Spectacular Squash

SPECTACULAR SQUASH

Winter squash comes in elongated, round, pear-shaped and scalloped shapes with flesh ranging from golden-yellow to brilliant orange. It can be stored for months in a cool basement and enjoyed in a multitude of recipes.

Text and Photo by FÜSUN ATALAY © 2007

When markets and roadside stands are piled high with mountains of colourful squash and pumpkins of many sizes and shapes, my thoughts invariably turn to Halloween and jack-o'-lanterns before images of pumpkin pies or spicy squash medleys dance before my eyes.

Then, to find solace in bidding farewell to yet another summer, I seek out recipes to welcome these ambassadors of autumn. Squash is one among many foods native North Americans introduced when Europeans first arrived. What's called squash in English actually comes from "askutasquash," the Narragansett Indian word which means green-raw-unripe. And that's how Narragansetts ate it. They probably didn't know how to use butternut squash in curried soups, acorn squash stuffed with cooked grains and dry fruits, or pumpkins in breads or coffee cakes.

Today, we identify squash as one of the many fruits of the gourd family and divide it into summer and winter squash. Both types are nutritionally healthy. The edible skin of summer squash such as zucchini or yellow crookneck provides lots of beta-carotene, whereas winter squash, whose skin is hard and inedible, is higher in iron, vitamin A, riboflavin and complex carbohydrates.

The peak season for winter squash is October through December. Most, like acorn, butternut, Hubbard and sugar pumpkins, vary slightly in texture and flavour, so they can be used interchangeably in recipes. The spaghetti squash, which requires unique treatment because of its stringy flesh, is an exception.

Watch for ...

When you shop for winter squash, look for hard, blemish-free, deep-coloured skins. The squash should feel heavy for its size and have a shiny complexion.

Cooking winter squash is as easy as cooking potatoes. You can bake, fry, mash, microwave, steam or purée squash. Boiling causes a loss in flavour and nutrients. Baking, on the other hand, concentrates the flavour and retains the nutrients. To bake, cut squash in two, remove seeds and place cut side down on a baking sheet. Add a few tablespoons of water and cover with foil. Bake in a 350 F oven for 45-60 minutes or until the pulp is tender.

Another delicious method for squash is roasting it. Peel and cut a butternut or acorn squash into chunks, toss with olive oil, salt, pepper and thyme. Place in a casserole and roast at 375 F for 35-40 minutes. You can offer the delicious yield as a side dish or puree and for a satisfying roasted butternut squash soup.

Don't forget to save the pumpkin and squash seeds to make delicious, protein-rich snacks. Rinse all pulp and strings from the seeds, spread them on a double layer of paper towels to dry for several hours. Toss with 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil and coarse salt to taste. Spread in a single layer on a baking sheet, and bake at 350 F for about 30 minutes or until golden brown, stirring every 5 to 10 minutes. Cool. Store in an air-tight container.


Chicken and Pasta in Creamy Pumpkin Sauce Serves 6

3 cups uncooked bow tie pasta
2 Tbsp butter + 1 Tbsp oil
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, cut crosswise into 2-cm strips
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 cup cooked, mashed pumpkin or squash
1/2 cup chicken broth
3/4 cup 15 per cent cream
5-6 fresh sage leaves, julienned
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup walnuts, roughly chopped and toasted

Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain; keep warm.Meanwhile, melt butter in 12-inch skillet until it bubbles; add oil, chicken and garlic. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until chicken is no longer pink in centre (8 to 10 minutes).

Add cooked pasta.Combine pumpkin, chicken broth, whipping cream, pepper, sage and salt in medium bowl. Pour over pasta mixture; gently toss to coat. Cook over medium heat until heated through (3 to 5 minutes). Sprinkle with walnuts before serving.

