Sunday January 11th 2009
7PM
Reading/Performance by
82W. Third Street
(between Thompson & Sullivan)
New York, New York
Altars of Light, a Poem by Pierre Joris, Voice & Video Nicole Peyrafitte, Guitar George Muscatello
A toothache plus a little too much sweets and rich food over the holidays prompted this menu. My mouth is healing really well thanks to the care of Jerome Pindell, our family homeopath for 15 years and his referral to Sandra Senzon, a real Tooth Fairy, who is taking me on the path to save seven of my teeth from extraction! After the time to feast, voilà the time to nurture! Life is a question of balance, isn’t it? This dinner is very satisfying and tasty, not austere at all & it might even fit macrobiotic requirements!
Vegetable Soupe with Miso & Seaweed
Brown Rice & Kim Chee
Baked Apples with Cinnamon & Maple Syrup
Green Tea
Vegetable Soup with Miso & Seaweeds
1 Small Onion
1 Carrot
1 Clove of Garlic
1 1/2 Cup of Cabbage
1 little piece of Ginger
1/2 cup of seaweed (like wakame, soaked and cut small)
All veggies are chopped very small
2 Tablespoons of Tamari
Do not add miso until ready to serve. (Miso looses it’s power when overheated/boiled)
1 Tablespoon of Miso (I like hatcho or red miso)
Coat a pan and sauté the onions & the carrots. When the onions are translucent add the cabbage, the garlic & the ginger. Sauté for a few minutes. Add 4 cups of filtered water, add the seaweed & the tamari. Bring to a boil, lower the flame and simmer for 20 minutes or until carrots & cabbage are soft but not mooshy. When you are ready to serve, mix in the miso and make sure you don’t leave any lumps.
Serve with a cup of steamed brown rice and some kimchi.
Baked Apples with Cinnamon & Maple Syrup
Core the apples, place them in a baking dish with a little water on the bottom. Pour 2 tablespoons of maple syrup on top. Bake for 20/30 minutes depending the kind of apple you get. I had forgotten how good these are! (for another occasion you add a scoop of vanilla ice cream!)
Cap it all with a good Green Tea & good health to you!
As planned, Pierre Joris, Miles Joris-Peyrafitte and I spent January 1st at the St Mark’s Poetry Project‘s 35th Annual New Year’s Day Poetry Marathon. We got there at about 1:30 p.m. to set up my “Crêpes station” in the Parish Hall. I flipped crêpes until I run out of batter at about 6 p.m. That gave me time to catch some poetry. Ron Padgett had kicked off the event at around 2:30 p.m. I left my set up to listen to Pierre, he read two poems from “Turbulence” (Saint Lazaire Press, 1991). Shortly after, Miles accompanied me on “Things Fall Where they Lie” a piece (recorded on La Garbure Transcontinentale/The Bi-Continental Chowder CD) dedicated to the Venus of Lespugue, and written as a companion piece to a series of paintings on the Venus de Lespugue.
Performing with Miles was certainly my highlight of the day, and we made it on to the radio the next day! Lisa Chow, a reporter from WNYC –and excellent French speaker– had stopped by the crêpes station, and interviewed me. You can read the short printed interview here. Although we didn’t hear the broadcast of the snippet of our performance on early Friday morning, it was great to hear from friends who did and for you there is the full live recording (by Pierre Joris) below:
When I finally ran out of batter, I could sit down, listen to and watch some great performances. I’ll just report “en vrac” some of the impressions as my memory runs them:
I laughed at the witty and hilarious Swallow’s family band
I keep thinking of Erica Hunt’s pigs’ knuckles poem
I need to talk to Anne Tardos about her idea of Spinoza
I still feel Sally Silver’s dance on Bruce Andrews’ words in my body
I look up to John Giorno’s elegance and performing style
I thought Patty’s Smith performance was better than last year’s
Avram Fefer’s solo was soulful
Anne Waldman’s performance with Devin Waldman on saxophone electrified and inspired me
I was looking forward to Douglas’ outfit and was not disappointed
Ismael, Sylvie, Lucas watched their parental poets, thinking : we are next!
Stacy Szymaszek, and the Poetry Project crew of volunteers energized me.
