We appreciate your skepticism, but we attend a lot of parties and from our point of view the April 28 Artists For Humanity fundraiser at the EpiCenter in South Boston’s Fort Point Channel Arts District was over-the-top terrific, inspiring, and really, really fun. 

Not only were the hors d’oeuvres, drinks, people, entertainment, and venue top-notch, but the ‘bee’ theme inspired by the documentary film Vanishing of the Bees sent us home with lots to think about. (Click to view the trailer.)

Passed hors d’ouvres from Jules

Jules, a preferred caterer for events at the LEED-certified (i.e, certifiably ‘green’) EpiCenter, demonstrated support for AFH by donating two types of hors d’oeuvres, which were passed on trays decorated with felt bees, stick hives, fresh rosemary and oregano.

Trays decorated with beehives and sunflowers captured the spirit of The Greatest Party On Earth

John and Susan smilingly accept compliments on Jules' playful presentation of hors d'oeuvres

Honey fresh from the comb sits atop Roquefort cheese, which sits atop a raisin-and-nut crostini

Jules Catering's Jenny and Mimi say, "There's more where this came from!"

AFH art and artists

Twenty-one years ago artist-educator-environmentalist-entrepreneur Susan Rodgerson founded the nonprofit Artists For Humanity to provide art programs for underserved youth.

More precisely, AFH’s mission is to bridge “economic, racial, and social divisions by providing under-resourced urban youth with the keys to self-sufficiency through paid employment in art and design.”

How are they doing?

According to an AFH flier we picked up at the party:

• An estimated annual audience of 1.2 million people view fine art created by AFH apprentices
• 18,000 vistors to the AFH EipCenter experience the “voice, vision, and virtuosity” of AFH young artists each year.
• 96% of AFH high-school seniors have gone on to post-secondary education, with the rest entering the work force.
• $1,055,000 was earned through the production and sale of youth-inspired art and design services, and gallery rentals.
• AFH art has been purchased by Fidelity Investments, Boston Medical Center, Harvard University, the Federal Reserve Bank–and Jules’ very own Jenny Willig (to name just a few).

Athena E, one of the young Artists For Humanity, stands before fellow-artists' work

Should you, too, feel inclined to purchase some art, you can do so either by stopping by the EpiCenter when studios are in session (call 617.268.7620, to schedule a visit), or by shopping online at the AFH Shop.

The EpiCenter, South Boston: Birthplace to art

AFH artists work in a bright, airy 23,500 square-foot facility that features renewable technologies and energy efficient systems. Among the cost-efficient and sustainable design features are:

• passive solar heating
• aggressive insulation
• a greywater recycling system
• creative materials re-use

This last feature, the use of recycled materials, impressed us most when we popped into the powder room and were struck by bathroom furnishings designed by a local artist who made use of debris left over from the EpiCenter’s construction.

Even the EpiCenter's mezzanine-level ladies' room is a work of art

 Why the ‘honeybee’ theme?

A series of signs posted on the walls of the EpiCenter encapsulated the serious ‘green’ theme underlying The Greatest Party On Earth:

• The honey bee is responsible for 80% of insect pollination.
• Researchers estimate that nearly one-third of honey-bee colonies in the country have vanished.
• One-third of the human diet comes from insect-pollinated plants.
• Bees are are responsible for pollination of approximately one-third of the US’ crop species.
• Three-quarters of the world’s 250,000 flowering plants, fruits, and vegetables require bee pollination in order to survive.
• Cattle’s main source of food, alfalfa, is reproduced thanks to bee pollination, and without alfalfa, cattle would starve.

Colony Collapse Disorder

Curious to learn more? You could start by reading the April 20 “Silent Hives” Daily Comment post by New Yorker writer Elizabeth Kolbert  or the Harvard Gazette summary of a soon-to-be-published study by a Harvard School of Public Health researcher. Both describe the alarming phenomenon known as colony collapse disorder, in which adult bees abandon hives. And both publications make the case that a commonly used pesticide may be a factor in CCD.

