Spanish Dinner

I could never get the story straight, in Spain, about how many little/light meals was typical in the course of a day. Some people eat four small meals, others ate the largest meal around noon. By North American standards nothing would be considered 'light'.

Opinions seemed to vary from region to region but one thing that all Spaniards have in common was that they ate, the last meal of the day, late.

Typical in most of Spain is Tapas. In the northern Basque country these sample plates are called pintox and are served on bread. In either case the sentiment is the same. Usually accompanying a beer or glass of wine small portions of various dishes are served. These range from seafood, fried foods, smoked meats, olives and other pickled vegetables. Sandwiches are pre-made with a splash of meat, cheese or Spanish tortilla and can be purchased at any restaurant, food market or coffee shop.

While in Madrid, I had the good fortune to meet and learn from a lovely Spanish woman. An archeologist and fifth generation Spanish, B., was eager to teach me how to make tortilla de patatas or tortilla española. As her family originally hails from the southern part of Spain I would imagine that the method she uses is common in that region. B. did explain to me that no two people make the same tortilla and that every tortilla is different.

There are five ingredients that go into making a traditional potato Tortilla which is common in all regions of Spain:
Potatoes, eggs, onion, oil and salt.
Apparently tortillas are best when they are eaten the day after. They are served both cold and hot, first meal of the day or last meal of the day and can be served as a main, side or sandwich filling. I believe I covered all of these options while in Spain. This Tortilla that B taught me how to make was amazing and we ate it soon after it came off the pan.

Step One:
Potatoes are peeled (in this case using a small paring knife) and sliced in halves then cut into two millimeter thick half circles
These are then tossed into a bowl with a diced onion

Step Two:
The most insane amount of oil, about half way up the pan, is poured into a skillet and heated.
Potato/onion are added into the hot oil and using a wooden spatula are mixed. As the potatoes become softer they are broken up using the spatula. (About 15-20 minutes) To my great relief the majority of the oil is then set aside and strained for further use in other dishes.

Step Three:
Once they are cooked through and begin to mush add them to a bowl of mixed (not beaten) eggs. At this point more eggs can be added, the mixture should show liquid around the mush.

Step Four:
Add mixture to a hot smaller skillet with a small amount of oil and cook until the eggs have set and the tortilla looks like it could withstand a flipping. B used a plate to transfer her tortilla flawlessly to the other side cooking it on each side for a few minutes. The key to a great tortilla is that the middle is still moist.

Here is a picture of the final result. True to local custom, we did not eat this meal until well past 9pm and it was eaten with bread, olives, pickles, hot peppers, and onions. As well as some fried chorizo (Spanish sausage) and croquetas (a small potato/meat filled roll that is breaded and fried). Of course we had to wash it down (or drown it) with some Mahou the best beer in Spain.

So I just made my own Tortilla using the steps above. Here are some photos in various stages:

Step one, two

The mush

The final result which Sir S said was the best meal I've ever made- Served with the best American beer.

Romanov's- Toby Faber: Faberge's Eggs

The calamitous end of the Romanov family has always been an obsession of mine. The fact that not all of the bones of the imperial family were located lead me to be a strong believer in the conspiracy theory of Anastasia Anderson. I read many books and articles believing the claims made by this woman that she was in fact the only surviving member of this dynasty. A book I still have in my collection is Anastasia The Riddle of Anna Anderson by Peter Kurth. What is interesting about his research is the evidence from the German trials that sought to settle the claims. The real question Mr. Kurth delves into is who was this woman who created a reasonable doubt and what evidence did she have.

Through DNA it has now been confirmed that the entire Romanov family’s remains including the two that were not originally found with the rest of the family are accounted for. The royal family has been canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church and reburied in the Peter and Paul Fortress.

I have had the good fortune of visiting Russia. After spending a week Moscow I boarded a very early train that would take me to St. Petersburg. It was March and it was cold and grey. Right when I arrived to the Winter Palace a light snow started to falling.


Toby Faber does an excellent job of capturing this lush elegance of royal life by telling the story of the Romanov family using the yearly commissioned Fabergé Easter egg as a timeline. In Faberge's Eggs, Faber describes in awed detail the stories surrounding the craftsmanship and inspiration for each Easter Egg. Originally commissioned by Czar Alexander III to gift to his wife Marie Fedorovna, the tradition was maintained by Nicholas II for his mother and wife the Tsarina Alexandra. Although not all of the original Egg’s have survived, details on 50 of these collectibles has. The story of the Romanov’s lives continues to hold my interest reinventing itself in a new point of view.

