North Shore Art Throb- The Ritual Issue- December 2012

SEPTEMBER 2012FREEwww.nsartthrob.com Volume 2, Issue 5

The French Issue

December 2012www.nsartthrob.com Volume 2, Issue 8

RITUALOld Time Jam Traditional music is all the rage

Bringing the Christmas Pudding Break out the kitchen blow torch Tapping into Tapestries Ancient photojournalism at PEM

80083-12_Decembe_Filev2.indd 1 11/26/12 8:44 AM

Carol Schlosberg Gallery23 Essex Street, Beverly MA 01915

Artwork from Montserrat’sStudy Abroad Program in Italy

Ima

ge:

Ke

isu

ke E

guch

i

161 Essex Street | Salem, MA 01970 | 978-745-9500 | pem.org

MEDIA SPONSOR North Shore Art Throb

These unconventional gatherings feature cocktails and conversation, art making and music, culinary demonstrations and surprising experiences.

EVERY THIRD THURSDAY OF THE MONTH

JAN/17Charleston/Chaplin: 1920s Style

APRIL/18

FEB/21Café Samovar: Indian Fusion

Performance Art Inspired by Nick Cave

MARCH/21Celebrate Creative Communities


north shore art*throb ∙3

8

Ritual December 2012, Volume 2, Issue 86

Top Left: Bread baking, photo by Anna KasabianMiddle Left: The Whodunnits of Masterpiece, illustration by Michael Lowe Top Right: Fiddle, photo by Mary SheaBottom: Conquest of Tangier (detail), c. 1471-1475, Probably produced under the direction of Passchier Grenier, tapestry merchant, Tournai (Belgium), 1470s, wool and silk, Diocese of Sigüenza-Guadalajara and the Church of Our Lady of the Assumption, Pastrana, Spain. ©Fundación Carlos de Amberes, Photograph by Paul M.R. Maeyaert. The Invention of Glory: Afonso V and the Pastrana Tapestries is at PEM through December.

ABOUT THE COVER: The cover photo taken by Anna Kasabian captures the spirit of one of humankind's earliest rituals, breadmaking. Kasabian shares insights into breadmaking and recipes in her article on page 27. Kasabian and her husband David have authored three cookbooks and regularly write about food together. She also writes about interior design and architecture, is working on her 14th book, and is a local potter (snowboundpottery.com).

27

world weaversby joeann hartAncient photojournalism at PEM

12 watching the detectivesby sarah wolfeGathering around Brit TV

14 old time jamby laura quayle Creating a musical tradition

art

10

community exposure by jim mcallisterA downtown artists' hangout

17

december calenderStart a new ritual of your own.

6

20 q & a with jay !nneyby dinah cardinWhat does PEM's expansion mean for us?

ageless ritualsby william legaultBe healthy in mind and body

10

local

the stu" of life by anna and david kasabianHusband and wife foodies heat up the kitchen

27

25

7

holiday puddingby robbin lynn crandallOur writer masters a traditional New England recipe

winter wheelsby bill woolleyBiking to work year round

lifef

8

12

8

8

22 kung fu !ghtingby jennifer jeanA Beverly martial arts master talks

14


4 ∙ nsartthrob.com

from the editor

A s the winter solstice approaches, as well as the new year, many people start to follow certain seasonal rituals. How will I beat the cold? Stay healthy? Use these long winter nights in a productive way?

Exploring the theme of Ritual, this issue features interviews with people who are working on their mental and physical health. We also offer recipes for holiday pudding and bread baking and essays from writers sharing their personal and familial traditions.

Just in time for the holidays, Salem has received an honor from the Massachusetts Retailer's Association as the state's hottest place to shop. This has been attributed to the "hip, new magic" found in our eclectic eateries and charming boutiques. In the last three years, 60 new businesses have opened downtown.

Along the lines of commerce, Salem historian Jim McAllister shares the history of a former photoshop in downtown Salem — a hub of creativity on Essex Street for years. McAllister’s piece transports us back to a time not so long ago to remember two things that now seem lost and precious: when photography was a craft and when time moved at less of a lightning pace. Folks had time to gather at the shop, chat about city issues, make jokes and, oh yeah, talk about photography. If they wanted to buy something, they could put it on credit.

Meanwhile, the idea of ancient photojournalism and the ritual of weaving is explored by Gloucester novelist JoeAnn Hart in her story about the new tapestry exhibit at PEM. Also read our Q & A with the man who

heads up PEM's marketing to learn more about how locals will benefit from the museum's expansion, which takes off in full force at the beginning of the new year.

We’ve certainly kept our own rituals here at Art*Throb for the last two years in meeting editorial deadlines while balancing the creative process. It’s been a wild ride since our first issue hit the streets in April of 2011.

We have been on a daily, weekly and monthly ritual of producing a magazine. Here is an abbreviated version: plan content, assign stories and photos, communicate ideas with contributors, sell ads, compile calendar and table of contents, edit, flow pages, design pages, copyedit, deliver file to printers, receive a proof, edit again, receive final proof, approve and print, distribute all over North Shore. Repeat.

You’ve played a part by being a reader and perhaps a supportive voice by telling others about us and making sure they find a copy, too. We held an online campaign in October that helped pay for our 18th issue, which you now hold in your hands. This winter, we will be hibernating with the rest of you. If you miss seeing us on the streets in print these winter months, find us online and in your inbox.

Thank you to our readers, advertisers, contributors and supporters! Here’s to a Happy 2013!

—Dinah Cardin Editor-in-Chief


north shore art*throb ∙5north shore art*throb ∙5

WRITER << ALEX MILLER has a masters degree in Lit-erature and Modernity from the University of Edinburgh. He and his wife returned to the US in 2010. !ey now live in Beverly. Also a writer of poetry, "ction and criticism, Alex teaches writing and literature at the high school and college level.

WRITER>>LOU MANDARINIis an attorney who lives in Beverly Cove and enjoys cooking, gardening, reading, politics, traveling for both work and play, and writing something other than legal briefs.

COPYEDITOR/WRITER<< SARAH WOLFEhas contributed to a number of publications, includ-ing Boston Magazine. A self-confessed linguiphile, she began writing stories at a young age, inventing an imaginary world that she still visits from time to time. Sarah enjoys singing old jazz songs and, to stay centered, doing mountain poses on yoga mats across the North Shore.

BUSINESS/EDITORIALMANAGER >> JONATHAN SIMCOSKYis a native of Kansas City, MO, who came to Salem via Brooklyn. When he’s not gallivanting about the globe, he can be found cooking, eating, and talking about how much he loves to do both. He’s blogging his most recent adventure at www.jonathansimcosky.com

PHOTOGRAPHER<< MARY SHEA got her start taking pictures of people and landscapes in her childhood home of Martha’s Vineyard. She is drawn to the North Shore for its oceanside communal feel. She holds a "ne arts degree in photography from Mass Art, and a Masters of Social Work degree from Salem State College.

CREATIVE DIRECTOR<< LILLY MCCREAA wild multi-tasker, at anymoment Lilly can be foundoverseeing a photo shoot,behind the camera, writingan article or laying outArt*!rob’s print publica-tion. She also freelancedesigns. Find her online atlillymccreadesign.com.

our staff

North Shore Art*Throb is afree publication that incubates a regional movement of sustain-able communities invested in the arts, a local economy and

cultural engagement.

We cover Boston’s North Shore, including the communities of Salem, Beverly, Marblehead,

Lynn and Gloucester.

To learn more or for exclusive web content, visit us at www.nsartthrob.com

Art*Throb is published by Fireheart Communications LLC. Our authors and advertisers speak for themselves. Their ideas and messaging are their own, and

can not necessarily be attributed to Art*Throb.

Copyright © 2012

Special thanks to: Kylie Alexander,

graphic design intern

Kathleen Anne Casey, web managing editor

Want to [email protected]

Want to subscribe?Sign up for our newsletter at

nsartthrob.com.

Our address? 8 Front St., Suite 215 Salem,

MA 01970

[email protected]



december calendar

Saturday 12/1-Sunday 12/2Greening of the Great House: A Winter FestivalJoin the winter celebration at the Great House on Castle Hill in Ipswich, which has been decorated for the holiday by area !orists and designers. Enjoy live music, a dance performance, a chil-dren’s Eye Spy game, refreshments, and much more at this winter festival. Friday evening will feature live jazz music and a cash bar. On Saturday and Sunday, the Gift Gallery will be open to shoppers seeking unique holiday presents. Visitors are encouraged to donate unwrapped gifts for the “Giv-ing Sleigh” to bene"t needy families through Ipswich Caring. Saturday noon to 6pm and Sunday noon to 4 pm. Admission $5 for Ipswich resi-dents; members $10 for adults, $5 for children; non-members $15 for adults, $8 for children. #e Crane Estate is located at 290 Argilla Road in Ipswich. Call 978.356.4351

Enjoy an early start to the holiday season by participating in the 33rd annual Christmas walk through historic Salem homes, sponsored by Historic Salem, Inc. #is year the tour will feature seaside homes in Salem Willows, which were built during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Saturday tours are from 10am to 4:30pm and Sunday from 11:30pm to 4:30pm. Tickets are $25 for His-toric Salem, Inc. members and $30 for non-members. Proceeds will support renovations to the Bowditch House.christmasinsalem.org

Saturday 12/1-Sunday 12/2Christmas in Salem, Seaside

Saturday, 12/8BSO Decks the HallsFor the "rst time in more than 50 years, Beverly’s Cabot Street Cinema will become a venue for live music. #e 22-piece Beantown Swing Orchestra will "ll the theater with big band holiday music, featuring American Idol "nalist John Stevens and semi"nalist Jen Hirsh. Founded in 2006, BSO is made up of mu-sicians in their 20s who create original arrangements and songs with the goal of bringing big band swing music back to younger audiences and the mainstream.4pm family show, 8pm con-cert. beantownswing.com

nlineFind us online at nsartthrob.com and sign up for our newsletter to receive weekly listings.

Wednesday, 12/12'Gloria' Christmas ConcertChorus North Shore and the a$li-ated Honors Youth Chorus will per-form Vivaldi’s Gloria as well as other traditional seasonal favorites at Our Lady of Hope Church in Ipswich.chorusnorthshore.org

#e 17 Cox Gallery in Beverly has launched an “investi-bition” as a result of a 20-foot Santa stolen from Cof-fee Caboose in New Hampshire. #e gallery has sent out a call for artwork to be sold as a fundraiser for a re-placement Santa. Founded in 2010, 17 Cox features “experimental visual ideas.” #e gallery is open Saturdays and Sundays from noon to 4pm or by appointment at 978-712-8858.

