New York

"Kin and clan. Son. Sire. The grand calved on in grandson, grandmother.  The words of all the ties of blood interest me, for they seem never quite deft enough, not entirely bold and guileful enough, to speak the mysterious strengths of lineage."

Ivan Doig, This House of Sky
 

Last week I went to New York.

I saw a lot of family (I grew up in New York and hold down the farthest-flung outpost of diaspora here in Montana) and old friends, binged on art (Matisse at MoMA!  Islamic art at the Met!), ate incredible food (Turkish, Israeli, Indian, Italian), and spent a day on my own wandering the neighborhoods of Brooklyn and lower Manhattan, just taking the city in.  

It had been over a year since my last pilgrimage to what I still consider, in the provincial spirit of an erstwhile New Yorker, the Greatest City Ever.  And I was struck, as I always am, by its ceaseless, powerful throb:  millions of people packed into a few square miles, frantically transacting, exchanging, creating, eating, shouting, breathing.  It's hard for me to imagine making a life there now in any serious way; I think I've become too happily Westernized and semi-ruralized.  But I retain my  affection for that crazed, enthralling place.  Wandering the city's endless patchwork of streets, that throb felt like the clapped-out rhythm of an old favorite dance. 

And the web of kin and kindred in and around New York remains singularly special.  Seven days in town easily embraced as many walks, meals, hikes, and sitting-around chats with all manner of family.  That is always worth the trip. 

Back at home, it is soup season again.  Craving something new, I thought I'd try this adaptation of Yotam Ottolenghi's spicy chickpea and bulgur soup.  But I learned that harissa, the signature ingredient, is mighty hard to come by in Southwest Montana, so I had to improvise a bit...

Small-town spicy chickpea soup | adapted from Yotam Ottolenghi via 101 cookbooks

3 small yellow onions, diced

1 head garlic, minced

4 tablespoons olive oil

2 teaspoons ground coriander

1 and 1/2 tablespoons cumin

2 teaspoons Vietnamese chili-garlic sauce (the kind with the rooster on the label)

1 teaspoon ground New Mexican red chile

2 teaspoons salt

1 bunch celery, diced

4 large carrots, diced

4 cans chick peas, rinsed

7 cups water

1 cup bulgur

1 bunch cilantro, finely chopped

freshly ground pepper to taste

Makes 10-12 servings

Heat the olive oil in a large stock pot.  Add the garlic and onion and saute over medium heat until the onions are translucent, about eight minutes.  Add the carrots and celery and saute another five to six minutes.

Add the coriander, cumin, chili-garlic sauce, ground red chile, and salt.  Stir to coat the vegetables.

Add the chickpeas and saute two to three minutes, adding pepper to taste and more salt if needed.  Add the water and bring to a boil.  Simmer, uncovered, twenty minutes.

In a separate pot, bring two cups of water to a boil.  Add the bulgur and simmer, covered, about twelve minutes or until most of the water is absorbed and the bulgur is tender.  

Add the bulgur and chopped cilantro to the soup and simmer three to four minutes.  Serve hot.