& throughout the event everybody was thinking of Susan, Charles, Felix and Emma:
Emma Bernstein’s recent passing permeated the atmosphere, and several readers dedicated their performance to her memory. Emma’s beautiful and soulful funeral service was held on January 31st. She was the daughter of our friends, poet Charles Bernstein & painter Susan Bee & the sister of young singer Felix Bernstein. She was a very accomplished photographer and writer who at her young age leaves a significant body of work (click here for links for Emma). There will be an memorial event on February 17th when Emma had been scheduled to host one of the Belladonna* Celebrates the Elders events. I will announce the details as we get closer to the date.
To end this year here is “December,” a drawing/collage from my Calendar series with a poem by Nicole Brossard. This song will be part of my new CD to be released in spring 2009:
“Whisk, don’t Churn!”
A Live Recording
Nicole Peyrafitte with Michael Bisio
Remember, if you are in NYC on New Year’s Day do come to see us at the St Mark’s Poetry Poetry Project 35th Annual New Year’s Day Poetry Marathon. Pierre Joris, Miles Joris-Peyrafitte & myself –and about an other 140 poets, musicians & dancers– will perform from 2pm into the euphoric early morning. We are scheduled to appear in the early afternoon (between 2 & 3PM) and I also will be flipping crepes in the Parish Hall until I run out of my gallon of bater. Voilà for now! & Thank you for reading my blog and some of you since I have started back in March. The readership is seriously increasing but I would love to get more feed back.
Until next post: Bona Anada, Bonne Année, Happy New Year!
Soups are made everywhere in the world with all kinds of ingredients. Many appealing adjectives can describe them: healthy, earthy, cheap, restorative, easy to make, filling, convenient, the list is infinite. First lets clarify some terminology:
At the beginning the “soupe” was the bread dunked into the broth. This tradition remains – think for example of how in this country crackers or bread are inseparable from a bowl of soup.
If you are a beginner cook, soups are great to experiment with as it is rather difficult to ruin a soup.
Though all soups aren’t born equal and here are a few examples from the fanciest to simplest:
Consommé: a clarified meat or fish broth.
Bisque: puréed shellfish with cream soup.
Velouté or Crème: vegetable or meat based thickened with eggs yolks, butter and cream
Potage: falls somewhere in between velouté & soup texture and thickness.
Soup: refers to a thick, earthy chunky melange; think of French Onion soup, Bouillabaisse (fish stew soup), and last but not least the Garbure! also the title of my performance The Garbure Transcontinentale/The Bi-Continental Chowder where I cook this original recipe on stage, mirror the ingredients with songs and then share the soup with the audience. I am including the 10-minute video at the end of this post.
Today I will pass on a North African soup or chorba recipe that my partner Pierre Joris learned while living in Constantine, Algeria. This is one of our favorite winter dinners and we always eat it as a “plat unique”, or only course, and eat several plates. Follow it with a salad of fresh oranges with cinnamon, mint and chopped almonds for dessert.La Chorba de Pierre
Ingredients :
for 8 people
2 lbs of Lamb – shoulder cut into small pies & save bones
1 big Onion, finely chopped 1 heaped spoon of sweet Paprika
Salt-Pepper
1 big bunch of Fresh Cilantro/coriander; 1/2 cup finely chopped. The rest of the bunch divided in half. The first half will be tied and dropped in the pot once all the other ingredients and the water will be in. Second half chopped and served as garnish at the table
2 cloves of Garlic, finely chopped
2 quarts of Water
1 diced fresh Tomato in summer; or 1/2 cup of canned organic diced tomato in winter
1 Cup of washed Freekeh (green wheat available at middle eastern markets and some health food stores, Bulgur can be substituted, but will not have as rich and complex a taste)
Harrissa : 1 tube or can (a North African hot red sauce or paste made from chili peppers, garlic, coriander and caraway or cumin. It may also contain tomatoes.You can get Harrissa
Lemon (2): quartered to serve at the table as garnish
Preparation:
Generously coat a large sauce pan with olive oil –the Le Creuset 7 1/4-Quart Round French Oven
At that point remove the Cilantro bunch and the bones (if you wish). Add the cup of Freekeh and the chopped tomato. Bring to a boil, reduce and simmer for about 1/2 hour or until Freekeh is cooked.
Bring garnishes (Lemon, Harrissa, Chopped Fresh Coriander/Cilantro) & Chorba at the table. Each person fills a plate, adds their desired amount of Harrissa (I use 1/2 a teaspoon but be careful you can always add some but it is difficult to take it out!)
Enjoy: it will warm the cockles of your heart!
La Garbure Trancontinentale-The Bi-Continental Chowder
a performance written, cooked, filmed and sung by Nicole Peyrafitte.
Video Elizabeth Germa