12/1-12/23Fundraising for 20-foot Santa

Brian O’Donovan’s acclaimed A Celtic Sojourn from WGBH comes to Rock-port to celebrate the holidays with a festive program featuring an exciting line-up of singers, musicians and danc-ers. Shalin Liu Performance Center, 35 Main St., Rockport with perfor-mances at 4:30 and 8pm. Tickets are $58, $48, and $39. Call 978-546-7391 or visit 35 Main St. in Rockport.

Monday, 12/17'A Celtic Sojourn'

Friday, 12/7Holiday Shopping in GloucesterPurchase wearable art for your holiday gifts at the Saunders House at the Sawyer Free Library, 2 Dale Ave., Gloucester. Visit with local jewelers and "ber artists while enjoying holiday shopping and the exquisite interior of the Saunders House and its WPA murals. Cape Ann Big Band Jazz Trio will entertain. Light fare and beverages. 5 to 8:30pm. searts.org.

Thursday, 12/13Iceland at the ICAIcelandic artist and musician Ragnar Kjartansson will stage An die Musik, a multi-hour performance, in the ICA’s Barbara Lee Family Foundation #e-ater. First staged in Zurich, Kjartans-son sings Schubert’s An Die Musik, an ode to art as a refuge from the stress and strain of everyday life, in constant repetition for four hours. #e artist will be joined in this herculean task by a fellow Icelandic musician and sev-eral Boston-area singers and pianists. 5 to 9 pm. Tickets $5 ICA members, $10 nonmembers. icaboston.org.

Friday, 12/14Multi-cultural Holiday Songs with Winterbloom Winter is a time for gathering, and it's in this spirit a tradition of friendship and music has emerged. Singer-songwriters Antje Duvekot, Anne Heaton, Meg Hutchinson and Natalia Zukerman have been touring together as Winterbloom since 2008. Experience a multi-cultural holiday celebration with songs in Hebrew, Tibetan and German, weaving Christian, Jewish, Buddhist and family-related themes. Doors open at 6:30 and 9:30 pm. Club Oberon, at American Repertory #e-ater, is located at 2 Arrow St. at the cor-ner of Mass Avenue in Harvard Square. Tickets $25-$35. For more info and tickets visit americanrepertorytheater.org

Vintage postcard of the Salem Willows, Courtesy of Historic New England


north shore art*throb ∙ 7north shore art*throb ∙ 7

I’ve heard that snap diagnosis aboutmy mental stability for nearly 20 years, every time I show up at work rain-soaked or snow-encrusted after my daily commute on a bicycle.

For the past six years my trip has been 14 miles, round-trip, Beverly to Salem. Take your best shot, Mother Nature, because I do it year-round.

Storm after storm, I’ve recited the same three-part response to all those amateur psychiatrists.

It helps me stay in shape ... it’s less expensive than driving a car ... it’s bet-ter for the environment.

!ose reasons are all true and, I sup-pose, constitute the best defense for my sanity. If sheer numbers help, I’ve also seen an increase in rush-hour cyclists lately, all dutifully pedaling along, pre-sumably to and from jobs.

I’m not talking about the sinewy cy-clists who wear superhero helmets and seal themselves in Spandex so brightly colored they look like they rode straight o" a LeRoy Neiman canvas.

I’m talking about commuters who portray Quasimodo on wheels — the ones who slog doggedly along, hunched down under bulky backpacks stu"ed with a brown-bag lunch and a wrinkled change of clothes.

Granted, though, during foul-weather days I become a much more solitary #gure rolling along the roadside. While we were all suspended in watery $uid for nine months in utero, most of us don’t particularly care for biking in it ... especially in its $aky frozen form.

!e day before Valentine’s Day, #ve years ago, a blizzard barreled across the Midwest, suspending thousands of red-rose deliveries for days.

!e remnants of that storm arrived the following afternoon, suddenly bury-ing the North Shore in snow shortly after lunchtime. It prompted employers to let their people head for home early, but not early enough.

Snow and cars piled up on dimmed roadways in Salem and Beverly, leaving cars strung like Christmas lights across the connecting bridge. !e next day,

winter wheelsby bill woolley

my co-workers shared and comparedwoeful stories of their Valentine’s Day commutes, most reporting rides that took as many hours as miles.

It had been clear on the morning of the storm, so my six-mile commute from Beverly to Salem was cold but uneventful. Going home, however, chunks of snow $ipped up from the treads of my knobby tires as I pedaled merrily along, wearing my snowsuit, boots, gloves, balaclava and ski goggles, passing cars as if they were standing still. Because they were.

I made it home, had my clothes in the washer and was getting steamy with a Swiss Miss in less than an hour.

Still, honestly, all those practical reasons for cycling to work are just available to me on an as-needed basis. I recite them to make myself seem rational among friends who have yet to realize that “America’s love a"air with the automobile” is pretty much a toxic relationship.

!e truth is that riding a bike to work — or anywhere else, for that matter — is just plain fun in any kind of weather.

Can’t you remember being in the #fth grade, maybe even before anyone had ever heard of bicycle helmets, throwing a leg over your Schwinn and winding your way down the street to a playground? Maybe you could get up enough speed to glide, swerving and swooshing along the smooth pavement.

Sometimes I’d employ a springy wooden clothespin to clamp a playing card to my bike frame. Properly po-sitioned, the card would slap against my spokes as the wheels turned, mak-ing my bike sound gas-powered. As a kid, of course, I used to think that was impressive.

Didn’t you ever laugh out loud with a friend when you got caught in a storm and pedaled home during a downpour?

Or maybe you can you recall a youthful time when you pleaded, “C’mon, Mom. Why can’t I ride my bike in the winter?”

I suppose the most honest reason for my penchant to pedal, as an adult, is that it appeals to remnants of the #fth-

grader in me. !at was back when I had an intoxicating crush on my teacher, my toughest decisions were whether to spend my allowance on comic books or baseball cards, and I somehow managed to “friend” other people without use of a computer.

Psychologically, I suspect, you could call it regression: “a defense mechanism where one abandons adult coping strat-egies in favor of earlier, more childlike patterns of behavior.”

Frankly, I’m OK with that. I suppose, however, if some engi-

neering genius ever perfects a jet pack or rocket belt someday, I’d probably #nd that an even more enjoyable way to commute than biking. Imagine how much fun it would be to strap one of those on your back, have it lift you slowly into the air, and $y you to work during a snowstorm!

I know, I know ... I must be crazy.

Bill Woolley wrote an ending to his 22-year career in weekly

community journalism in 2006. He currently works for the City

of Salem and can be spotted happily biking to work weekdays,

year-round, from his home in Beverly.

Illustration by Kylie Alexandar



Let me just say this, before assuming you don’tcare a stitch about the textile arts: open your mind and go see !e Invention of Glory, the Pastrana tapestries show at the Peabody Essex Museum. Brought out into the clear warm light of an exhibi-tion room, these tapestries, recently repaired, deloused and suctioned clean, are neither musty nor boring. !ey are not even dated. !ey are like coming upon an old WWII photo spread in Life magazine, with pictures so exact yet universal they allow one speci"c war to stand in for all wars. !e people in the tapestries are alive, modern and intensely human. !e fact that they are also medi-eval, well, that’s just too cool.

Back in the 15th century, when these panels were

woven, only the elite and the clergy knew the written word, so tapestries were a way to share myths, Bible stories and historical battles, while simultaneously keeping the damp castle walls warm. What is unusual about these four monumental panels, each one 36 feet long and 14 feet tall, is that they relate a con-temporary event — Portugal’s military victory over two cities in northern Africa in 1471. King Afonso V, spurred by revenge from an earlier failed attempt by Portugal to gain control of the region (some people have likened these con#icts to Bush I and Bush II) and under the guise of the Pope’s directive to expand the Christian world, crossed the Mediterranean with 30,000 soldiers and 400 boats and took the cities of Asilah and Tangier. In the days when kings still led

World Weavers

By JoeAnn Hart

Detail of The Invention of Glory: Afonso V and the Pastrana Tapestries, on display at PEM through December. Image courtesy of PEM.



their soldiers into battle, Afonso lived to tell the tale through the photojour-nalism of the day — tapestry.

!e narrative, from landing to vic-tory, is told from left to right, from one panel to the next, like a graphic novel. In fact, the designer’s drawings for the weavers is called a cartoon, and the term is still used today by modern tap-estry makers. “You have to have a damn good plan before you start, because a correction means un-weaving, which is just as time consuming as the weaving.” Meet Micala Sidore, of Hawley Street Tapestry Studio in Northampton, MA, who gave a lecture and demonstration at PEM to augment the show. “!e term tapestry is culturally de"ned,” she says — agreeing with TWiNE (Tapestry Weavers in New England), of which she is a member — that if you call what you do tapestry, so be it. Some tapestry starts with a canvas, but the Pastrana tapestries started with nothing. !e cloth was created as it was woven on looms, with the weft moving over and under to cover the warp. !e design is built up with each bit of yarn exposed. “!ink of it as pixels,” Sidore says.

!e tapestries were woven in Bel-gium's esteemed Tournai workshops, but the designer is unknown. Weaving was guild work, done by highly-trained men in a collaborative system, where the designer was part of the team, not a superstar. But whoever it was, was very good. “!e Pastranas are such exciting tapestries because they are rich in detail and psychologically real,” says Sidore. When the landing isn’t going well, you see it in the men’s faces as they cling to broken masts, or rescue their mates. !e soldiers’ chins are covered

in stubble and feathers sprouting from their helmets are so authentic they seem stuck in the fabric. Afonso’s feather is held aloft by what appears to be a falcon’s claw grasping the top of his helmet, and his son rides a horse draped in brown velvet. !e imagery throughout is so dense there is just a sliver of blue sky, and in between the chubby boats, a splash of stylized sea. Muskets, cross-bows and spears are a visual encyclopedia of medieval artillery, especially the cannon on wheels, a new weapon which enabled the Portuguese to crack the walls of Asilah. !e armor of the king’s herald is so accurate that it was identi"ed as one at the Toledo Cathedral. Mon-keys scramble on the ships’ rigging to tell the viewer "You Are In Africa." Good thing, because not much else does. !e designer might have had facetime with the artillery, but not Africa. !e palm trees look like spruce and the one-dimensional buildings are European and out of scale in a Monty Python sort of way, creating a juxtaposition of realistic faces in an unrealistic landscape.

Who needs single-point perspective, anyway? As Sidore says, the perspec-tive is “not about limitations, it’s a di#erence in aesthetic judgment.” !is freedom from the laws of physics allows the designer to better tell the story, compressing some scenes and expanding others. To keep track of the action, follow the $ags and banners. Looking somewhat like a car axle or a lobster, Afonso’s insignia is a water wheel, extolling the king’s power and life-giving properties. !ere are Latin inscriptions at the top of the panels,

some of which have been cut o# over the years, praising the determination of King Afonso in battle and his generosity in victory. “!e most liberal king gave all the booty to his soldiers.”

