Also, sometimes the New Yorker has celebrity writers. This is done with no fanfare. Their names are listed just like the rest of the other writers. All excellent - including the poets I sometimes can't understand.
There were at least three spectacular guest writers for this food themed issue. Two of them are deceased.
The late Nora Ephron's 2002 article is titled "The Sandwich." She begins by saying "The pastrami sandwich served at Langer's Delicatessen in downtown Los Angles is the finest hot pastrami sandwich in the world." And then she goes into a lengthly explanation to prove it. A quarter of the article dwells on the rye bread.
My personal favorite of the cured meat sandwiches is the corned beef from Too-Jays. They too, go into great lengths to serve the perfect sandwich, including warm Russian rye bread and Gulden's mustard. I will never, ever be allowed to eat this sandwich again, so iI'm hoping one of you readers will try it and let me know what you think.
The late Anthony Bourdain wrote his article when he was a New York chef in the year 2000. It's a wild and wooly ride on the day in the life of this wild and wooly, larger than life, man. Among other things, he had to create a daily menu special from the ground up for the Les Halles, a once prominent restaurant on Park Avenue in New York. It was most famous for kickstarting Bourdain's career.
,In the article Bourdain lets us know what he's planing. "For the appetizer special, I'm thinking cockles steamed in chorizo, leeks, tomatoes, and white wine - a one-pan wonder."
In my cooking days I would never in a hundred years have been that brave. But I WAS kind of known for my pigs in a blanket.
The third celebrity writer is still very much alive. Steve Martin wrote the "Shouts & Murmurs" column. He titled it, Two Menus, and gave us a set of menus from two separate restaurants. I'm sure these restaurants exist only in superior and super funny mind of Steve Martin. Two of the recipes overlap so they're the ones I will share with you. You'll have to get hold of a New Yorker to see them rest. It's well worth it!
1. KING'S RANSOM, Paducah, Kansas, Fine dining at its best.
Our Banana Split
Fried ice cream, butter, double-cream-infused banana, whipped cream, cherries in red dye No. 2, triple-fudge chocolate sauce, pancakes, cow fat.
2. SYNERGY, Beverly Hills, California, Phone: Yeah, right.
Our Banana Split
One banana lying in its own skin, covered in chocolate, on a bed of arugula. A cheesecloth mouth (shield) is supplied to enable you to taste the chocolate without swallowing.
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