A film documentary that provides yet another take on the topic is Queen of the Sun: What Are the Bees Telling Us?:

Penn State promotes honey bee health

In August, 2008 we were lucky to find ourselves in Rock Springs, PA, where we donned protective hoods in order to observe a hands-on presentation by experts from Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, which was offered over the course of the University’s annual 3-day exposition, Ag Progress Days.  It was there that we first learned about colony collapse disorder and Penn State’s efforts to help ensure honey bee health.

Beekeeper Craig Cella and Penn State entomologist Maryann Frazer talk 'colony collapse disorder'

To our untrained eye the queen was barely distinguishable from the workers and drones

To help us keep track of the queen, a Penn State expert applied a harmless yellow dot

Next time a honey bee–or any pollinating insect–flies by, we hope you will join Jules Catering in shouting out a heartfelt “Thank you!”

Stephanie (foreground) and Daniela (just across the way) multi-task simultaneously

 A productive collaboration

While each is fully able to support or even sub for the other, and while the work they perform feeds into the same rapid-fire sequence of events through which orders generated by the sales team are transformed into food and service delivered to Jules’ clients, Stephanie is primarily charged with preparing invoices and generating food labels, while Daniela develops the Excel spread sheets upon which all members of the Jules team rely.

“Because Stephanie and I are such close friends, we find it easy to motivate one another,” Daniela explained. “Not just at work, but also outside. For example, each morning before we come into the office we meet at a fitness club and work out together–and Friday nights, when our brains are fried–”

“We let off steam by going dancing with friends,” Stephanie smiled.

Never have they said, “It’s not my job”

Although administrative support responsibilities generally keep them closely tied to computers and phones, each has what it takes to expand beyond their usual roles and take on assignments that fall outside any formal job description. For example:

Short-notice staffing problem? No problem! Both Stephanie and Daniela have wait-staff experience with Jules and can hurry off to a catered event to help serve drinks, pass hors d’oeuvres, clear tables, or…

Oops! A menu item has somehow failed to be loaded onto a van already en route to an event soon to be populated by hungry people? Hand over the keys! Both Stephanie and Daniela know how to negotiate metro-Boston traffic and deliver the goods on time.

With or without wheels, on a regular basis and in a pinch, Daniela and Stephanie deliver!

More often, though, the two can be found at their desks, focusing on their primary responsibilities–responsibilities that are fundamental to pretty much all the work that’s accomplished at Jules.

She’s a young ‘old hand’

Stephanie works up an invoice.

At age 16 Stephanie Vargas began to provide administrative support for Jules. Each day after school, she’d stop by for a couple of hours, to file spreadsheets and help out with other office tasks.

Before long, Stephanie also became a reliable member of the wait-staff team, serving food at Jules-catered events in a variety of venues.

Now, having worked for Jules Catering for eight years, Stephanie understands how the administrative support she provides fits into the big picture: “And the nice thing is, I’m always learning something new, whether I’m picking up tips from the sales people on how I might better interact with clients, or learning some fascinating bit of information about some new-to-me kind of food.”

She excels at Excel

Daniela types up a spreadsheet.

Soon after Daniela Avila graduated from Suffolk University in May 2011, where her studies were “all about business” (i.e., marketing, entrepreneurship, and business management), she was hired by Jules to provide additional administrative support.

“Especially with some of Jules’ longtime clients, who order daily, keeping track of what they’ve ordered in the past is essential. Anita and the chefs are always coming up with something new, which is great because we of course need to keep ‘mixing it up.’ And it helps that we can refer back to spreadsheets that date back as far as nine years, so that the food we provide never becomes run-of-the-mill.”

In addition to working with the all-important spread sheets, Daniela is beginning to develop a Facebook presence for Jules and–when the time is right–she will begin to tweet.

A system that works

What about these spread sheets we see all around, both upstairs and down? we inquired.

Daniela filled us in: ”Each morning, first thing, I separate out from every order written up by members of the sales team each menu item that needs to be ordered, prepared, and delivered the following day. I work with the white copies, Stephanie will eventually develop invoices from the pink copies, yellow copies go to the cold kitchen, green go to the hot. The challenge is to be absolutely accurate and to leave nothing out–and also to make things perfectly clear so that chefs, drivers, everyone can easily grasp the information they need to deliver the right food to the right client on time.”

