By Alan Gore
This month I must atone for the fact that time and space do not permit me much of a description of our October dishes. Our Yom Kippur gathering at Syd Golston’s little gem of a home in Tempe started with toasts in sweet wine, then a premonitory confection by Ursula Gore: crepes with lox, sour cream and caviar. Ray Pisar and Diana Toone served up challa, or egg bread. After that came Syd’s matzo ball soup, which set us up for Ursula’s lamb with fava beans. With barely a pause for digestion we pressed on to Marilyn McDonald’s tsimmes, or mixed vegetables. Barbara Brand, back for her first Gourmet in many a month, prepared kugel, a sweet combination of potato and noodle. Ken Brown brought gefilte fish, and Jim Morgan chopped liver. We finished up with two exceedingly rich desserts, starting with Syd’s honey cake. George Miles, another long-absent friend, was at the last minute unable to make it but sent his just dessert, sweet rice with heavy cream.
On Saturday, November 8, at 6 p. m., Ursula and I host once more, and our theme will be a Dutch colonial tradition, rijstaffel.. Think of this as an Indonesian smorgasbord of mixed Asian culinary traditions. You can include any Asian dish as a course in the "rice table," whether sweet or spicy; though the emphasis is on Southeast Asia, feel free to roam up into China, Japan and Korea for this occasion.
Be sure to call Ursula at 863-9648 by Thursday, 11/6 to coordinate dishes and get directions.