To order a copy of Toby Faber's book- or other titles related to this post- Please click my Amazon Store

The Zookeeper’s Wife

Diane Ackerman is an excellent writer who writes with intimacy about human and animal behavior. Her novel The Zookeeper’s Wife transforms the reader into an observer of a world we have all heard of but few of us have viewed through more than a foggy peephole. Based largely on the diary and loose notes of Antonia Zabinska, the wife of the Polish zookeeper of the Warsaw Zoo from 1929 until the Nazi invasion of Warsaw in 1939; it relays the story of Christian Poles who fought in the resistance against the Nazis.
During a time when the Nazis occupied Poland seeking to eliminate all traces of its culture and annihilate upwards of 500,000 of its inhabitants, resistance was prevalent. “The Polish Underground in Warsaw, [] fielded 70,000 fighters in 1944” (173) and was responsible for sabotaging many German efforts to murder the Jewish population. At a time when being caught hiding a Jew was punishable not only by immediate death, but the murder of ones entire family, countless Polish Christians defied the Nazis, helping save thousands of lives. It is estimated that there was upward of 28,000 Jews in hiding in 1944 and “70,000- 90,000 people who were helping them”. (173) Ms. Ackerman relays the story of one family, the Zabinskis and their participation in the Polish Underground and concealment of over three hundred Jews in the Warsaw Zoo.

Through the use of her personal writing Ms. Ackerman describes Antonia’s life in Warsaw throughout the war. The story is told often through the thoughts and observation Antonia wrote down. Her words are entwined with the meticulous research that Ms. Ackerman conducted on all things conveyed within the story. What is captured vividly is an unwavering force of opposition by the educated classes in whose circles Jan and Antonia were a part of. In an intellectually inspired spirit the people described in this story, whether university educated or simply morally offended, go through the motions necessary to help Jews, defying the laws of their German oppressors. The story shows a sense of automatic moral obligation by those who participated, in varying degrees, to the salvaging of Jewish lives. The action of these heroes is tangible in the resolute way they conduct their lives, during the war, while seamlessly including the saving of lives.

Told from a point of view that is often overlooked in Holocaust accounts Ms. Ackerman captures the innate good in humans. Through her research of history, customs, folklore, religion and traditions Ms. Ackerman writes a flattering portrayal of Poland and its people before and during WWII.

Here is a review by Susie Linfield:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/13/AR2007091301895_pf.html

A Modest Proposal

As I was preparing Friday Night dinner I had sudden flash of it looking like a new born child. Sick, I know but it reminded me of the Jonathan Swift essay 'A Modest Proposal'.

A political satire written to address the Irish child over population issues using current events it is a sickeningly great read. Swift makes reference to George Psalmanazar who was a con-man in the early 1700's. Psalmanazar fabricated that he was from Formosa (present day Taiwan) and wrote books to perpetuate his claims, which included descriptions of a culture that supported cannibalism. Swift also mocks the Catholic church which at the time had just signed the Act of Settlement in 1701, thus settling the succession to the English throne of the Sophia of Hanover, the elected choice. This resulted in criticism towards what Swift refers to as the Papists (anti-Catholic). By mocking the oppressors who would dehumanize the poor beggars that are threatening to overtake the country Swift follows the rules and structure of Latin Satire.

Latin Satire, according to the Latin Satirical Writing Subsequent to Juvenal By Arthur Harold Weston: "may deal with topics and problems and thoughts of every day life as in Horace and Persius and as a rule wherever it mentions names mention them more as representatives of types embodiments of the qualities under discussion than with any special feeling of personal bitterness in mind"

Anyway it was a good re-read:
http://art-bin.com/art/omodest.html

The picture I took above also reminded me of the painting by Derrick Guild:

http://www.allanstonegallery.com/

This is an oil on canvas.

Phantom Galleries LA

There is a recession, we are in tough times, the economy is taking a dip, never since the depression..., I get it.
Many years before this particular economic meltdown (my favorite one out of all of them) there was an idea to make inspiration out emptiness. Based on the ideas of Brian Eder and Cherri Lakey who worked together as graphic designers at Two Fish Design, Phantom Galleries was born. The idea is to take empty store front space and showcase art. This is first and foremost an economic development program. The goal is to reward property owners by highlighting their property, making it visible both literally and figuratively. Buildings feature store fronts as 24/7 exhibits or public access gallery spaces with operation hours. In both scenarios the real estate owner lends their space and covers electric while artist agree to insure their work and pay for all prep and instillation costs. This program has been implemented in many cities including Detroit, Baltimore, San Jose, Boston and Philadelphia.
Run by Liza Simone, Phantom Galleries LA is a for profit organization that creates opportunities for artists while maintaining the benefits of the property owner as a top priority. Often gallery spaces, which are sometimes given 3-14 day evacuation contracts, are left in better condition than before donating the space. Each space is unique and decisions regarding everything from owner stipulations to artist boundaries are taken into account when matching an artist to a space.