Stephanie weighed in: ”As soon as Daniela finishes with spreadsheets for the following day–usually about 4 or 4:15 each afternoon–I begin to create food labels. Nothing is handwritten, and we’ve developed a color-code system (for example, orange highlighter represents hot food) so that everyone involved in the work flow can see at a glance which particular tasks must be tackled by each particular person. Because on a typical day we’re dealing with at least 50 orders, this is a fast-paced, deadline-driven type of operation, with little-to-no room for error.”

But it’s never boring! On that–and so much else–Stephanie and Daniela agree.

Stephanie and Daniela would love to hear from you!

Photo Credits: Liz Muir

It was too soon to photograph food being prepared for next week’s celebrations, Albert advised, but he was able to share several of the menu items Jules’ customers have selected for upcoming buffets:

Chicken Brochettes
Poached Jumbo Shrimp
Barbeque Boneless Short Ribs
Diver Scallops with Smoked Paprika Sauce
Saffron Risotto Cake

Administrative Professionals Week, 2012

Celebrated worldwide by millions of people, Administrative Professionals Week represents an opportunity for executives and managers to formally recognize support personnel whose performance of ever-more demanding and technical tasks is absolutely central to smoothly functioning office teams.

According to U.S. Department of Labor statistics cited at the International Association of Administrative Professionals‘ website, more than 4.1 million secretaries and administrative assistants are working in the U.S. today, and 8.9 million people are working in what is termed “various administrative support roles.” So while “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying” is a catchy title, it’s the stuff of myth, in no small part because success in business tends to require a lot of administrative support.

‘The Pulse of the Office’ and the ‘Mad Men Effect’

The theme of this year’s week of appreciation is ‘Admins, the Pulse of the Office.’ This was among the noteworthy tidbits we picked up at the IAAP website, where we also learned that over the past several years an ever-growing number of admins are adopting “secretary” as a job title. This trend has led some to speculate that the popular AMC series Mad Men might be “stoking nostalgia for the 1950s-era classic image of the American corporate secretary.” (The IAAP refers to this as the “Mad Men Effect.”)

Other items that caught our eye were results of a survey on office technology. For example, when asked which “extinct technology admins would like to bring back,” about 25% identified the electric typewriter. This last finding triggered a musical memory that dates back to a time when manual typewriters held sway. Given that it’s late on a Friday and the music is a fine way to kick off the weekend, we introduce to you, without further ado, percussionist Martin Breinschmid and the Strauß Festival Orchestra performing Leroy Anderson‘s “Typewriter”:

A challenging profession

Providing administrative support can be fun and rewarding, but challenges abound.

Post- Great Recession admins are so busy it can be tough to stay afloat!

An enlightening 2011 benchmarking survey conducted by the IAAP collected data on job responsibilities, job satisfaction, and other real-world issues. Among the findings: Admins feel more pressure at work as a result of the economy and significant daily challenges, which include:

• “Juggling multiple priorities”
• “Dealing with difficult people and personalities”
• “Not having enough time to complete work.”

Study findings also suggest that the trend toward fewer admins doing more work is likely to continue. According to this survey, respondents report that the most significant issues facing them over the next five to 10 years are:

1. Keeping up with changing technology
2. Increased workload
3. Doing more with fewer resources/cost reductions
4. Balancing work and family
5. Corporate downsizing

Give him flowers?

Long used to test typewriter keyboards "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" is an English-language pangram (which means it includes every letter of the alphabet).

Who doesn’t love a spring bouquet?

But while administrative professionals appreciate any demonstration of thanks, they tend to be a pragmatic lot, whose Wish Lists include opportunities to learn and grow.

So says the same IAAP survey, which advises companies aiming to attract and retain highly skilled administration professionals to be aware that growth opportunities are a top priority for admins looking for new positions.

