The Kitchens of Brooklyn

In the late 1970s, photographer Dinanda H. Nooney took photographs of nearly 200 Brooklyn-ites in their homes. The result is At Home in Brooklyn: The Nooney Brooklyn Photographs, 1978-1979, selections of which are viewable on the New York Public Library's Digital Gallery. The series is organized by neighborhood, from Bay Ridge to Prospect Heights, and while each photograph is fascinating, I found the kitchen photographs to be especially compelling. For more information about the location and subjects, click on the image.

Parsnip and Pear Latke

Even though I enjoy a good latke, I prefer my potatoes prepared almost any other way: french fried, mashed, au gratin, baked, or roasted. Latkes are a once-a-year dish for me and I'm fine with that arrangement.

That once-a-year day came when I prepared some potato latkes to celebrate the first night of Hanukkah last Friday. I served them with sour cream and smoked salmon, and while it was a satisfying meal, I used the latkes more as a vehicle for the delicious salmon I bought earlier that day than for anything else.

But I wasn't ready to ditch the latke train forever. Joan Nathan's article in the Times got me jazzed for a new take on some old dishes, and I began perusing more recipes for latkes with root vegetables. When I found this recipe on Epicurious.com for a Parsnip and Pear Latke, I knew I had a winner. It had everything I had been looking for: root vegetables (with twist!) and more than a dash of horseradish (a thumbs-up ingredient, if there ever was one).

The result was savory sweetness with a punch. Served with sour cream-horseradish on top, it's the perfect way to celebrate Hanukkah. Once-a-year? Try twice-a-month.

Parsnip and Pear Latkes (from Bon Appetit, December, 2006)

1 6-7 ounce, underripe Bosc pear, quartered and cored
1 7-8 ounce parsnip, peeled and quartered
1 large egg, beaten (I would add two next time)
1 1/2 T chopped celery leaves (I used parsley)
1 1/2 t drained white horseradish
3/4 t salt
black pepper
1/2 cup panko
Vegetable oil

Shred pear in food processor with grating blade. Transfer to paper towels and dry well. Transfer to a large bowl. Shred parsnip in processor and then add to the bowl with egg, celery leaves, horseradish and salt. Mix well and then add panko and black pepper.

Coat bottom of large skillet with oil. Heat over medium heat. Drop mixture into skillet in 1/4 cupfuls. Flatten with spatula and cook for approximately four minutes on each side until browned.

Serve with sour cream mixed with horseradish.

"A spontaneous eruption of the id"

(From 1899, not 1966)

The Velvet Underground had a reunion the other night at the New York Public Library, and while I didn't get a chance to attend, a colleague made me feel better by sending me a wonderful article called Syndromes Pop at Delmonico's, from a 1966 issue of the New York Times, which described what happened when the group made an appearance at Delmonico's.

The New York Society for Clinical Psychiatry held their 43rd annual dinner on January 13th 1966, and the evening's entertainment was none other than members of the Factory crew: Andy Warhol, Edie Sedgwick, Billy Lunich, Gerard Malanga, and the Velvet Underground.

Warhol showed his films during cocktail hour, and while the black-tied psychiatrists and their wives dined on roast beef, potatoes, and string beans, the Velvet Underground played what one doctor called "a short-lived torture of cacophony." During that performance, "Warhol and his cameramen moved among the gathering with hand-held cameras, using the psychiatrists as the cast of a forthcoming Warhol movie."

Warhol wasn't the only one benefiting from the exchange. Many of the psychiatrists in attendance were thrilled to be able to study Team Warhol. There was Edie Sedgwick, "on full blast -- chewing gum and sipping a martini," John Cale "in a black suit with rhinestones on the collar," and Nico "in a white slack suit with long blond hair."

One psychiatrist likened the experience to "a repetition of the concrete quite akin to the L.S.D experience," while another was a bit more direct: "Why are they exposing us to these nuts?"