A security guard commented that Afonso and his army were like the Borg on Star Trek, aliens whose mission was to travel the universe and incorporate everyone into the hive. Some things never change. In the fearful wake of the assault of Asilah, the next city on the list, Tangier, was just handed over. What is it the Borg say? “Resistance is futile.” !e last tapestry in the series shows the Portuguese army on the left, an empty Tangier in the middle, and the unhappy, departing Tangerines $eeing on the right. Even their horses look sad. A woman leaves with a child on her back, another by the hand, while carrying a baby who stretches out her little hands towards their former home.

!is invasion opened the door for Portuguese exploration on a bigger scale in the next century, as Vasco da Gama discovered the maritime route to Asia. For the "rst time, Portuguese kings could commission ceramics directly from China. !e show concludes with a Chi-nese export porcelain bowl emblazoned with the royal emblem of King Manuel I, Afonso V’s nephew, from PEM’s own col-lection. Both the Pastrana tapestries and this porcelain bowl celebrate Portuguese maritime and military power, as well as the glory of a Portuguese king.

One of the many reasons the National Gallery in Washington, DC, asked PEM to host the exhibition is because of Mas-sachusetts’ large Portuguese population. PEM is one of only four museums in the US to feature the show and it’s also the last venue on the tour, so this is your last chance to see the tapestries before they go back to the monastery in Pastrana, Spain, where they have hung since the 17th century. (No one knows how they got from Portugal to Spain.) So go. !ink of this: 600 years from now — the same time lapse as between us and these tapestries — people will look at our own hi-de"nition digital photographs and feel the same way about us. “!e faces, they look so life like. So human!”

JoeAnn Hart is the author of the forth-coming Float, which combines plastics in the ocean, conceptual art, the mob and marital woes to produce a comic novel of our ecologi-cally precarious times. joeannhart.com

Process of stabilizing the fragile parts of the fabric of the tapestries on restoration benches, ©Fundación Carlos de Amberes, Photograph by Paul M.R. Maeyaert



Each day in search of our fate, we all rise from ourbeds and begin anew the business of living. We sit up and put our feet on the !oor. "is is not a ritual, it is a necessity. Staying in bed is seldom an option.

We all have certain rituals that we perform on a daily basis. You may not even be aware of some of the rituals that are part of your everyday existence. What happens after we put our feet on the !oor is where ritual may come in.

I always reach over to the nightstand where a glass of room temperature water waits. After drink-ing the contents of the glass I immediately hit the

!oor and do a set of military style push-ups. "is two-step ritual begins my every day.

Up until now I have alway thought of ritual as physical. A ritual was something you did.

"e three people I spoke to for Art*!rob did not dispute my notion, but they most certainly did help me to look at things from another perspective. Each is physical in their rituals, in their own way. It is their understanding of why we do what we do that that I found educational and profound.

Brian Gordon met with me at the Front Street Co#ee Shop early on a sunny weekday morning. We knew each other on a very casual basis just from seeing each other around Salem. We were getting together to speak about ritual in the life and health of a person transitioning into their 40s. I was ready, or thought I was ready, for the conversation. Brian sat down and threw me a curveball.

"Are you self aware enough to know what your rituals are?" he asked me. "Each day you need to ask yourself three questions: Am I alive? Am I a good person? Do I desire to be happy?"

It took me but a moment to understand that this conversation with Brian was going in an unexpected direction. He believes that it is critical to "keep your brain fresh.” Rituals should be process oriented.

Some years ago Brian would do push-ups every day. He would do them quickly and with a fervid energy. He eventually realized that this ritual was actually a bit of an obsession. ""ere is very little di#erence between a ritual and a bad habit," he says. "e push-ups, it seemed, were counter productive.

While he still craves exercise, he has found it is best to do it in a way that doesn't feel like exercise. He prefers to engrain rituals that are more intel-lectual and less physical. Inner strength drives him more than physical strength.

"Work out the mental muscle like you would a foul shot in basketball,” he says. “"at way you don't have to think about it, you just do it."

"Dare to make a di#erence and you will already have the internal validation," are words that Brian lives by. "is would be ritual as positive thought and action.

Leanne Terry of Swampscott swept into the Gulu-Gulu Cafe for our appointment. We had never met but somehow I knew that the dark-haired, high energy woman scanning the room was looking for me.

An empty nester in her early 50s, Leanne ran in the Marine Corps Marathon when she was 45. "at experience, "birthed a passion for running and for soldiers." Since then she has always made sure that

ageless ritualsby william legault

Leanne Terry of Swampscott ran the Marine Corps Marathon at age 45. Photo by Mary Shea



there is time in her life for training and for service work.

Her workouts are her rituals. Her advice is succinct: "You have to have discipline, the workouts are non-nego-tiable. Regimen and structure must be there from the beginning."

She will reschedule and move things in her day around to accommodate her workout ritual.

!e nutrition to fuel the exercise also falls in line as ritual. Sunday is the day for cooking in Leanne's world. She always prepares her meals a week ahead. Meals are prepared, packaged and stored until they are needed. Chick-en meatloaf cupcakes are a favorite.

Her advice to someone looking to im-prove physically and mentally is simple: What are your goals? What do you like? Answer those questions, "nd a trainer or join a group. "Being accountable to a trainer or a group will help you and will help others."

Her best advice would be, "Make it fun. You need to go out and enjoy the ride."

If you want to speak with a person whose perspective on life has been altered by experience, a cancer survivor would be a good place to start. Pamela Schmidt is just such a person. We have been casually acquainted for a few years, but this interview was our "rst actual conversation.

Pamela decided to get healthy during the unhealthiest period in her life, while she was enduring the ravages of cancer. She decided, "to be a warrior by swim-ming, altering [my] diet and by telling the cancer to get out."

She set out on a path to the "practice of being well by taking care of [my] mind, stressing creativity and maintain-ing relationships."

Traveling that path, Pamela discov-ered that, "di#culty can empower you. Work with it, use your strength, don't open your door to fear. Always evaluate what you hold onto and what you need to let go of. How you view your life pertains directly to how long you live."

For Pamela, ritual comes down to thinking positively and acting posi-

tively. When she swam in the pool, she wasn't just swimming, she was "hitting the tumors" that had invaded her body. By doing this she was "exerting some control over what you can't control."

Her home near Salem Common features a garden and patio that she cre-ated herself. When she decided to plant there she discovered the soil was rancid with paints and other chemicals associ-ated with light manufacturing. !at is not unusual in Salem. Exerting control over that situation involved planning and lots of work.

Pamela did not accept her fate or the fate of her backyard as predestined. "!e process of creating (growing) is restorative. Don't let negativity be prominent. It is a feature of life, but should not be dominant."

Brian, Leanne and Pamela use ritual in the physical sense, but they also use ritual on an intellectual level as they try to understand why they do things. By striving to create and use positive energy they also employ a third level of ritual, the metaphysical.

When we lose our desire to learn, when we cease to question ourselves,

"Each day you need to

ask yourself three ques-

tions: Am I alive? Am I a

good person? Do I desire

to be happy?"

— Brian Gordon William Legault is a Salem native,

when we think we have it all "gured out, we can no longer grow.

After speaking with these three ex-ceptional people, I realized that I am still growing and in search of what I love.

Brian Gordon is a stand-up comedien who now works with children with autism. Photo by Mary Shea.

Pamela Schmidt is a professor and painter who works with aging and arts therapy. Photo by Mary Shea.

military veteran and, like many in the area, a struggling creative talent. He sees himself as the chameleon who cannot change his colors.



watching the detectivesby sarah wolfe

Hercule Poirot, the handlebar-mustached Belgian obsessed with order and method. Inspector Foyle, a subtle master of human nature solving crimes amidst WWII. Miss Marple, the mislead-ingly absent-minded spinster, always with her knitting. !ese characters have become so familiar to me they’re practi-cally family.

!e reason? My family has watched Masterpiece Mystery! since I was in early grade school. Sure, we enjoyed Columbo, Magnum PI and Simon & Simon, but sus-penseful plotlines riddled with creepy stone manors, steam engine trains and remote English countryside have been a part of my landscape since childhood. You could say British mysteries are a family ritual.

I can’t remember exactly when my parents introduced me to Mystery!, but I know I was one of its youngest fans. I also tuned in for Full House and Family Matters like friends my age, but — un-like them — I was as well acquainted with the illustrious Jeremy Brett as

Sherlock Holmes as I was with Jaleel White as Steve Urkel. Add my love of black and white films and it often made me odd girl out at the lunch table. “Hey, did you see Sherlock’s Hound of the Baskervilles last night?…Anyone?...Anyone?”

Almost every time I visit my folks these days, we continue our ritual of gathering for a British whodunnit, either a recording of the latest episode or something from years past. !eir col-lection is staggering: Poirot, Foyle’s War, Miss Marple, Inspector Lewis, Midsommer Murders and Sherlock Holmes, including its most recent revival... No Downton Abbey for us; give us a good ol’ British mystery dripping with intrigue and atmosphere — and red herrings galore.

Our ritual of viewing these treats typically goes something like this: “You feel like a Brit?” “Sure, what are you in the mood for?” “A Foyle? A Poirot?” Pro-ceed to my mother rummaging through stacks of DVDs and VHS tapes, reading o" titles to see if something catches our

fancy. “Poirot – !e Yellow Iris?” “Nah, we just watched that two months ago.” “Foyle – Bleak Midwinter?” “How about something with more humor?” !is typically goes on for a good 15 minutes. When we #nally do settle on some-thing, the kettle’s put on the boil and cups of tea are poured. We then settle into our respective spots: Mom on the left, me in the middle and Dad on the right. Sophie the cat typically migrates from the $oor to a lap during the course of the program.

Vincent Price was the #rst host of Mystery! I ever saw. From his high-backed armchair he’d tell us in that melodious voice of his what we were in for — a playfully sinister gleam in his eyes. !en there was the elegant Diana Rigg, posed in sequined dresses against a living room backdrop illustrated by Edward Gorey. !e most recent host was Alan Cumming, who brought his mischievous charm to the role. But now they’ve sadly reduced the format to just his brief voiceover narration.

Illustration by Michael Lowe


SIDEA

Ideas Made Visible LILLY McCrea Design Marketing & Design Serviceslillymccreadesign.com(Designer of this magazine.)