And that’s not all…

Because Administrative Professionals Week runs from April 22 thru April 28, and because we are already tapping out a related post profiling the two talented admins who support Jules Catering’s multifaceted operations, we hope you will stay tuned for more!

This blogger provides her own administrative support

In the meantime, if you’re looking for something to read over the weekend, check out one of the novels briefly described in a recent NPR broadcast, Skirting The Job: 3 Secretaries With Novel Ideas:

• Loitering with Intent - Muriel Spark
• Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day – Winifred Watson and Twycross Martin-Henrietta
• Novel on Yellow Paper - Stevie Smith

For whatever it’s worth… While we haven’t yet read anything by Watson and Martin-Henrietta, we think highly of Muriel Spark and Stevie Smith.

Photo and YouTube Video Credits:
Jules’ Buffet Setup: Liz Muir
Leroy Anderson’s ”The Typewriter”: Martin Breinschmid
“Typing Pool”: Wikimedia Commons, Deutsches Bundesarchiv
Civilian Conservation Corps Typing Class with W.P.A Instructor: Franklin D. Roosevelt Library & Museum
Italian Operatic Soprano Amelita Galli-Curci Typing in Fur Coat circa 1920: Library of Congress  

Anita Baglaneas and members of the Jules team set a buffet table and strategize party flow.

“A table should enhance the food, not dominate or distract,” Anita replied, when we asked about her approach to setting a buffet table. “The simpler the better. Like a frame that properly sets off a painting, a table should promote the food’s natural good looks.”

What about this, we wondered, peering at the organic-seeming synthetic, just below…

Exotic mushrooms? Fragile seashells? No, this is a closeup view of a table runner.

“What drew me to the table runner,” Anita enthused, “was the texture and color. Once I had this in hand, ideas began to percolate. And when I visited the Boston Flower Market and lucked into rosy crabapples and mini-pumpkins on the vine, it all began to come together.”

Crabapples and mini-pumpkins await arrangement.

Beyond all this, the addition of complementary-colored green figs “really jazzed things up.”

Green figs accent the warm colors of copper, crabapples, and mini-pumpkins.

“One of the advantages of this arrangement,” Anita added, “was that fragrance wouldn’t be an issue. The scent of fresh flowers can sometimes compete in an off-putting way with the food.”

When we expressed interest in the foundational elements used to support this buffet, Anita said, “I like to add vertical interest because no matter how beautiful the food, if it’s presented at all one level it can look unappetizingly flat!”

The underlying structure in any buffet table setup is key.

“This is really basic,” she continued ” but presenting food at different heights makes it  more accessible to guests and, when artfully arranged, varying heights can add to the visual appeal.”

Here, at last, the table is ready to party!

Photo Credits: Liz Muir

“This video captures a lot,” Anita explains, “but if you scroll down through the blog, you’ll see that since the end of last year we’ve been building a little backlog of posts. And we will be adding new content no less than once a week. So whether you’re a prospective customer stopping by for the first time or someone who has been with Jules over the course of the 25 years we’ve been in business, we hope to engage you, we hope you will follow us, we hope to hear from you. And if it turns out that you ’like’ our blog or feel inclined to ‘share’ us or subscribe to email updates…well, all the better! Bottom line, though, we want to thank you…thank you for taking an interest…thank you for tuning in.”

YouTube Photo Credits: Liz Muir

A longtime supporter of Our Bodies, Ourselves, Jules donated the 4oth anniversary cocktail party

In her remarks following the musical interlude, OBOS Executive Director Judy Norsigian expressed appreciation: “You should all know that Jules Catering donated the food and the drinks…and their staff is wonderful. I want to thank Anita Baglaneas for her longstanding support and also note that before the party, Anita and I discussed the possibility of updating the long-out-of-print Greek edition of Our Bodies, Ourselves.“

The music provided by Ali Amr and Shaheen Lavie-Rouse was as world-class as the food

Qanun player Ali Amr and cellist Shaheen Lavie-Rouse weren’t the only ones to deliver virtuosic performances. Feast your eyes on a small sample of delectables Anita included in her international menu:

Fruit and Cheese Displays 

Spanish and Italian fruit and cheese were as artfully presented as they were delicious. Marveling over these displays, we hesitated to disturb them. Was the Jules team inspired by still-life paintings by Old Masters? Velasquez and Carravagio come to mind.

