All posts tagged memories

Twice, maybe three times a year I develop a non-negotiable craving for kasha, race to the store to purchase a fresh box, cook a giant pot of it and eat some every day for at least a week.

I attribute this phenomenon to several factors:

• My pseudo-Polish blood (great-grandmother Mary Jedlicka grew up in what was then Bohemia, but implied in her later years that the family may have been Polish or somewhat Polish);
• My honorary Polish status, conferred upon me in Worcester, Massachusetts in 1997 (long story);
• My fondness for most cooked grains, especially those that manage to be a little mushy and a little chewy at the same time;
• My passion for foods that taste like dirt.

Anyway, it’s a kasha phase right now. I’ve been eating it for lunch with cooked chickpeas, roasted eggplant, shallot, olive oil, sea salt, black pepper and a hard-boiled egg garnish. Sort of Atlantic Avenue meets Brighton Beach, which reminds me of:

• The Polish diner in Williamsburg where my cousin and I repaired most Saturday mornings, after we’d washed our faces and scrubbed the wineglass circles from the kitchen table. We always ordered omelets, which came with toast (white, wheat or rye) and a choice of potatoes or kasha (no contest).

If the current kasha craze continues into next week, I’m thinking mushrooms, lots of mushrooms. WWLC&RD?