!ough it no longer has hosts,Mystery! thankfully has retained some of its introduction, which features a wonderful Edward Gorey animation. I await my cue each time to “weep” along with a damsel in distress draped across a ledge, waving a handkerchief over her head and wailing. !en we’re o" on an adventure with our British sleuth of the evening. Often we end up at a sinister mansion with thunder crashing outside. Its occupants are dressed for dinner in gowns and tuxes, stealing nervous glances at each other across the table. Our daring detective stands before them, ready to reveal the murderer in their midst. !ere’s a formula to these shows, you see, and yet it never seems to get old for us.

Along with this blueprint, there’s the usual template of suspects the detec-tive has to investigate: the drunken, troublemaking rich son; the demand-

ing patriarch/matriarch who runs the household with an iron #st; the snoop-ing household sta"; the lovely romantic interest who’s supposed to be 18, yet always seems to be played by a 30-year-old…and the list goes on.

!ough we’ve watched some of these mysteries numerous times, it never fails that once the show ends we have a round of what I like to call, “And Another !ing!” With Agatha Chris-tie in particular, there tends to be an impossible series of events that leave you going, “Oh, come on! Really?!” For example, how did the heiress overhear a conversation that happened clear across a busy intersection? Or, why did the butler not recognize his master’s new wife as the former cook? And where did the original will go? Despite the ridiculous amount of “coincidences” and plotline holes, these programs are still loads of fun — and highly addictive!

Growing up with this ritual has certainly given me a love of anything with a sense of suspense as well of the supernatural. Many of those great Brit-ish authors, after all, hinted at larger forces at play to spice up their plotlines. !ese programs also developed my appreciation for subtlety. Instead of the non-stop action and snatches of me-diocre dialogue many American shows had (and still have), these quieter gems allowed for a study of human nature and required an eye for detail to pick up clues.

My family’s ritual has carried beyond their home and into mine. I #nd myself bringing home British mysteries from the library — ones I’ve seen many times — and popping them on in the background while I cook dinner. !ey o"er a sense of comfort. And, they make my home feel more like home.


14 ∙ nsartthrob.com14 ∙ nsartthrob.com14 ∙ nsartthrob.com14 ∙ nsartthrob.com14 ∙ nsartthrob.com

by laura quaylephotos by mary sheaOld Time Jam



When the Irish, Scottish and English moved to the American south, their respective musical traditions blended with African American sounds and evolved in isolated mountain communi-ties. !e folk music that was born in the Appalachians, known as Old Time, is both gritty and quirkily rhythmic. Its creators were not playing Stradi-varius instruments, to say the least, and probably had little or no formal music training. In some cases, the "ddler playing tunes out on the porch was the only entertainment in a com-munity and square dances relied upon the one available musician to provide both melody and a driving rhythm to the dancers. As a result, complex and sometimes ba#ing bowing patterns and unexpected rhythms became incor-porated into the Old Time tradition — a challenge to any skilled "ddler or classically-trained violinist.

Several amateur Salem musicians are charmed by Old Time music and regularly carpool into Boston to play

in open jams. One summer evening, after loading three "ddles, a guitar and a ukulele into a friend’s car, along with three Salemites and a Beverly "ddler, I wondered why it was that North Shore folks had to battle with Route 128 just to play traditional folk music in good company. We had all the raw ingredients needed for a jam before the car even rolled out of the McIntire District.

A few days later, I sent out an email to the other Old Time carpoolers, and a plan was hatched to meet next to the Friendship for a little jam. We brought folding chairs and played tunes until the sun began to set and we watched the moon appear over Salem Harbor. Children danced in passing and a few adults in zombie costume stationed themselves at a safe distance to listen. We continued to meet on Mondays and the Salem Old Time Jam grew steadily. As winter approached, we searched for an indoor home for the jam and landed at Salem’s Café Polonia.

Today, the second and fourth

Mondays of each month have become a ritual of Old Time music at this cozy Polish restaurant. Teachers, writers, Air Force personnel and retirees, aged 20 to 90, gather together at the wooden benches around the corner table for an open jam. Striped pillows lie beckon-ing across the bench and the table has been turned to just the right angle to accommodate our numbers by Dawn, the cheerful waitress, who anticipates our arrival each session.

Banjos, "ddles, and guitars emerge from cases as greetings are exchanged and wine and pierogis ordered. !e ping of lone strings is heard as each instru-ment is tuned, and "ddlers methodically apply rosin to the length of their bows. Someone dives into the "rst tune and others join, in no particular order, until all are playing together. Many know the tune by heart and leap in with their own personal $avor; others may be hearing the tune for the "rst time and only pick up some of the notes here and there. We play this tune over and over,

Jump to p. 16



until all of us have emerged from our separateness — our own busy days, our existence in di!erent towns and di!erent generations — and have landed together in one beat and one melody, which starts in our "ngers and comes to permeate the entire restaurant. When it feels like the tune has reached a conclusion, a player raises a foot in the air to signal to the group, and we stop as one body moments later. Anyone is welcome to join and everyone plays together as the spirit of this music emphasizes community rather than individual solos.

In the year that has passed since our "rst jam at the Friendship, the North Shore has become a mecca of traditional folk music — Old Time and Celtic alike — inspiring many Boston musicians to load up their cars regularly to head north for jams, which have sprung up at O’Neill’s in Salem and Atomic Café and Kitty O’Shea’s in Beverly. Recently at the Polonia jam, a "ddler who commutes from Bedford remarked, “#e sessions are drying up around Boston. It’s all up on the North Shore now.”

Perhaps the statement was an exaggeration, but there is no doubt that Salem is fertile ground for new music rituals. Any local could understand why a tradition based on the blending of di!erent cultures, and built upon a raw gritty tone and a rhythm all of its own, would resonate deeply within the City of Salem.

Laura Quayle grew up in the Adirondacks and is a middle school teacher at Cape Ann Waldorf School. When she is not teaching, she is either playing !ddle, dancing, running or biking.

We brought folding chairs

and played tunes until the

sun began to set and we

watched the moon appear

over Salem Harbor.


north shore art*throb ∙ 17

It happens to me from time to time on the streetsof Salem. I run into somebody I know from the “good old days” and get to reminiscing about Pete Zaharis and his iconic photographic “emporium” the Essex Camera Shop. And then, inevitably, one of us says wistfully, “!ere will never be another place like it.” And there probably won’t.

In 1980, 62-year-old Peter Zaharis left his job as chief photographer at the Salem Evening News to take over Joe Vaiche’s landmark camera shop in the Salem YMCA building on upper Essex Street. !e deal between two “old school” types, Peter was proud to say, was consummated with just a hand-shake and a passing of the keys to the store.

Based solely on appearances, there was little to suggest that the Essex Camera Shop was anything special. !e dark tiled "oor, with areas long overdue for patching or replacement, and the "uorescent lighting set the tone for the shop’s generally time-worn appearance. Eight or nine fading Kodak ad-vertising posters — one featuring a pair of chimps decked out in vests and bow ties — ringed the upper walls. A small collection of old cameras and outdated, never-to-be-sold, photographic products added to the air of antiquity and clutter.

Camera bags and tripods were hung on utilitar-ian rounds or peg boards, and the stacked cardboard boxes in the back of the store reinforced the no-

frills ambiance of the place. !e counter that held the cash register was, to be generous, rustic. !e only new decorative element that I can recall was a large color photograph of Pete and Joe Vaiche.

!e store’s southern exposure and recessed pic-ture windows somewhat mitigated the drabness. So did the rows of colorful — mostly Kodak yellow and red — packages of processing chemicals, #lm and darkroom supplies that lined the shelves and the brightly-lit glass display cases that held cam-eras and lenses.

Scattered around the store were a couple of old chairs and a high stool. When not waiting on customers or working at his computer, the propri-etor could usually be found seated in a wooden swivel chair with his feet up. On more than one occasion he was caught dozing in the late after-noon by a customer.

Underlying the almost depressing décor, however, was a tremendous vitality. Under Pete’s ownership, the Essex Camera Shop would become a lively gathering spot for photographers and colorful characters who felt a kinship with its quirky propri-etor. It seemed there were always people hanging out in the store, visiting with the owner or, if he was busy, with each other. It’s been called “a Greek co$ee house disguised as a camera shop.”

But in reality, the store was a photographer’s

community exposure

By Jim McAllister

Peter Zaharis at his camera shop on Essex Street. Photos courtesy of Jim McAllister.

Jump to p. 18



paradise. In addition to cameras, lenses, !lm, batteries, and other standard items, one could also !nd rare projector bulbs, chemicals that hadn’t been made in years and great deals on used equip-ment. In addition, the shop’s generous owner lent equipment, dispensed advice and (usually) positive criticism and even found occasional jobs for freelancers. Pete was also known for his easy credit terms, a great help to professional photographers trying to eke out a living at their craft.

"e proprietor even provided free co#ee — somebody was always run-ning to Bowman’s Bakery with money plucked from the till — and dog biscuits for visiting canines.

“"e Greek” was equally generous with the knowledge he had accumulated during his years as a photographer. He taught a generation of young shutter-bugs how to bounce $ash o# one’s own forehead, to repair a scratched negative with nose grease and to dry negatives over a hot plate when on deadline. Pete also shared practical business lessons learned from his years as a self-em-ployed commercial photographer.

A self-described “health nut” who took dozens of vitamins daily and adhered to a Spartan diet, Pete dispensed nutritional advice to those willing to listen. I was in the store one day when a man came in to thank Pete for an herbal remedy sug-gestion that had helped his wife avoid an unpleasant medical procedure.

Although the owner was organized and methodical by nature, business at the Essex Camera Shop was transacted in a casual and often unusual manner. Many regular customers wrote up their own sales slips, and some even made change out of the register. Others, to avoid the hassle of having to !nd parking, would arrange to pull up in front of the store and honk. Pete or one of us would then dutifully trot out with merchandise. And if a customer couldn’t get to the store before closing, the proprietor would leave the package on an outside ledge over the front door. Payment would be dealt with later.

Trust was a cornerstone of Peter’s relationship with his customers. A foreign tourist once bought a camera to

replace one he had damaged, and tried to pay with a credit card Pete didn’t accept. "e astonished visitor was told “Just send me a check when you get home”, which he did, accompanied by a glowing and heartfelt letter of thanks.

When a customer entered the Essex Camera Shop, there was no telling what he or she might !nd. Pete might be conversing in Greek with hair stylist-photographer Alex Panos or engaged in a technical conversation with Carl, a Canon camera repairman, which was Greek to the rest of us. If it was early on a Monday morning, another camera “repair guy”, Gerry Farese, would be sitting on the stool, drinking co#ee and regaling all present with colorful tales of his native Lynn.