Pumpkin-Spice Muffins Makes 12 muffins

2 eggs
1 /2 cup plain yogurt
1-1/4 cups pumpkin purée (canned is OK)
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 /2 cup butter, melted
2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 /2 tsp baking soda
1 /2 tsp salt
3 tsp ground cinnamon
3 tsp ground ginger
1 /2 tsp cloves
Pinch of white pepper
2/3 cups raisins

Heat oven to 350 F. Spray muffin tin with non-stick vegetable spray, set aside. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, yogurt, pumpkin purée, brown sugar and butter. In another bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and pepper. Add the dry ingredients slowly to the wet, stirring until just mixed. Fold in the raisins.

Spoon batter equally into prepared muffin tin.Bake muffins in the middle of the oven until firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted into them comes out clean (20- 25 minutes).Remove from the tin when they're cool enough to handle. They freeze well.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Friendly Bacteria

Text and Photography By: Füsun Atalay ~ © 2004

Yogurt is known and consumed in almost all parts of the world. However, Mediterranean countries use a lot in their cuisine. They usually eat plain, unsweetened yogurt with main dishes such as spinach or wine leaves stuffed with meat and rice. It is also added to salads or used to make traditional “meze” (appetizers).

There are generally three types of yogurt on the market: regular, low-fat and non-fat. The main difference between them is the fat content before addition of flavour.

To be yogurt, it must contain active and living cultures composed of unique living micro-organisms which are responsible for many health and nutritional benefits. These friendly bacteria become an intrinsic part of live yogurt, when it is homemade and fermented for at least 24 hours.

Since it’s a fresh dairy product, yogurt must be stored in the refrigerator. Heat-treated yogurt has a longer shelf life but, as heat processing destroys the cultures, it fails to supply the nutritional benefits of yogurt with live cultures. To get the most health benefit from yogurt, look for a “live and active cultures” seal on the label.

Yogurt made from whole milk has at least 3.25 per cent milk fat. Low-fat yogurt made from low-fat milk, reduced-fat milk or part-skim milk has between 0.5 and 2 per cent milk fat. Non-fat yogurt must contain less than 0.5 per cent milk fat.

In 1965, the term “probiotics” (the opposite of antibiotics) was coined to describe substances that favour the growth of beneficial micro-organisms in the body. Probiotics help to digest food in the gut the same way they partially digest fats, proteins and carbs in milk to create yogurt.

Because yogurt cultures flourish in the digestive tract, their natural antibiotic effect helps combat infections and protect the stomach lining from toxins. Containing high levels of natural enzymes, yogurt can also prevent diarrhea and dysentery — especially in infants. Itself an antibiotic, yogurt is known to help prevent or control diarrhea caused by bacteria or by taking antibiotic drugs.

Probiotics appear to be useful in treating a variety of gastrointestinal problems, including inflammatory bowel disease (such as Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis), ulcers and irritable bowel syndrome. Scientists now believe the live cultures in yogurt are exceptional probiotics that are beneficial to health, with research show- ing that live yogurt can stimulate the human immune system as well as kill harmful bacteria.

Yogurt suppresses activity that converts harmless chemicals into carcinogenic agents. Thus, it is credited with helping in the prevention of colon cancer. It is also known to discourage yeast infections such as Candida albicans and vaginal thrush.

Live yogurt is an outstanding source of protein, calcium, potassium, phosphorus, vitamin B6, B12, niacin, folic acid and potassium. As a source of calcium, yogurt can even help prevent osteoporosis.

Many doctors recommend live yogurt for patients on antibiotics to replenish good bacteria, and some argue that live yogurt cultures may also reduce the occurrence of colds, allergies and hay fever.

Finally, according to a new study published in The Lancet, the British Medical Association Journal, treating pregnant women with “good bacteria” such as Lactobacillus in yogurt may prevent thousands of children from contracting asthma by strengthening the vulnerable immune systems of babies before birth.

Refreshing yogurt drinks are made by combining plain yogurt, salt and water — and served mostly with meat kebabs. Fried vegetables such as eggplant, green pepper or zucchini are eaten with yogurt to which salt and crushed garlic have been added. The popular cucumber and yogurt salad is prepared with yogurt, cucumbers, fresh or dried mint, garlic, salt and a swirl of olive oil.

