My Dear C –

Ach, I am sorry to read about your woes. Food IS SO EXPENSIVE these days. Here is a “let them eat cake” example – I was recently visiting a friend staying on the UWS of Manhattan, like right by Central Park, and I asked to be taken to the farmer’s market. I like a farmer’s market and enjoy seeing how they stack up, place to place. Amongst the fray, there was an urban composting hub, late summer eggplants, and romano beans (yum), tasty made goods and punny signs

and one sign I wish I had taken a picture of but was too shocked: “haricots verts $4” and then – in the upper right hand corner, a discreet “¼ lb.” Of course on the UWS, one might expect this kind of cool chicanery and not bat an eyelash. It’s kind of par for the course.

This weekend, I’m visiting my mother in our town of yore. And going to the Brentwood Farmer’s Market with her as a birthday treat (she does NOT shop there as a rule on her budget, for sure) with she who has the march of prices memorized from 1982 onward – is a litany of “guess how much these lettuces etc. cost?” (eyebrows very raised). It does seem like many vendors don’t even bother to put prices up because: if you have to ask, you can’t afford it! It is even more expensive than my local market, which is saying something.

Your letter reminded me of a question that arose back when I was working with refugees from the Former Soviet Union and volunteers who were helping them “acculturate” and learn English. I got a call from one volunteer, Burt, about something he considered a bit of an ethical quandary: The family he was meeting with had done fine for themselves and the adults had middle class jobs of some kind, if I remember correctly. They were long past the refugee stage but, had developed a friendship with Burt and so, they continued to meet fairly regularly. Burt would come over, and the family would offer him food they had picked up at their local food pantry – boxes of cereal, I remember, maybe a loaf of bread. Burt was appalled. He felt that this was taking advantage of the system – that there’s some tipping point at which you self-identify as no longer being eligible for a food pantry and stop using its services. He wanted my advice about talking to them about this. For better or worse, I can’t remember what advice I gave, if any. Perhaps it illustrates something about capitalism, and people who weren’t born under it and people who were. And maybe also about this overused word – trauma, and what experiences of food shortages at some point in your life might cause you to feel compelled to do. Anyway – as the kids say these days, a lot to unpack there. 

One thing I bought at the UWS farmer’s market was a little half pint of herbed, whipped feta. It was the most elfin green color. And it was tasty. I decided to try making a version myself and it turned out quite nicely. I mention it in this missive not just because I recently discovered it, but also because – for a cheese-involved thing, it is a fairly inexpensive and very decadent treat. It’s delicious as a dip, as a salad dressing (thinned out a bit – just tried it, yum!), as a sauce for beans, etc.  I think you can do the whole thing for $10 and get enough for you and S. plus a party….

I had to bring something to a party this week and I brought the leftovers of the batch I’d made and it met with great success. I mention the party because – I was asked for a recipe. I did glance at both the ingredient list of the version I bought in NY and a recipe or two online. Then I went forth and did what I could with what I had.

Here are the 2 absolute necessities in my mind – a block of feta and a hefty amount of fresh herbs (ideally 2 or more for depth of taste) that offer some grassiness (in that I mean something like parsley rather than oregano), and a little lemon/acid of some sort. IMO – some allium is always a good addition.

Everything else is variable, optional, to your taste – eg.  Do you like raw allium? Do you have some sesame seeds handy? How salty is your feta? What herbs float your boat? How juicy is your lemon? Does cumin make your heart sing? Do you want to spice it up?

Here’s the recipe I made today with what was on hand – which looks to have resulted in about a quart of the stuff!

Recipe

.79 lbs of Bulgarian sheep’s feta ($4.73) – I like Bulgarian feta as it’s cheap and strong

1 large bunch of dill ($3 at Gretna Green farmer’s market) pictured below – only very rough stems removed (there’s no scale in the image so – think 5x the little plastic cages of herbs you get at the supermarket)

2 scallions in their entirety 

1 Tbsp or so of sesame seeds (a bit stale, so I toasted lightly)

Small handful of parsley leaves 

Very small handful of dried celery leaves that were hanging out

Smattering of marjoram leaves (I prefer thyme)

Glug or more of olive oil  – for texture and to cut salt (my “more” was a dash of a peppered   olive oil that was on hand)

Several tablespoons of yogurt 

Juice of about ⅓ or less of a lemon 

I started with throwing  about ¾ of the block of feta and the whole bunch of dill, plus celery and marjoram in the Cuisinart (colloquially called “The Foot Professor”)  and improvised to taste from there. 

Much love and more soon – M