On any given trip to the shop, a pho-tographer was likely to run into others of the profession. "is usually called for a trip to Bowman’s for co#ee and an ex-tended visit. "e place got really crowded when one or both of Pete’s daughters, Pam and Mimi, showed up with their husbands or Mimi’s two girls, or both. Usually they brought their lunches with them, and the glass display counter was pressed into service as a table.

Part of the Essex Camera Shop’s charm was the constant good-natured banter. And so Zaharis, who admitted to having a contrary streak, eventually adopted as a store motto “Where you

get nothing but abuse, but plenty of it.” "e phrase was proudly emblazoned on his business cards and his popular Essex Camera Shop T-shirts. "e tees also featured a lively illustration of the store façade by local artist Racket Shreve.

Pete was a relentless kidder. When asked “Do you take checks?” he would reply “Czechs, Russians, Greeks, any-thing but Irish (an inside joke between a Greek and this half-Irish writer).” And when at the conclusion of a transaction a young woman reminded Pete that he hadn’t returned her credit card, he pointed to the place on the machine where it said “Swipe card” and claimed he was just following directions.

"e store was a clearing house for jokes, and Pete loved them all. A couple walked in one afternoon to buy !lm and he was laughing so hard at a joke that he couldn’t even breathe, much less wait on them. But Pete was incapable of repeating one without botching it, and resorted to prodding others to tell them in his place. Frank Kulik was called on frequently to tell his epic “Murphy’s Nails”, Pete’s favorite joke...

Shortly after Pete took over the store, a core group of regulars began going out to lunch after he closed at mid-day on Saturday. "is tradition con-tinued for nearly two decades at various downtown Salem restaurants, including Finkels and Ca#é Graziani. "e group

A glimpse inside the former Essex Camera Shop, a photographer's paradise. Photo courtesy of Jim McAllister



generally numbered between four and eight people, and on a given Saturday might include Lynn Camera Club members Charlie Miller and Bob Sinclair (for many years they covered for Pete on Tuesdays when he went to Rotary) and the likable “King of Cheap," Leon Pacquette. Salesman Danny Leavitt; pho-tojournalists John Hurley and Scott Lanes; Frank Kulik; Sam Northrup, Pete’s daughters, Pam and Mimi, and myself were just a few of the other regulars.

!e group came to be known as the Essex Camera Judeo Christian Photo Clubbo. !e highlight of the Clubbo’s social season was the annual February bash hosted by the Zaharis family at their Summit Avenue home.

It seemed that Pete was always giving something to some-body. He sometimes lent money to friends in need, and served as a father "gure and mentor to some of his younger customers. Chris O#utt, now a nationally-known author and sometimes television screenwriter, discovered photography while living in Salem in the 1980s. “I went to Pete’s store every day, sometimes twice a day,” he recalls, “and Pete never tired of my questions.” !anks to his mentor, O#utt was able to support himself as a traveling child photographer until he turned to writing.

But more importantly, says O#utt, Pete “believed in me as a person and helped me learn to believe in myself. As a college teacher, I patterned myself after him — the nodding patience, the willingness to be light about serious work, the generous support to young people.”

Lasting friendships were made through the store and its owner. Pete brought Salem State College photography and visual arts teacher Frank Quimby together with an auto mechanic named Charlie Johnson who had recently taken up photography. !e two began photographing and socializing together, and even went into a sideline business as partners. Charlie moved to Arizona years ago, but the two still talk almost every day.

His generous nature paid dividends for “!e Greek.” In 1985, a group of Pete’s grateful admirers planned an impromptu

party in his honor. !e Hawthorne Hotel donated a room, the Salem police chief, Bob St. Pierre, volunteered to help organize the event, and Mayor Tony Salvo arranged to give Zaharis the ceremonial “keys to the city.”

When Pete nearly died of an aneurism, friends helped keep the store open during his recovery. When he had to move to a di#erent storefront in the YMCA building, dozens of volunteers showed up to do the job. And when Zaharis "nally called it quits in 2001 after 21 years, he was honored at a private ceremony by the Salem Police Department and at a potluck luncheon given by many of his friends. !e latter event was mobbed.

In retirement Pete went back into the darkroom and began printing 40-year-old negatives. True to form, he distributed the exquisite black and white photographs to his friends. !e closing of the store, and Pete’s passing in September 2007, were deeply felt by his friends. For many of us, it marked the end of a gentler time when friendly small shop owners were the rule rather than the exception, and friendship was an important part of doing business.

On any given trip

to the shop, a

photographer was likely

to run into others of the

profession. This usually

called for a trip to

Bowman’s for co!ee

and an extended visit.

Bob Crosby, a visiting photographer from Lynn. Photo courtesy of Jim McAllister

Jim McAllister is a Salem historian, photographer, author, teacher and tour guide. Since founding Derby Square Tours in 1983, Jim has conducted countless tours of his adopted Salem. He has lectured extensively about the history of Salem and Boston's North Shore and has served as an historic consultant to the City of Salem, the Hawthorne Hotel, the Peabody Essex Museum and a host of other local organizations and institutions.



q & a with jay finneyby dinah cardin

The new year will mark the true beginning of PEM’s $20 million expansion. Staying mostly on its 0current footprint, the museum will add a second atrium, additional jobs in the creative sector and become one of the largest art museum in the country. We asked PEM’s Chief Marketing O!cer Jay Finney to answer some questions about how locals are go-ing to bene"t most from the improvements.

By now, Salem residents are seeing evidence of work toward the expansion. What do you think are the top three things that Salem locals will bene!t from when the expansion is over?

A greatly expanded museum with more of our collections on display and special exhibitions that we create and that we bring in from around the world. Also, locals will see a greatly expanded public program schedule and more school groups visiting the museum. #ere will be a destination restaurant that fronts Essex Street and we’ll have a secondary entrance that will enliven Essex Street and make the downtown more interesting.

Can you tell us what to expect with the new restaurant and construction of a roof deck that will take advantage of water views?

#e building will be going up "ve stories, but each story is set back from the next, so it will create oppor-tunities for terraces and, on the "fth $oor, views of

the harbor. Also on the "fth $oor, there will be space for events, lectures and "lms, and we’re talking about a gourmet chocolate bar. #ere are also plans for an enclosed Japanese or Chinese garden, open to the sky. It will be landscaped and quite beautiful.

"e museum's contemporary art initiative is so exciting. "e Stephen Jones hat show and con-tinuing Freeport installations are drawing a di#erent crowd. Upcoming shows like Midnight to the Boom, Nick Cave, and the new collec-tion from Iris Apfel are all examples of PEM's dedication to this initiative, as well as PEM's hiring of a Contemporary Curator a few years ago. How do you think this focus will bene!t locals who still might not get to the museum much these days?

#e museum has always been collecting contem-porary work. To continue to collect and show art of our time is nothing new for this museum. Our Contemporary Curator has shown unusual exhibi-tions, but the museum isn’t making a dramatic left or right turn. It’s just a balance of work from the past. We have a dialogue from the old and the new throughout our galleries. #ere’s always been a mixture. We aren’t a history musuem. #is is part of a continuum and didn’t stop at the turn of the century. We are a museum of art and culture. We will be bringing on a new Curator of Chinese Art and a new Curator of Indian Art and a new Cura-tor of Fashion and Textiles. #ere will be a gallery

The Stephen Jones Hats Fashion Show at PEM on November 15 was attended by more than 250 people. Photos by Lilly McCrea.


q & a with jay finneyby dinah cardin

The new year will mark the true beginning of PEM’s $20 million expansion. Staying mostly on its current footprint, the museum will add a second atrium, additional jobs in the creative sector and become one of the largest art museum in the country. We asked PEM’s Chief Marketing O!cer Jay Finney to answer some questions about how locals are go-ing to bene"t most from the improvements.

By now, Salem residents are seeing evidence of work toward the expansion. What do you think are the top three things that Salem locals will bene!t from when the expansion is over?

A greatly expanded museum with more of our collections on display and special exhibitions that we create and that we bring in from around the world. Also, locals will see a greatly expanded public program schedule and more school groups visiting the museum. #ere will be a destination restaurant that fronts Essex Street and we’ll have a secondary entrance that will enliven Essex Street and make the downtown more interesting.

Can you tell us what to expect with the new restaurant and construction of a roof deck that will take advantage of water views?

#e building will be going up "ve stories, but each story is set back from the next, so it will create oppor-tunities for terraces and, on the "fth $oor, views of

the harbor. Also on the "fth $oor, there will be space for events, lectures and "lms, and we’re talking about a gourmet chocolate bar. #ere are also plans for an enclosed Japanese or Chinese garden, open to the sky. It will be landscaped and quite beautiful.

"e museum's contemporary art initiative is so exciting. "e Stephen Jones hat show and con-tinuing Freeport installations are drawing a di#erent crowd. Upcoming shows like Midnight to the Boom, Nick Cave, and the new collec-tion from Iris Apfel are all examples of PEM's dedication to this initiative, as well as PEM's hiring of a Contemporary Curator a few years ago. How do you think this focus will bene!t locals who still might not get to the museum much these days?

#e museum has always been collecting contem-porary work. To continue to collect and show art of our time is nothing new for this museum. Our Contemporary Curator has shown unusual exhibi-tions, but the museum isn’t making a dramatic left or right turn. It’s just a balance of work from the past. We have a dialogue from the old and the new throughout our galleries. #ere’s always been a mixture. We aren’t a history musuem. #is is part of a continuum and didn’t stop at the turn of the century. We are a museum of art and culture. We will be bringing on a new Curator of Chinese Art and a new Curator of Indian Art and a new Cura-tor of Fashion and Textiles. #ere will be a gallery


named for Iris Apfel. Iris was a perfect person to connect with because she thinks like we do, that it’s important to have a mixture of art and culture and di!erent cultures and timeframes and materials. I would think that the artistic community working on the North Shore and in the greater Boston area would be excited to see another museum have a signi"cant commitment to contempo-rary art just like MFA, ICA or Isabella Gardner Museum.

How do you think PEM re!ects the direction that Salem is headed culturally? Can you draw a line be-tween the beginning of the museum and Salem's days of trade and the PEM of today and Salem's current creative economy?

Our history of bringing objects and culture back from India and China, Indonesia, Africa and native tribes gives Salem the connection to the rest of the world. #e vision of our founders was to show Salem-ites that they were connected to the world around them. We are still about broadening perspec-tives, fostering understanding and tolerance. #e past expansions brought the museum closer to the vision of the museum’s original founders. Now we can bring collections from around the world out on the $oor.