Before you buy yogurt, check the label for the sell-by date. Plain, unflavored yogurt in larger containers is the best buy and the most versatile. It’s handy for salad dressings, dips, sauces, desserts and baked goods. You can mix it with fruit or jams for a flavoured version.

You can integrate this friendly bacteria in a variety of ways into your diet and to keep your mind and body strong, try these healthier alternatives:

• Dips made with yogurt instead of sour-cream are just as tasty at much less fat calories.
• Using yogurt to replace mayonnaise or dressings adds a healthy, low-fat tang to your salads.
• Replace milkshakes with frozen yogurt or mixed fruit yogurt smoothies.
• Yogurt cheese in place of cream cheese is quite the trendy way to ingest calcium.
• Yogurt, due to its high acidity, makes a deliciously tenderizing marinade for meat and poultry.
• Use instead of sour cream to reduce the fat in muffins and coffee cake recipes and still maintain the desired moistness.

A word of caution: Heating yogurt to high temperatures destroys the beneficial bacteria that it contains. To preserve this good bacteria, avoid adding yogurt to a hot mixture. Instead, stir a few tablespoons of the hot food into the yogurt, tempering it gradually. Then stir the warmed yogurt back into the hot mixture such as soups or sauces.
• • •

So, are you ready to add more yogurt to your diet? Would you like to make it at home? It’s simple.

Homemade Yogurt ~ The way my Father used to make ~

4 cups 2 per cent milk
1/2 cup instant powdered milk
1 Tbsp. honey
1/2 cup plain yogurt at room temperature (for starter culture)

Pour milk into a saucepan and whisk in powdered milk and honey. Place over medium heat and bring to 50 C on an instant read thermometer. Once milk has reached 50 C, pour into a plastic container, reserving half a cup. Whisk in the reserved half-cup into the yogurt until the mixture is smooth and of buttermilk consistency.

Add this back to the milk mixture.

Place container in a draft-free place (a cold oven is good) with a heating pad set at medium, or a blanket wrapped around it to keep its temperature as close to 45 degrees C as possible. Leave the mixture to ferment for five to eight hours or overnight.

After fermentation is complete, place in the refrigerator for eight hours. You can save a half cup of this yogurt as a starter for the next batch.

Your homemade yogurt is now ready for consumption or for using in the following delicious recipes.

First two come from Taste of Home Cooking magazine:

Very Berry Smoothie

1 cup fresh or frozen berries
1 cup plain low-fat, or vanilla yogurt
1 cup orange juice
4 ice cubes

Place ingredients into blender and mix on high until smooth. Garnish with a fresh strawberry. Makes 2 smoothies.

Pineapple Smoothie

1 20-oz. can unsweetened
pineapple chunks
1 cup plain low-fat yogurt
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1-2 Tbsp. liquid honey

Drain pineapple, reserving 3/4 cup of the liquid. Freeze the chunks. In a blender combine frozen pineapple chunks, reserved liquid, honey, vanilla and yogurt. Blend until smooth. Pour into glasses and garnish with a mint sprig. Makes 5 servings.
• • •

Blueberry Yogurt Muffins

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 cups sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
2 eggs
1 1/4 cup plain yogurt
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 Tbsp. lemon zest, grated
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

Preheat the oven to 375 F and butter the muffin tins. In a mixing bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, combine the sugar, yogurt, eggs, melted butter, cinnamon and lemon zest. Beat until thoroughly mixed. Add the dry ingredients and mix just until blended. Do not over mix. Fold in blueberries gently. Spoon the batter into the greased muffin tins, filling each cup about two-thirds full. Bake for approximately 15 minutes, or until the tops are browned, and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Let cool in the pan before serving warm. Makes 1 dozen.
• • •
This is a cool and refreshing accompaniment to spicy foods such as curries.