Italian Fruit and Cheese

Burrata, Parmesan Chunks, Bell Paese, Gorgonzola
Honeycomb
Hazelnuts
Fresh Figs
Assorted Crackers & Crostini

Spanish Fruit and Cheese

Monchego, Idiazabal, Gorotzka, Semi-Hard Goat Cheese
Marcona Almonds
Quince Paste
French Bread, Breadsticks, Crackers

The conversation is in full-swing…you’ve got a glass in one hand…you’re sorely tempted to pluck up an hors d’oeuvre with the other, but… how will you juggle it all?

Jules makes it easy:

Passed Hors d’Oeuvres

Thai Chicken and Lime Salad in a Wonton Cone
Felefel Pizza with Cucumber, Mint and Yogurt Sauce
Grilled Tenderloin Crostini with Roasted Onion Jam
Coconut Shrimp on Curry Coconut Edible Spoons with Pineapple Salsa

When it’s time for dessert, Jules’ offerings are so tidily ‘packaged’ you barely need a napkin.

Passed Desserts

Greek Yogurt, Honey, and Walnuts on Asian Spoons
Chocolate Mousse Cones

And, if you’re calorie-conscious, rest assured that each dessert cone is sufficiently small to qualify as a “Mini-Mousse!”

Photo Credits: Liz Muir

Edward Lear

Runcible spoons…edible spoons. The first is pure nonsense, the second pure genius!

First, the  nonsense: From the age of 16, Victorian poet-artist-illustrator Edward Lear (the 21st child of 22 children!) was drawing “for his bread and cheese.” A few years later his Audubon-caliber ornithological drawings were published and, for a while, he found himself giving drawing lessons to Queen Victoria. Over the course of Lear’s life his landscape paintings were highly regarded, and he remained a serious painter until his death at age 75. But in his own lifetime–and still today–Lear is most known and best remembered for his literary nonsense. The final stanza of his most famous work, “The Owl and the Pussy-Cat,” appears below:

A page from the 1959 Golden Treasury of Poetry illustrated by Joan Walsh Anglund

Runcible spoons

Although the word “runcible” appears in many dictionaries and warrants a Wikipedia entry all its own, no such spoon exists outside the nonsense realm of Edward Lear. Puzzlingly, the online Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines runcible spoon as “a sharp-edged fork with three broad curved prongs,” but it’s clear from Lear’s own illustration from a different bit of nonsense that his runcible spoon is more ladle than fork:

Lear's illustration of Dolomphious Duck with Runcible Spoon

The Dolomphious Duck,
who caught Spotted Frogs for her dinner
with a Runcible Spoon.

Examining the visual evidence, we’re struck by the fact that Lear’s fantastical spoon looks more like one of Jules’ “fantactual” edible spoons than it does a pronged fork, although (at least up to now) Jules has had no special orders for edible spoons filled with ready-to-leap frogs, spotted or otherwise.

Edible spoons

Edible spoons are enormously popular with Jules’ clients and staff. Event Sales Manager Elissa Kupelnick says, “From a service standpoint, we love being able to offer these to clients because they’re so convenient, not just for us but for them. Whereas the typical plastic or porcelain spoon has to be collected soon after whatever filled them has been eaten, edible spoons just disappear! Party guests love them because they’re a tasty novelty. Also, not having to hold onto an emptied porcelain or plastic spoon–even for a minute–is one less thing for guests to have to juggle.”

Invented in 2003 by Jack Milan of Boston-based edibles by jack, spoons may be either savory or sweet and used to ‘deliver’ both hors d’oeuvres and desserts. And when it comes to spoon-fillings, the sky is the limit!