Salem is not just about history. We have a long and glorious history that includes the beginning of our country. But like the rest of America, we are in a global society. We have traded on our history, but always from the beginning have had a global perspective. #at’s what the museum came back to in 2003 and will push toward in 2017. #ere will be more to Salem than just its con-nection to the past. It connects us to cultures both near and far and you hope that’s what Salem becomes known for as well. Our sister city is in Japan and our restaurants are focusing on interna-tional cuisine. #ere is an international $avor to Salem that we think will be re$ected certainly in the museum, but also as the city looks outward.

We will continue to hold community meetings to explain where the museum is going. We’ll be using every media out-let that we can to update people on all the major milestones. #e nitty gritty of construction will be posted and emailed to those who sign up.

How do you see Salem and PEM sharing a culturally symbiotic rela-tionship in "ve years that bene"ts both the museum and the city?

What we’ve seen since we reopened in 2003 will continue. #e museum was wonderful for revitalization of the downtown. It engendered a level of quality of life to the city and attracted people moving here, new retail and restaurants. I don’t think the museum is solely responsible for that, but it certainly was a catalyst. Five years from now, the museum is still on its same footprint, but has gotten larger and improved.

#e symbiotic relationship that the city and museum has now will continue and be ampli"ed. #ere will be infra-structure improvements and improve-ments to the Essex Pedestrian Mall. #e city and the museum will be working together to improve that from one end to the other. All of that will continue — revitalization, walkability and an at-tractive place for people to come work, play and stay.

We want the process to be as trans-parent as possible. We want the com-munity to be informed ahead of issues that might come up. We want to listen to the community’s input along the way. #ere will be some disruption and a lot of changes going on in this city and we want to be a positive force. I would like to avoid some misunderstandings that took place in the last go-around. #at’s why we hired a Director of Commu-nity A!airs to get feedback and collect information from those in the area and to inform people ahead of time and be proactive about it.

We will continue to add to the critical mass and gravity pull of downtown. All the museum can o!er a visitor, of course, continues to be free. Even if you’re not a museum-goer, the improve-ments to quality of life in the city will continue by an expanded museum.

Iris Apfel was Honorary Gala Chair on November 3 at Fashion Forward, PEM's Annual Gala, which was inspired by the art of personal style and the Rare Bird of Fashion herself. Photo courtesy of PEM.

Locals may be receiving your con-struction updates via email. What are some other ways they can keep up with what's going on these days? Are there more public talks in the works, planned evenings for shar-ing expansion plans?

In the new year, we will be revealing materials and design. Each time trucks and cranes come in, we send notices. #e best way is to sign up for our eblast about construction and any road clos-ings. Essex Street will remain open throughout the process. During the "rst quarter of the new year, we will reveal design drawings at community meet-ings. Our Director of Community A!airs, Claudia Chuber, can communicate those plans. #e website will have updates and we will try to place stories and engage the press in reinventing the museum.

#e building is just a shell within which we will be creating experiences. It’s not that we ran out of space, but we are taking advantage of the incredible generosity of a number of donors to add back-of-the-house features like loading docks and things we couldn’t get to in the "rst expansion. #e majority of the $650 million is going toward the endow-ment and then infrastructure improve-ments, additional sta! and enhancing facilities to do more special exhibitions.



How did you !rst get interested in, and involved in, martial arts?

My grandfather boxed to make money during !e Depression, and I was close to my grandparents so I grew up with boxing all the time on the television. I started boxing when I was 10 years old. Because of Bruce Lee’s popularity in the 1980s and because I was such a small kid, I then went to the local Karate school and then the local Taekwondo school. But me and my younger brother, we said, "We can "nd better than this!" During a Celtics half time perfor-mance we saw a demonstration by the Boston Kung Fu Tai Chi School and that’s what got us interested in that school, which was located right across from North Station. I was 15 then and my brother was 13, so our parents let us take the train in.

I know that there is an internal aspect to Kung Fu. Did they teach you that then?

So, I started in 1980. And it was interesting that at that time when [Kung Fu master] Bruce Lee was popular, so was Muhammad Ali, and so was Arnold Schwarzenegger. A "tness craze began. I was caught up in that. !e internal aspects of Kung Fu — I didn’t even realize. When you’re younger, you don’t look at Tai Chi because it looks boring because it’s slow. You want to jump around, bounce around. But I got cancer, got Hodgkin’s lymphoma at 23, and that’s when I said, “Well, Tai Chi should help me.” !at’s when my internal education came in.

!e movements, poses, postures are sort of like yoga — they’re for bettering your body. !at’s where acupressure points and meridians come in. So, I was working on the internal without knowing it. And, the terms become blended because Tai Chi means “grand ultimate” but Kung Fu means “work hard"… so in a way Tai Chi is a type of Kung Fu; it is the “grand ultimate working hard!” !e way you use the terms kind of washes them together. So the Tai Chi brings in the education of, “Why am I doing this pose?” Yes, for self defense — but also, and more importantly, for health. And you can defend yourself from being hurt which is healthy!

Can you talk a bit more about your cancer scare and healing process and how Kung Fu helped?

Here I was, 23, I could do anything with my body with ease. And then my doctor said I had cancer and that I wouldn’t live long. “Time is not on your side,” they said. It’s time for surgery, it’s time for radia-

kung fu fightingby jennifer jean

Chinese meridian points. Photo by Mary Shea

Jennifer Jean recently caught up with

Stephen Murphy of the Mystics Athletic

School at Porter Mill in Beverly to talk about

the art in martial arts.



fasting practice called Pi-gu — not a very attractive name, but it’s a Chinese practice that’s considered a high level of fasting practice. !e Hebrews have this, the Muslims have this in Ramadan. I wondered when I was doing it, am I weak? No, I realized, I’m just calm. I’m not used to being calm.

Have you fasted?

Yes, de"nitely. And, I always wonder why I’m NOT as scattered as usual! !ere should be moderation in every-thing…especially in exercise. !at’s why I got the Hodgkin’s — because of overdoing exercise. Overdo work, you’ve got a problem; overdo food or anything there’s a problem. After learning the internal aspect of Kung Fu…I relaxed. Have a cookie. Have a beer. Just don’t live on it. Don’t think that more sit-ups is better. Pi-gu is the practice of longevity — like the new cars: less fuel, more mileage!

gardening, so you’re considered a well rounded person, you’re not ignorant of the important things in life. Also, Wushu [a Chinese term for "martial arts"] translates literally into “war art.” So, because “art” follows “war” it can be translated as “no-"ghting” or “stop "ghting.” It’s saying that what happens in war and in the training for war is used for health and an art form — so that it’s not for war but for art.

I tell children that Kung Fu comes from church. From the Shaolin temple. From people who wanted a peaceful life. Who built their own schools, grew their own food, built their own communities. It’s helped this entire country of China to be recognized for this 5,000 year old art form, for this multi-billion dollar enterprise that is martial arts.

Why do you think girls should be attracted to Kung Fu?

!e gymnastics! I coached girls gym-nastics competitively for six years in Danvers…a lot of it is the same stu#… And part of the art of martial arts is what you’re wearing! We have beautiful, colorful, traditional silk out"ts…Most people equate martial arts with Karate. A young girl coming here now for two years keeps referring to herself as some-one who’s not athletic, but she’s artistic. She’s about 14 years old…but this girl who’s not athletic is certainly doing well in $exibility and building up strength. I want people to not think of the punch and the kick, but of the health, the beauty, the art. And when it comes to the family anyone can do it! If you’re a boy, if you’re a girl. If you’re older you can do it, if you’re overweight, if you’re short, if you’re tall — you can do it!

tion. I had a tumor half the size of my "st in my chest…near my heart. So they removed a couple of my ribs, took biop-sies, and it was Hodgkin’s lymphoma so I had radiation. And it wasn’t pleasant — burnt tongue, burnt skin… Right af-ter that I opened my school. I thought, “If I’m not getting trophies I’ll help other people get them.” It was at that time that I met Tom Tam…He came to my school to do workshops in tradi-tional Chinese medicine. He said to me, “What is cancer? Abnormal cell growth. What does radiation do? It kills cells. If you keep killing cells — eventually you’ll be dead.” He put his thumb on my back where there was a painful lump, right behind where my cancer was near my spine, and said, “!is lump, which they refer to as blockage, is what’s causing the abnormal growth. If you get rid of this lump the cells will grow normally and the cancer cells die on their own. You don’t have to kill cancer cells, you just change the reason that the cells are growing abnormally.” I was a skeptic of anything that seemed like hocus pocus. It was too strange. But the more you learn the more it makes sense. Plus, there’s this Jamaican expression: "He who feels it knows it." So when he pressed the lump and hit it with a magnetic hammer, it hurt so much. But when he was "nished I felt the original pain was going away. I felt the freedom in my back. So I began to study Chinese medicine, and continue to study. If I didn’t have the cancer in the "rst place maybe I wouldn’t have gone in this direction.

How long did you get treatment from Tom Tam?

I’ve continued treatment for 22 years. It’s like brushing your teeth.

Do you think America would be in a health crisis if East and West worked together?

Tom Tam tells me, “People need to realize that if they don’t move or eat or breathe properly then they’ll be in trouble. !e surgeon general says that if Americans ate 40 percent less food we’d have a healthier nation.” !e surgeon general says this! !ere’s an ancient

Jennifer Jean teaches writing and literature at Salem State University and UMass Boston. Her poetry has appeared in numerous journals, and she's published three poetry chapbooks. Jennifer is an ac-tive committee member of the Salem-based Massachusetts Poetry Festival. For more information visit !shwifetales.com.

Stephen Murphy in his studio at Porter Mill in Beverly. Photo by Mary Shea

!is interview is for Art*!rob so I have to ask: What about the word “art” in the term "martial arts?"

Before any of this, before boxing, before Kung Fu, I loved art class…I went to Montserrat College of Art as a child…when it was behind the music theater in Beverly. It was a little studio, and there was a teacher there named George Gabin and I’ll never forget him. Anyways, a good Kung Fu person should do poetry, calligraphy, art, carpentry,


��4��',)*��,�*��0�� 1��&�*��0��1��!,)*��0��1��)"��0��1��+,)��0��

��0�++��+��$�%�� 1�...��&-"$$�'(+"��$��'%

2��$"�-��+!�+�!" !��*!"'&��)�%�*��&��*" &�)�*,& $�**�*��&��&��*!',$��')��$�3

��&-"$$��'(+"��$�where quality is visible�

�0��/�%*��)��-�"$��$��&��.��.�$�'%��%'*+�%�#')�-"*"'&�($�&*��&��"&*,)�&��

CONTACT LENSES ."+!�(,)�!�*��'� ��'%($�+��(�")�'� � $�**�*

��*+')��')��+�"$*�

��

SHORT-RUNDIGITAL PRINTING

by nice people!Business Cards | Post Cards Holiday Cards | Art Prints Note Cards | Calendars

& More Pickering Wharf | 102 Wharf Street

Salem, MA | [email protected]

Jazz Sessionsat the Chianti Jazz Lounge

www.livejazzsessions.org



Not many people probably know that plum pud-ding, an English Christmas tradition from the 17th century, was initially a method of preserving meat. Also called Christmas pudding, it is not to be con-fused with !ggy (containing !gs) or hasty (similar to polenta) puddings, or the somewhat-dreaded fruitcake. English-Americans continued their pudding-making customs, but it wasn’t until the 18th century that it became an icon of Christmas in New England.