Raita

2 cups plain yogurt
1 seedless English cucumber, peeled
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
Sprig of fresh mint, coarsely chopped, plus more for garnish

Place yogurt in a medium-size mixing bowl. On the large holes of a box grater, grate cucumber directly into the bowl. Season the mixture with salt, cumin, and mint, stirring well. Chill the raita slightly. Garnish with chopped mint, and serve.
• • •
Here’s another recipe from Taste of Home Cooking magazine.

Coffee Cake

1 cup butter, softened
2- 2/3 cup sugar, divided
2 tsp. vanilla extract
4 large eggs
3 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
2 cups plain yogurt
3/4 cup chopped walnuts (or pecans)
2 Tbsp. cinnamon

Grease a 25-centimetre tube pan, set aside. Turn oven on to 350 F. Combine nuts, 3/4 cup of the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl and set aside. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; set aside.
Cream butter with 2 cups sugar until fluffy. Add vanilla. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Add the flour mixture alternately with yogurt, beating just enough after each addition to keep the batter smooth. Spoon one-third of this batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle one-third of the cinnamon-nut mixture over the batter in pan. Repeat layers two more times.

Bake the cake for 70 minutes or until it tests done. Cool for 15 minutes before removing onto a wire rack to cool completely.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Copyrighted Material ~ All Rights belong to Füsun Atalay ~ Copyright © 2004

Living her innate Passion

Text and Photo By: Füsun Atalay ~ Copyright © 2004

In 1987, it was the words of a fourteen year old in her art class which suddenly confronted Pamela Carter with her life-changing question. At the time she was demonstrating portrait drawing to her secondary three students, when a boy exclaimed, "Miss, you’re really good ! You should become an artist and sell your drawings!"

It would take another ten years before Carter decided to give up teaching and start living passionately by embracing her art full time.

Now when she looks back at what is history, Carter has no regrets. In fact she has words of wisdom for those who are caught between the complacence of the security of a job, and the angst of their unfulfilled passion in life.

"There is nothing like the routine of a job that robs you out of your innate passion," she says. "I had to find out what it would be that made me jump out of bed in the morning and do it."

With no prior planning at all, Carter found herself looking at a light at the end of the tunnel, and felt she should get out while she had her wits about her. She admits that leaving teaching to become a full time artist was one of the most daring yet the best things she did in her life.

Pamela Carter,1967 alumni of Concordia University, Montréal, has been working in the pastel medium for 18 years. The seeds of her life changing decision were sawn in February 1987, when she took an intensive workshop with Daniel Greene, a world renown New York artist.

"That week, in the company if equally passionate pastelists changed my life," recalls Carter. "The kind of person who lives in the present, I had no ideas of quitting teaching. Yet here I was, confronted with a very strong appeal."

Having decided to immerse herself in her art, Carter took an early retirement from teaching in 1997 and hasn’t regretted move for one moment.

"I’m quite a dynamic leader and I never really knew that," says Carter. "A lot more of the emotional and the spiritual side of my personality is coming out and being validated by my peers. I’m better now in every way than I ever was. I gave my best to teaching and I valued it. But at certain point, the returns weren’t worth it."

She gets a lot of pleasure from teaching adults who have been waiting all their lives to do what they want to do.

"They are so hungry and starving," she says. "They’re not just painting pictures, there’s a poetry into it."

As an artist Carter feels that her evolution is just at the beginning. She can see how it is developing and where it is going. That may be why she feels that everything she does in her life is now connected and her life is a hole instead of disconnected bits and pieces.

"I don’t want to waste one second of my life to an unappreciative audience - be they students, family, or whotever, "she says. "Whatever society you’re brought up in, you’re stamped with guilt for not doing what you’re assigned to do. But once you break the conventions and step out of that mould, you can find your purpose and follow it."

Pamela Carter’s list of accomplishments is long and impressive. Her prize-winning paintings have been exhibited and collected throughout Canada and in Europe; and have been shown at the National Arts Club and the Salmagundi Club in New York. She has been invited to demonstrate her techniques at international conventions in Albuquerque, New Mexico and Rouen, France.

