lentil and Quinoa Soup

Ingredients:

2 cups red lentils

2 cups cooked quinoa

1 onion finely chopped

1 tablespoon ginger finely chopped- or more

2 garlic cloves finely chopped

2 tablespoons tomato paste

6-8 leaves kale (I used Lacinato, but any other kale or swiss chard is fine)

turmeric

curry powder

1 bay leaf (or if you happen to have curry leaves on hand, this would be great!)

pinch cayenne ( or more to taste)

ground cumin

salt and black pepper to taste

few handfuls of finely chopped cilantro

To Make Soup:

Add 2 or 3 Tablespoons olive oil to large soup pot

Turn heat to medium high and add onion

Saute on lower heat until onions are lightly brown and softened (about 10-15 minutes)

Add ginger and garlic and cook 2-3 minutes

Add turmeric and curry powder and cook 2 minutes

Turn up heat a bit and add tomato paste, stir until tomato paste browns a bit

Add about 1 cup water and stir about bits from bottom of pot

Add red lentils

Add water- should cover ingredients

Bring to a boil, lower to a simmer, cover pot and cook about until lentils break down( I cooked my soup for about an hour). Add cooked quinoa cook a few minutes more and add chopped cilantro. You can always add more water if the soup is too thick.

Enjoy!

Now, for a little needed escape……….

From: November 2, 2019

I teach all of my students at Hofstra University on Friday and usually stay over in Manhattan. Hevreh Ensemble also often rehearses on Friday evening or occasionally Saturday afternoon. This schedule gives me the perfect opportunity to go on my food and art explorations in NYC on Saturdays!

Last fall on a beautiful sunny and crisp day, I set out to explore the Grand Concourse, a corner of the Bronx that I had never been to before. Once called “The Park Avenue of the Middle Class”, the wide streets still boast many examples of Art Deco and Art Moderne architecture. I decided to drive my car to the Bronx, as I find that this is a good way to scope out a new neighborhood. As I drove around the hilly streets, I felt the energy of a vibrant Latino and African American community.

The Bronx Museum of the Arts is located at the corner 165th Street and Grand Concourse. I found a parking spot not far from the museum and as I entered the building, I was met by a welcoming and friendly docent. I was excited to view an exhibition at the museum titled, “Henry Chalfant: Art vs. Transit 1970-1987.” Chalfant started his career in New York as a sculptor and later used the mediums of photography and film to explore the intersection of hip-hop culture and graffiti art. I have to admit that I came to the exhibition with a bit of trepidation. I confess that Hip-Hop is not my favorite genre of music. To my surprise I found the installations of photographs from graffiti on NYC subway trains wildly colorful with an incredible energy and creative sense of design. Sounds tracks from various Hip-Hop artists played in the background and combined with the context of the art, Hip-Hop music began to resonate and make sense to me.

Then of course it was time to explore a new place for lunch! I realized that the museum was just 2 ½ miles from the famous Italian American neighborhood on Arthur Avenue. One of the pleasures of eating alone is that I can observe everything around me, talk to the restaurant owners and workers, take my time looking at the menu and best of all, listen to other conversations. I decided to head over to the Arthur Avenue area and search out an interesting place for lunch. The discovery of the day was that this area of the Bronx also has a sizeable Albanian enclave. I parked my car near Arthur Avenue on a relatively quiet side street and right in front of me was a small and charming Albanian restaurant: Cha Ka Qellu. As I walked into the restaurant I saw that the tables were seated with groups of young Albanians and everyone seemed to know each other. As the gracious hostess described some of the dishes to me, I heard soft Albanian music playing and I saw that there were 2 accordions and an Albanian Lute (lahute) hung on the wall.

I asked the hostess about the plaintive and lovely melodies playing over the sound system as a young waiter was singing softly along with one of the pieces. At this point, the food could have been terrible and I would have been satisfied with just the atmosphere of the restaurant, but what I ordered was excellent! I ate a lightly pickled cabbage, carrot and sliced cucumber salad that was a perfect counterpart to a clay pot casserole of manti, six large crisply sauteed dumplings filled with ground lamb, onion and delicate spices.

All in all , this was a perfect afternoon of art, food and an appreciation of the incredible diversity that is found in New York!

And now, back to reality. Here’s a picture from today’s walk- a beautiful meadow! Pizza dough is rising in the oven made with my trusty sour dough starter.

Next story to follow shortly…...our trip last summer to visit our dear friends Carmen and Premila in Tortonto……. Indigenous Canadian artwork, the Haida Gwaii from British Columbia , Indian Dosas and more!
Judith Dansker April 2, 2020

Stay Safe!