Some popular filling-and-spoon combinations for hors d’oeuvres include:

• Coconut Shrimp with Pineapple Salsa in a Coconut Curry spoon
• Crabmeat Salad with Saffron Aioli in a Corn and Lime spoon
• Grilled Chicken Medallion with Mediterranean Salsa in a Parmesan Basil spoon
• Eggplant Caponata with Goat Cheese Crumbles in a Parmesan Black Pepper spoon
• Roasted Turkey with Stuffing and Butternut Squash Brulee in a Cranberry spoon

Coconut Curry edible spoons

Moments later, spoons now filled with Coconut Shrimp and Pineapple Salsa are ready to be served.

Jules' Elissa Kupelnick is all smiles as Sergio Rebeiro prepares to serve savory spoons

Sweet options include:

• Lemon Curd and Raspberry Gelee in a Poppy Seed spoon
• Mocha Mousse with Chocolate Shavings in a Chocolate spoon
• Hazelnut Mousse with Chopped Hazelnuts in a Chocolate spoon

This Chocolate edible spoon by jack is filled with Jules' ever-popular hazelnut mousse

1873: Liebig Meat Co. produced tinned corned beef

Why ‘corned’ beef? For thousands of years people have cured and preserved beef  by covering it with salt the size of kernels of corn, and the name corned beef refers back to a time when the word ‘corn; was applied to anything granular.

The Irish traded for salt as far back as the Middle Ages, writes Mark Kurlanksy in Salt–A World History, and their salted beef was the “meticulously boned and salted forerunner of what today is known as Irish corned beef.” Prized by Europeans because it did not spoil, corned beef from Ireland was also adopted as a food provision by the British navy, which meant it traveled far!

In Ireland, corned beef was a dish originally associated with Easter Sunday–at least for those sufficiently affluent to procure any sort of beef at all.  Killed before winter, the beef would have been salted and then savored after the Lenten fast. Author-Chef Darina Allen, founder of the Ballymaloe Cookery School in Shanagarry, County Cork, and proponent of The Slow Food Movement, notes that corned beef has long been associated with Cork City, which was “the provisioning port for boats before they crossed the Atlantic.” From the late 17th-century to early in the 19th, beef corning was Cork City’s primary industry.

Corned beef helps free King from Demon of Gluttony!

Corned beef in Ireland also has literary-mythical roots. Aislinge Meic Con Glinne (The Vision of MacConglinne) is a late 11th-century parody in which the hero, Anier MacConglinne, wins the patronage of Cathal, King of Munster, by reciting a fabulous food-laden vision that frees the king from a demon of gluttony that has been residing (tapeworm-like!) in his throat. At least for the carnivores among us, corned beef spit-roasted on an open fire is described in mouth-watering detail:

Gluttony as depicted by Hieronymus Bosch

“And he called for juicy old bacon and tender corned-beef and full-fleshed wether, and honey in the comb and English salt on a beautiful polished dish of white silver, along with four perfectly straight white hazel spits to support the joints. The viands which he enumerated were procured for him, and he fixed unspeakable, huge pieces on the spits. Then, putting a linen apron about him below and placing a flat linen cap on the crown of his head, he lighted a…fire of ash-wood, without smoke, without fume, without sparks. He stuck a spit into each of the portions, and as quick was he about the spits and fire as a hind about her first fawn, or as a roe, or a swallow, or a bare spring wind in the flank of March. He rubbed the honey and the salt into one piece after another. And big as the pieces were that were before the fire, there dropped not to the ground out of these four pieces as much as would quench a spark of a candle; but what there was of relish in them went into their very centre.” [Excerpted from an In Parentheses publication translated by Kuno Meyer, © 2001]

New York feast vs. Boston feast–Yet another rivalry?

Food maven and former New York Daily News restaurant critic Arthur Schwartz writes in his “opinionated history” of a cookbook, New York City Food, that Irish immigrants in the U.S. were not sufficiently well off to to treat themselves to what he identifies as the precursor to corned beef and cabbage–Irish bacon and greens–until the late 1800s.

“How bacon and greens evolved into Corned Beef and Cabbage is anybody’s guess,” Schwartz writes. “Some surmise that the Irish adopted the meat of their German, Jewish, or even German-Jewish neighbors, or WASP employers and turned it into a dish to help celebrate their Saint Patrick’s Day, an essentially New York City-Irish Holiday that is now part of all Irish-American culture.”