My husband has memories of his mother’s pud-ding, but my family never made it while I was grow-ing up. What I contemplate now are the imagined rituals of igniting the brandy-dosed pudding and bearing it into our dining room !lled with beloved holiday guests, making a grand entrance amid delighted exclamations and enthusiastic applause — much like Mrs. Cratchit in Charles Dickens’ treasured story, A Christmas Carol. It is this image of glory and tradition that delights me, and so the search for the perfect recipe is on.

Recipes for plum pudding vary, but the dominant fruit is typically raisins or currants. Some have diced citron, and all have chopped apple. Oddly, plums are nowhere to be found in plum pudding. "e word “plum” had a di#erent meaning in the 17th century, and referred to raisins and other fruits.

Rumors abound regarding the ease of making plum pudding, from the ability to !nd “suet” (raw beef or mutton fat), to hours of slaving away over a steamy hot stovetop. "ankfully, suet has disap-peared from most recipes but can still be found in cookbooks focused on traditional recipes. One of suet’s main functions is to make tallow — a product historically used in candles and, today, used to make biofuel and $ux — a soldering clean-ing agent. For these reasons alone, my husband and I choose a recipe without suet, and one which calls for whiskey or rum. As non-drinkers, we’re not certain which to choose, so we buy a bottle of each, hoping to later let the best man — Captain Morgan or Jack Daniel — win.

Plum pudding was usually made four or !ve weeks before Christmas. "ere is con$icting information given about the ritual of stirring: either everyone held the spoon at the same time, or they held it indi-vidually, to give the batter a good stir. Either way, it’s certain a wish was made during the process.

Another tradition involved the baking of silver coins or small charms into the pudding. "e discoverer of the object then got to keep it. Each treasure had a di#erent meaning: a silver coin meant wealth in the coming year, a tiny wishbone ordained good luck, an anchor indicated safe har-bor, and a silver thimble symbolized thrift. In Eng-land, you can still purchase these small trinkets to bake into your pudding.

It’s tough to !nd a local bakery that sells plum pudding. "ere are companies in Connecticut and Wisconsin that do, and baking companies in Eng-land sell it too, but making it seems the best option.

For various reasons, David and I decide to make our plum pudding for the New Year. So the week after Christmas, we get down a large soup pot and a metal mold originally intended as a Bundt cake pan. It has thick walls, a fancy design, and works beautifully. I make fresh, $u#y bread crumbs in my food processor (decidedly not of Puritan design). We grate fresh cinnamon and nutmeg and melt two sticks of butter. We chop raisins and currants and decide to use the Jack Daniel’s, pouring in a mere one-half cup.

With the last of the ingredients added, the concoction is ready. We pour the batter into the buttered mold, cover it with wax paper and foil, and set it inside the pot on a trivet, partially !lling the pot with water. We put on the lid, wait and watch, adding more water as needed. After about six hours of steaming, we test it and are delighted with the result; it looks walnut-brown, feels !rm, and smells delicious. "ankfully, it looked beautiful after care-fully getting it out of the mold.

We wait a day or two, since puddings taste better with age. We get out our best china and silver, and cut small slices, drizzling a zabaione sauce we have chosen to make — one in which Captain Morgan makes an appearance this time. We can’t believe the $avor — the richness nearly knocks our socks o# — and make no mistake; you can clearly taste the alcohol. It’s outstanding, and we vow to make one every Christmas.

A fortunate characteristic of plum pudding is that it keeps well for a surprising six months. Ours lasted for three — into March, we were still enjoy-

holiday puddingby robbin lynn crandall

Illustrations by Michael Lowe

Jump to p. 26



ing it. Admittedly, it was a lot to polish o! ourselves, and we got in the habit of o!ering a slice to anyone who stopped by. We made no mention of the fact that it had been around for three months. Without exception, all loved it.

It wasn’t until the pudding was gone that I realized we’d forgotten to ignite it after all.

Plum Pudding for ChristmasRecipe Source: Chef Julia Child!e Way to Cook – 1996(Alfred A. Knopf)

Prep Time: 20 minutesCook Time: 6 hours

IngredientsPudding:

3 c. (lightly packed down) crumbs from homemade type white bread — a 1/2 –lb loaf, crust on, will do it

1 c. each: black raisins, yellow raisins and currants, chopped

1 1/3 c. sugar" tsp. each: cinnamon, mace and

nutmeg — more if needed8 oz. (2 sticks) butter, melted4 large eggs, lightly beatenfew drops of almond extract" c. bitter orange marmalade" c. rum or bourbon whiskey, heated

before servingsprigs of holly, optional2 c. Zabaione Sauce

Zabaione Sauce:1 large egg2 egg yolkssmall pinch of salt1/3 c. rum or bourbon whiskey (or

Masala or sherry)1/3 c. dry white French vermouth" c. sugar

Special equipment suggested:A food processor is useful for making

the bread crumbs and chopping the raisins; an 8-cup pudding container, such as a round bottomed metal mixing bowl; a cover for the bowl; a steamer basket or trivet; a roomy soup kettle with tight-#tting cover to hold bowl, cover, and basket.

Timing note:Like a good fruitcake, a plum pudding

develops its full $avor when made at least a week ahead. Count on 6 hours for the initial, almost unattended steaming, and 2 hours to reheat before serving.

Directions: %e pudding mixture:Toss the bread crumbs in a large

mixing bowl with the raisins, sugar, cinnamon, mace and nutmeg. %en toss with the melted butter, and #nally with the eggs, almond extract, orange marmalade, and rum or bourbon. Taste carefully for seasoning, adding more spices if needed.

To microwave plum pudding:Butter the dish you are cooking the

pudding in, then cover the bottom of the dish with a buttered piece of wax paper. Pour in batter. Cover dish with plastic wrap and pierce the plastic with a knife in several places. Cook at "defrost" (low speed) for 30 minutes. If your microwave oven does not have a carousel which turns the dish during cooking, stop the process several times during the cooking and rotate the dish manually. Finally, cook at 5 minutes on "bake" (high speed). Let the pudding set for a few minutes before unmolding. %e pudding is ready when it is #rm to the touch. %e microwaved plum pud-ding is somewhat paler than its steamed counterpart.

To steam a plum pudding:Use a special pan made for this

purpose. You must have a container with a very tight lid which will stay sealed throughout the cooking. Steam-ing — about 6 hours: Pack the pudding mixture into the container; cover with a round of wax paper and the lid. Set the container on the steaming contraption in the kettle, and add enough water to come a third of the way up the sides of the container. Cover the kettle tightly; bring to simmer, and let steam about 6 hours. Warning: check the kettle now and then to be sure the water hasn't boiled o!!

When is it done? When it is a dark walnut-brown color and fairly #rm to the touch.

Curing and storing: Let the pudding cool in its container.

Store it in a cool wine cellar, or in the re-frigerator. Ahead-of-time note: Pudding will keep nicely for several months.

Re-steaming: A good 2 hours before you plan to

serve, resteam the pudding — it must be quite warm indeed for successful $aming. Unmold onto a hot serving platter and decorate, if you wish, with sprigs of holly.

Flaming and serving:Pour the hot rum or whiskey around

the pudding. Either ignite it in the kitchen and rapidly bring it forth, or $ame it at the table. Serve the following Zabaione Sauce separately.

Zabaione Sauce:Whisk all the ingredients together for

1 minute in a stainless saucepan. %en whisk over moderately low heat for 4 to 5 minutes, until the sauce becomes thick, foamy and warm to your #nger — do not bring it to the simmer and scramble the eggs, but you must heat it enough for it to thicken. Serve warm or cold.

Ahead-of-time note: %e sauce will remain foamy for 20

to 30 minutes, and if it separates simply beat it brie$y over heat. If you wish to reform the sauce, whisk in a sti&y beaten egg white. Makes about 2 cups.

Yield: 12 servings

Robbin Lynn Crandall is a Food & Travel Web Copywriter, Social Media Consul-tant and Freelance Writer at Crandall Copywriting. She works with small- to mid-sized business owners to improve their marketing strategy and social media presence, along with a slew of marketing materials. Contact her at [email protected].



Goo

d T

hing

s A

re H

app

enin

g

Retail and Office Spaces

&�! ��!�!%�5a^]c�BcaTTc��BP[T\�<0�}�V [̂SQTaV_a^_TacXTb�R^\�}�(&'�(!!��'��

�# &�B`��5c��2^\\TaRXP[�B_PRT��BTeTaP[�B\P[[�>UUXRTb�=^f�0ePX[PQ[T�



We can’t imagine a winter kitchen being moreinviting than one with the aroma of baking bread wafting through the air. It’s also very grounding and gratifying to be kneading dough while the wind whips past your front door and snowfall begins. In this article, we share two of our favorite bread recipes, concocted in our own kitchen through experimentation. Beyond that, we o!er you the critical basics of making a delicious, hearty, healthy loaf of bread or rolls.

Few foods are as gratifying and satisfying as well-made whole grain bread. It exudes alluring aromas that can be sweet, spicy, smoky and earthy, all at the same time. "e rustic golden-brown tones of its crust hint at texture that is sometimes chunky, often dense and always substantial. And it’s catch-ing on in a big way.

"e growing popularity of whole grain bread is certainly fueled by its well-deserved reputation for better nutrition than white wheat #our which is usually labeled as all-purpose or bread #our in the supermarket. Whole grain delivers far more nutrients in much greater variety. But the other reason for the surge is almost certainly because it is so profoundly satisfying to eat. Plus, it’s almost in-

$nitely variable. You can experiment with a number of di!erent grains in di!erent combinations, and you will $nd you’ve created breads that each have a distinct aroma, texture and #avor.

Of all the grains commonly grown around the world — wheat, corn, rice, barley, sorghum, oats, millet and rye — only wheat contains enough gluten proteins to produce a yeast-risen bread. And, that makes all the di!erence in the texture and #avor.

Add water to wheat #our and knead it, and two proteins, glutenin and gliadin, bond with each other to form a strong, elastic protein called gluten. As kneading progresses, gluten strands stretch in every direction, forming a massive web that captures car-bon dioxide gases created by the yeast. "is in turn makes the bread dough rise. When the risen bread dough is baked, these gas bubbles expand further and are held in place by starch granules in the #our that soften, stick to each other and then bake into a semi-solid (soon to be delicious!) mass.