Cities like Detroit are based on a foundation of near flawless aesthetic. The architecture is that of master craftsmen and the whispers of its former glory visible in every stone. The present reality is that is resembles a third world war torn city. In downtown L.A. soon after the dotcom crash many store went out of business, creating a haven for squatters, vandals and a further perpetuation of despair. Programs like Phantom Galleries serve as an alternative to the hopelessness.
Any and ever city suffering from the emptiness of it’s businesses can commiserate that to “fill up the empty storefronts with funky paintings, murals, installations, displays or whatever local visual artists can come up with" better serves the community and gives tourists and residence "something to look at besides decrepit, crumbling store fronts or a botched movie theater complex.” (www.phantomgalleriesla.com)

Statement off the Phantom Galleries website:

Benefits of participation
-An inspirational marketing tool for properties to find permanent tenants.
-Helps to create a buzz about the area that the public and media will embrace and support.
-Keeps areas looking vital, vibrant and culturally exciting.
-Invites more pedestrian traffic for the neighboring business.
-Helps to enliven a blighted area and helps to reduce graffiti.
-Inspires other local retailers to spruce up their own windows.
-Generates economic development through direct sales and commission work for the artists.
-Engages community involvement within the districts.

(http://www.phantomgalleriesla.com/ )

I personally think this is a fantastic business that serves both the property owner and the artist. Really what city would not benefit from a program like this at a time like this?

Artist: Chitra Ganesh

Secrets (2007)

So I was introduced to this most delicious artist my friend N. gave me her website http://www.chitraganesh.com/

A New York native and resident Chitra Ganesh finished her B.A. at Brown in 1996 and then completed her MFA at Columbia. A many faceted artist Ms. Ganesh examines South Asian culture as a first generation American using a variety of material in her multi-medium art work. Her website gives detailed examples of her installations, digital collages, photography, works on paper and painting.

In her artists statement Ms. Ganesh describes her digital collages as “inspired by images from Indian comic books known as Amar Chitra Kathas” which are educationally based, comic book format stories from Indian epics, mythology, history, folklore, and fables. By North American standards Amar Chitra Kathas fall short of their goal to relay a historical narrative while providing a moral bases for “models of citizenship, nationalism, religious expression, public behavior, and sexuality”. Ms Ganesh shakes things up drastically “by integrating fragments of the original comics with pen and ink drawings and rewriting the text.” Her words simultaneously compliment and contrast the images, drawing attention to the multitude of South Asian cultural stories from the past and present. The image of the female, juxtaposed as the 'dynamic sexual character' yet dismembered and bloody, further ministers to the unanswered questions of the viewer.
Tantamount to the reoccurring themes in her digital collages are those found in Ms. Ganesh’s paintings. As poignantly as in her other works, the role of the female is glamorized in the spirit of Bollywood fame and then dredged with dejection. Again we see the theme of fragmented parts, in Salome (2000, acrylic on fabric) myth is encapsulated with colonialist era subservience, sexuality and the ultimate virtuousness of the side of head. In Zeenat On The Board (2007, acrylic and ink on carrom board) a regal image of a woman is shown in contemporary beachwear holding a dual structured skull. Carrom is a popular game said to have originated in India. The object of the game is to flick, with a finger, a disk know as a ‘striker’ and to strike another lighter disk, propelling it into one of four corners. In carrom as in Ms. Ganesh’s painting the red or pink ‘Queen’ is the most powerful carrom piece and is placed in the center of the circle. To win the game one must pocket their opponents Queen thus metaphorically owning her.

(http://www.international-carrom-fed-media-commission.org/)

The installations that are shown in New York, Houston, Saskatchewan and Vitoria-Gasteizare are testaments to Ms. Ganesh’s ability to create texture, sculpture, space, value, movement, emphasis and balance within the constraints of white walls and nature alike. Having obtained a MFA in writing Ms. Ganesh often uses words as part of her installations, as in her digital collages. In Hair Poem (2007, mixed media including hair, wire, oil and glass) the ancient act of shaving one’s head as an offering to Hindu gods is analogous with the contemporary phenomenon of Indian woman’s hair being sold to supply the North American trend of purchasing hair extensions. In Altered (2001, mixed media installation) everyday office objects are placed in a circular, rhythmic pattern placing emphasis on the two pictures mounted on the wall and the religious figurines at its core.

Ms Ganesh certainly succeeds in creating stratified works each its own unique sordid tale. In consideration of her art one is taken through a process of shedding layers of one’s own life experiences, applying them (or not) in whatever relevance, to women in South Asian culture.

Ramp Drawing
(2005)mixed media installation created for Fatal Love, Queens Museum of Art, NY

(http://www.amarchitrakatha.com/main/index.php)