Saint Patrick’s Day essentially a New York City holiday? We’d like to hear you shout that out to commuters riding the Green-Line ‘T’ on March 17, Mr. Schwartz! We’d also like to remind you that another common name for corned beef and cabbage is ”New England Boiled Dinner”–with no mention of New York!

""Charlie" and "Charlene" of the M(B)TA kindly allowed us to snap this Green Line photo

Saint Patrick’s Day at Jules

Finding ourselves riding the Green Line on Saint Patrick’s Day this year, we were lucky enough to catch a leprechaun counting gold coins under our seat. “Okay, okay,” he grumbled, when we demanded that he magically grant us three wishes in exchange for his release. “What d’you want?”

Because were feeling a little peckish, “Corned Beef and Cabbage from Jules” was our knee-jerk reply. “And if you could throw in a frosted Shamrock Cookie, that would be great!” Alas, we forgot to wish for speedy delivery (which Jules readily supplies), so the leprechaun told us that we’d have to stop by Jules’ kitchen to make our wishes come true. And so we did, arriving–as if by magic–in the nick of time.

First, we checked in with Jules’ Executive Chef Albert Rosado, who has impressive corned-beef credentials. While cooking for Harry and Leona (a.k.a. “The Queen of Mean”) Helmsley at the Helmsley Hotels in the 1980s, Albert would moonlight at McFadden’s Restaurant and Saloon at 42nd Street and Second Avenue, not far from Times Square.

Executive Chef Albert Rosado

“This was the gathering place for the Grand Marshal and other bigwigs involved in New York City’s Saint Patrick’s Day Parade,” Albert reminisced. “Some three- or four-thousand people came in and out of McFadden’s around about St. Patrick’s Day, and over the course of  three days we prepared something like five- to six-hundred pounds of corned beef, as well as many pounds of Irish stew.”

What about green beer? we wondered.

“We didn’t dye the beer ourselves,” Albert laughed, “but McFadden’s did serve green beer for St. Patrick’s Day. Purveyors supplied McFaddon’s with that.”

Longtime Jules Line Cook Jeff Ginyard also knows his corned beef. Because Jules brines its own beef brisket, Saint Patrick’s Day preparations must begin a full day in advance, he explained, adding that two muscles comprise a beef brisket. “We use the leaner ‘first cut’ for corned beef sandwiches. The fattier and more succulent ‘second cut’ is used for boiled dinners.”

We asked why the corned beef was cooking in its own pot, apart from the vegetables. “So the vegetables don’t get mushy we prepare them separately,” Jeff explained. “But we want them to pick up the corned-beef flavor, so we remove some water from the pot where the brisket is cooking, and we boil the cabbage–and the other vegetables–in that. The corned beef stock, by the way, is flavored with mustard seed–and the brine is seasoned with peppercorns, bay leaves, and allspice.”

Corned beef + cabbage + shamrock cookie from Jules…

The leprechaun granted our wishes…our three dreams came true!

Jeff Ginyard with corned beef...

...red bliss potatoes, carrots, and turnips

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This fresh cabbage ready for cooking is naturally green

Photo Credits:
Creative Commons: Liebig Tinned Corned Beef, detail from Bosch’s ‘Allegory of Gluttony and Lust’
EarthShare: Green Beer
Liz Muir: All other photos

 

John Trumbull miniature of Thomas Jefferson, 1788

While George Washington described his manner of living as “plain,” and noted that those who expect more than “a glass of wine and a bit of mutton may be disappointed”–and while Abraham Lincoln’s bodyguard reported that the President “never lost his taste of the things a growing farmer’s boy would like”–Thomas Jefferson, having lived four years in Paris as U.S. Minister to France (1785-1789), was a culinary adventurer and an influential gourmet.

Some of this we gleaned from The Presidents’ Cookbook by Poppy Cannon and Patricia Brooks, now out of print, but cited at The Food Timeline, a fascinating resource created by food editor and librarian Lynne Olver.