Flour that contains little to interfere with this gluten development will produce a higher, lighter and chewier bread (like the recipes here). In fact, white wheat #our has had its gluten inhibitors —

the stuff of lifestory and photos by anna and david kasabian

Baking photos by Anna Kasabian



bran and germ — removed leaving primarily gluten and starch, making white wheat !our the perfect bread-making material.

Remember too, the more whole grains in the dough, the heavier the loaf and richer the bread will be.

Most readily-available bread !ours, including King Arthur brand, contain 12 percent gluten and that is su"cient to get a bread with all of these great qualities.

Some bakers like to augment the glu-ten in bread !our by adding vital wheat gluten, a nearly pure gluten protein product re#ned from wheat !our.

Even whole wheat !our itself is guilty of gluten interference. Unlike white wheat !our, it still contains the nutritionally-important wheat germ, a fatty nodule that hinders gluten devel-opment. It also contains healthful bran, a sharp insoluble cellulous #ber that cuts gluten strands during kneading.

To lessen this e$ect and improve the gluten structure, try kneading whole wheat and other whole grain breads about half the time called for in white wheat bread recipes.

You could also add whole grains later in the kneading process, after the gluten structure is well developed and the whole grains have less chance to do damage.

Whole grains #nd their way into bread in three forms.

Whole grain !ours, like whole wheat !our, rye !our and spelt !our, are thoroughly milled to a #ne powder that readily hydrates (absorbs water), devel-ops a thick paste in the form of dough that sets in the baking process and is fundamental to the structure of a baked loaf of bread. Flours from any grain other than wheat will dilute the gluten in bread dough, a$ecting the structure.

%e second form of whole grains is meals, which are partially-milled grains like oatmeal, cracked wheat and corn-meal. Although they can contribute to the structure of a loaf in an incidental way, their culinary purposes are texture and !avor. Some must be cooked or soaked in advance of making the dough.

Oatmeal and other rolled cereals are usually steamed before rolling, so they hydrate and cook more quickly and are

often added to dough straight from the package. Meals also dilute the gluten, cut gluten strands, and sometimes just get in the way of the gluten network due to their physical size.

Finally, whole grains are used in the form of complete seeds, much the same as they are harvested from the #eld, less their husks. Hard and soft wheat berries, oat berries, whole grain barley, amaranth and millet are com-mon examples.

Because their starches are intact, they hydrate very slowly, release little or no starch, and contribute nothing to the bread’s structure. %ey are included entirely for their texture and !avor, and that’s a good thing.

Whole grain seeds must always be thoroughly soaked in water or other liq-uid, sometimes for as long as 24 hours, or thoroughly cooked and cooled before adding them to the dough.

If you don’t do this, the dough will get dry and tough because the seeds will absorb moisture from the dough.

It’s also a good idea to partially crush some of the larger seeds before adding to the dough to avoid a hard texture, particularly on the crust.

While it is important to follow a reci-pe the #rst time, it is more important to understand the results and know how to improve your bread each time you make it. Practice and experimentation will bring you great bread and enjoyable times in the kitchen.

Read these over, choose the recipe that most interests you, put on your apron and enjoy the rise, the knead and the bake.

Wheat grains without their husks that add a nutty, chewy character to breads:

· Quinoa (keen-wa): Quinoa are tiny bead-shaped grains with a light, delicate taste, a little crunch, and lots of protein.

· Amaranth: Rich in protein, iron, copper and magnesium, this peppery-!avored seed has three times the #ber and #ve times the iron of wheat.

· Flax seed: Loaded with Omega-3 fatty acids, !ax seed imparts a pleasant nutty !avor and texture to breads.

· Oats: High in soluble #ber, oats are available in many forms — including

berries, !aked, steel cut and rolled — and lend a light, slightly-sweet bite to breads.

· Rye: A hardy, #brous grain, rye has some gluten, but is best known for the deep rich !avor it adds to breads.

· Barley: %ought to be the oldest cultivated grain, barley adds vitamins, minerals, #ber and a pleasing, sweet, chewy quality to bread.

· Triticale: %is is a high-protein hy-brid of wheat and rye that has a sweet, nutty taste and chewy texture.

Jump to p. 30



Multi-Grain Dinner Rolls

2 packets yeast1 tbsp sugar2 cups warm water, more or less1 cup 5-grain rolled cereal��GYTW�FVIEH�¾SYV��GYT�[LSPI�[LIEX�¾SYVô�GYT�¾E\�WIIH1 tbsp kosher salt 1. Combine yeast, sugar and ½ cup

of water and let stand until yeast foams.2. Blend remaining ingredients in

QM\MRK�FS[P�SV�FS[P�SJ�WXERH�QM\IV�½XXIH�with dough hook and running on medium.��%HH�]IEWX�QM\XYVI�XS�FS[P�ERH�

combine. Slowly add remaining water until dough comes cleanly away from side of bowl and is tacky. Knead by hand on a PMKLXP]�¾SYVIH�FIRGL�JSV��QMRYXIW�SV�MR�QM\IV�JSV��QMRYXIW��YRXMP�ZIV]�IPEWXMG��'PIER�ERH�KVIEWI�QM\MRK�FS[P�

ERH�TPEGI�HSYKL�FEPP�MR�MX��'SZIV�[MXL�plastic wrap and towel and place in warm area to rise for 90 minutes or until dough has doubled.

5. Turn out, punch down, and cut dough into 2 inch cubes. We left them as squares, but you can roll them on coun-ter to create dough balls and end up with round rolls as well. Place on greased bak-MRK�WLIIX�EFSYX�ô�MRGL�ETEVX��'SZIV�[MXL�plastic wrap and towel and allow to rise for 2 hours, or until more than doubled. The rolls should be touching.��&EOI�MR��*�SZIR�JSV��XS��

minutes, or until golden brown and cooked to an internal temperature of 190°F.

Yields 20 rolls

Whole Grain Health Bread 1/3 cup quinoa1/3 cup amaranth2 cups water1 cup raisins2 cups warm milk2 packets yeastö�GYT�[LSPI�[LIEX�¾SYV��GYTW�FVIEH�¾SYVö�GYT�WTIPX�¾SYV¾ cup brown sugar1 tbsp kosher salt1 cup chopped walnuts 1. Plump raisins in a 1¼ cups milk

JSV��QMRYXIW��(VEMR�ERH�VIWIVZI�VEMWMRW�and plumping milk.��'SQFMRI�]IEWX��[LIEX�¾SYV�ERH�

remaining milk. Let stand for 30 minutes YRXMP�ZIV]�JSEQ]�

3. Cook quinoa and amaranth in two cups simmering water until absorbed and grains are tender. Cool.��'SQFMRI�RI\X�½ZI�MRKVIHMIRXW�MR�

QM\MRK�FS[P�SV�FS[P�SJ�WXERH�QM\IV�½XXIH�with dough hook and running on medium. %HH�]IEWX�QM\XYVI�ERH�ô�GYT�VEMWMR�plumping milk and knead for 30 seconds.

5. Add quinoa, amaranth, raisins and walnuts and knead until dough comes together and forms a tacky ball. Add plumping milk as needed. Knead for 6 QMRYXIW�F]�LERH�SV��QMRYXIW�F]�QM\IV��'PIER�ERH�KVIEWI�QM\MRK�FS[P��TPEGI�

HSYKL�FEPP�MR�MX��GSZIV�[MXL�TPEWXMG�[VET�and towel and allow to rise in a warm place for one hour, until nearly doubled.��8YVR�SYX��TYRGL�HS[R��ERH�HMZMHI�

MRXS�X[S�TMIGIW��*SVQ�PSEZIW�ERH�TPEGI�MRXS�KVIEWIH��ô�\��ô�MRGL�PSEJ�TERW��'SZIV�ERH�PIX�VMWI��LSYVW��YRXMP�QSVI�than doubled.��&EOI�MR��SZIR�JSV��XS��

minutes until golden brown and internal temperature reaches 190°F.�=MIPHW��PSEZIW

Seeded Rye Bread ½ cup soft wheat berries½ cup oat berries (groats)��GYTW�[EXIV2 packets yeast��XFWT�LSRI]��GYTW�FVIEH�¾SYV��GYTW�V]I�¾SYV��XFWT�ZMXEP�[LIEX�KPYXIR1 tbsp kosher salt 1. Cook soft wheat berries and oat

berries in 3 cups simmering water until absorbed and berries are tender. Chop in food processor for 1 minute. Cool.

2. Combine yeast, honey and ½ cup water and let stand until yeast foams.

3. Combine remaining ingredients in FS[P�SV�FS[P�SJ�WXERH�QM\IV�½XXIH�[MXL�dough hook and running on medium.��%HH�]IEWX�QM\XYVI�ERH�GSQFMRI�5. Add cooked berries and knead

for 2 minutes. Then add splashes of water until the dough comes together and is tacky.��'PIER�ERH�KVIEWI�QM\MRK�FS[P��

TPEGI�HSYKL�FEPP�MR�MX��GSZIV�[MXL�TPEWXMG�wrap and towel and allow to rise in warm place for 1 hour, until nearly doubled.��8YVR�SYX��TYRGL�HS[R��ERH�HMZMHI�

MRXS�X[S�TMIGIW��1EOI�JVII�JSVQ�PSEZIW�ERH�TPEGI�SR�¾SYVIH�FEOMRK�WLIIX��'SZIV�and let rise for 2 hours, until more than doubled.��&EOI�MR��SZIR�JSV��XS��

minutes until golden brown and internal temperature reaches 190°F.�=MIPHW��PSEZIW

Anna and David Kasabian have au-thored three cookbooks and regularly write about food together. Anna also writes about interior design and architecture, is working on her 14th book, and is a local potter (snowboundpottery.com).



PEABODY ESSEX MUSEUM SHOP 161 Essex Street | Salem, MA 01970 | 978-542-1619 Open Tuesday–Sunday 10 am–5 pm | Closed Mondays

DEN

NIS

HEL

MA

R PH

OTO

GRA

PHY

Polarized sunglasses designed by Iris Apfel | $99

art|culture|shopShop online! pemshop.com

LOOKIN’ S T Y L I S H

MK1884ArtThrob_PEMDec.indd 1 11/15/12 9:57 AM

Wine Tastings6DWXUGD\V��ĥ��30open 7 days a week

185 Essex St6DOHP��0$Ī��ī��ĥ��

�


North Shore Art Throb- The Ritual Issue- December 2012

Documents

Transcript of North Shore Art Throb- The Ritual Issue- December 2012