Localvore

After a considerable leave of absence, I'm back in business.  Todays comments will be about a few local businesses which supply some of the most delicious foods in the area. My first stop was at Krakus General Store on 1733 Fleet Street.  The main event, for me, is their excellent smoked Kielbasa, a Polish sausage, which is as close to the flavor and texture of the Kielbasa of my childhood in N.Y. as any I've tasted since moving to Baltimore.

My next stop was at Di Pasquales on 3700 Gough Street. That venerable institution has been in business coming up on 100 years and they're kind enough to make a special sausage for me which I buy several pounds at a time. My preference is for mild sausage with no fennel, which is a custom order. Although I do enjoy fresh fennel as a side dish, fennel seeds don't do it for me in sausage. While I was there I bought some lard for cooking purposes (it's healthier than you think) and a container of white beans and escarole for my lunch. It was, as per usual, delicious.

When suitably inspired by such a plethora of delicious foods, both ingested and anticipated, I find it very easy to make good headway with my music composition.  Today I'm working on a new set of lyrics for the new act of "Zippy the Pinhead: the Musical" and a new melodic line for a poem which was written by Michael Salcman.  When motivated by hunger pangs I'll head back to the kitchen, perhaps uncork a bottle of wine, and make my dinner selection du jour.

Cuisine of the Month

I'm contemplating sticking to one cuisine per month, just as an experiment. There's so much variety in each culture, as well, so I don't feel as if I'll be limited in my choices.  I posted this idea on FaceBook and received quite a few interesting responses.

Food and music connection, du jour...in the 1980's I performed or presented 16 original compositions (mine) @ Weill Hall @ Carnegie Hall. After each performance we would wend our way to the Russian Tea Room where we had our usual banquet seating. The Vodka was presented on crushed ice and the blinis were quite good.  Personally I never mixed high end caviar with anything.  And yes, I did bring along my mother-of-pearl spoon.  I'm a damn purist.