Keen for fine cuisine

Even before his years abroad, Jefferson was a dedicated foodie. Dining at Monticello, a richly illustrated book edited by Damon Lee Fowler and published by the Thomas Jefferson Foundation, notes that just prior to his diplomatic appointment Jefferson sent for a French chef in Annapolis, to train one of his slaves. Then, when Jefferson knew he would be moving to Paris, he instead decided to bring 19-year-old slave James Hemings with him, to study “the art of cookery.” Hennings’ first mentor was the caterer who provided Jefferson’s meals. This was followed by “workshops” with a pastry chef and other training. Before long, Hennings had taken charge of Jefferson’s kitchen on the Champs-Elysees, and he served as Jefferson’s chef from 1787 to 1796.

Our “Pasta President” and his imported macaroni machine

Upon his return to Virginia Jefferson wrote to his valet, still in Paris, to “bring a stock of macaroni, Parmesan cheese, figs of Marseilles…raisins, almonds, mustard…vinegar, oil and anchovies.” In fact Jefferson was so fond of macaroni, he subsequently ordered a pasta-making machine from Naples, which–after a circuitous journey via Paris and Philadelphia–eventually found its way to Monticello.

Jefferson’s meticulous notes on the macaroni machine, which can be found with his papers in the The Library of Congress read, in part, as follows:

“The best maccaroni in Italy is made with a particular sort of flour called Semola, in Naples: but in almost every shop a different sort of flour is commonly used; for, provided the flour be of a good quality, & not ground extremely fine, it will always do very well. a paste is made with flour, water & less yeast than is used for making bread. this paste is then put, by little at a time, vir. about 5. or 6. tb each time into a round iron box ABC. the under part of which is perforated with holes, through which the paste, when pressed by the screw DEF….”

Just below, Jefferson’s wonderfully illustrated notes appear in their entirety:

Thomas Jefferson's notes on a pasta-making machine are in The Library of Congress

Also in The Library of Congress, is a macaroni recipe written in Jefferson’s own hand:

Thomas Jefferson’s “Maccaroni” Recipe

6 eggs. yolks & whites.
2 wine glasses of milk
2 tb of flour
a [?] salt
work them together without water, and very well.
roll it then with a roller to a paper thickness
cut it into small peices which roll again with the hand into long slips, & then cut them to a proper length.
put them into warm water a quarter of an hour.
drain them.
dress them as maccaroni.
but if they are intended for soups they are to be put in the soup & not into warm water

Since Thomas Jefferson’s time, macaroni and cheese has been associated with America, and the first recipe appeared in 1824 in The Virginia Housewife, a cookbook written by Jefferson’s cousin Mary Randolph. (We applaud the book’s epigraph: “Method is the Soul of Management”!)

Macaroni and cheese at Jules

Curious to learn how Jules’ very own French Chef, Jean-Claude Banderier, approaches macaroni and cheese, we asked him to weigh in.

Jean-Claude Banderier says "the mac and cheese we prepare at Jules is a time-honored American dish."

“We prepare a classic Béchamel with heavy cream, half-and-half, milk, and three types of cheese: White Cheddar, Parmesan, and Pecorino Romano. For additional flavor we boil a whole onion that has been pierced with cloves, and then we blend this into the mix.”

This approach, we subsequently learned, is basically how Auguste Escoffier outlined his recipe for Béchamel presented in Le Répertoire de La Cuisine: “White roux moistened with milk, salt, onion stuck with clove, cook for 20 minutes.”

And the topping?

“Dry panko bread crumbs mixed with butter and sprinkled with paprika forms a crispy crust when the elbow macaroni and cheese is baked,” Jean-Claude explained.

Pasta geometrics

Finally, because we have no doubt that both Jean-Claude Banderier and Thomas Jefferson would be fascinated by an article we recently read in The New York Times, we post a link here:  Pasta Inspires Scientists to Use Their Noodle.

Photo Credits:
Wikimedia Commons: Miniature of Thomas Jefferson and macaroni
The Library of Congress: Thomas Jefferson’s pasta machine notes
Liz Muir: Photo of Jean-Claude Banderier