While she continues to find delight in painting, she also makes time to teach and give workshops where she can share her techniques and insights with students who return year after year to benefit from her generosity and joy of living that are so beautifully reflected in her works.

Copyrighted Material. All Rights belong to Füsun Atalay ~ © 2004

The Beet Goes On . . .

Text and Photos by: FÜSUN ATALAY ~ Copyright 2007

"The beet is the most intense of vegetables. The radish admittedly is more feverish, but the fire of the radish is a cold fire, the fire of discontent, not of passion. Tomatoes are lusty enough, yet there runs through tomatoes an undercurrent of frivolity. Beets are deadly serious."

~ Tom Robbins ~

Easy to prepare, delicious to eat, beats are a great bargain when you buy them with their greens attached. Many of us think of only the beet roots, pickled or boiled as a side dish, when we speak of beets. But did you know that you can also use the greens in many ways ?

Consider yourself getting a two-for-one deal when you buy beets with their green tops attached because you can use both the leaves and the roots in separate recipes. Beat greens are very much like Swiss chard; so treat them the same in cooking. Chop the tougher red stems into 2 cm pieces, saute an onion in a little oil and add the chopped stems. After about ten minutes, add the chopped greens, 1/4 cup of liquid, a pinch of salt and cook for another ten minutes

Surprisingly, neither the stems nor the leaves lose much of their color during the cooking process and you end up with a nutritious, vibrant green and red cooked vegetable to serve with chicken, meat or eggs; or use as a filling to replace spinach in phyllo pastry.

roots are just as versatile as the greens. They can be baked, boiled, braised, pickled, roasted, steamed or used raw in salads. Roasting in their skins keeps their natural sweetness and color intact. Wrap each beet in foil, place on a baking sheet and bake in a 400 degree oven for about 40 minutes.

After they have cooled, you can rub the skins off by holding the beet between a paper towel or using a paring knife.

Now the possibilities are many. A little drizzle of olive oil and a pinch of sea salt turns these ruby red jewels, diced or sliced, into a perfect side dish.

Raw or cooked, beets lend themselves to many stunning salad recipes that look as good on the plate as they taste on the palate. Grated or sliced they pair favorably with Feta or blue cheese; pecans or walnuts; fresh mint, dill or coriander. Red onions or scallions give them a zing and orange, lime or lemon juice, as well as balsamic vinegar emulsified with olive oil offer a light vinaigrette. Sliced apples, pears, orange segments love to appear next to these intensely colored vegetables on a bed of endives or bib lettuce

Then there is Borscht.

Although there are many variations of this Eastern European Jewish dish, borscht is basically a simple broth-based soup mixed with diced beets cooked in their liquid, citrus juice, salt, fresh herbs, chopped onions and a dollop of sour cream.

I like serving my own version of cold borscht in the summer. With the addition of plain yogurt, chicken broth , chopped cucumbers, scallion and fresh dill it makes a light, nourishing and refreshing soup— a perfect food for the hot summer days.

You can find many recipes on the web, in cook books or magazines showing how to use these versatile roots and their greens. From soups to salads to even chocolate cakes, beets are indeed tough to beat.

Summer Borscht Serves 6

4 medium fresh beets
2 teaspoons sea salt
2 cups fat-free chicken stock
1-1/2 cups beet cooking liquid
1 cup plain yogurt
2 Tablespoons sugar
2 Tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 English cucumber, peeled and diced
2 scallions, chopped
1 Tablespoon fresh coriander, chopped
5 sprigs fresh dill

Cook beets in a large pot of water for 30 to 40 minutes or until the beets are tender. Remove the beets to a bowl and set aside to cool. Strain the cooking liquid through a fine sieve and allow to cool.

In a large bowl, whisk together 1 1/2 cups of the beet cooking liquid, the chicken stock, yogurt, sugar, lime juice, salt, and the pepper.

Peel and dice cooled beets. Add the beets, cucumber, coriander, dill and scallions to the bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for 4 to 8 hours. Adjust seasoning, stir and serve cold with a sprig of fresh dill.

~~~~~~~~~

Heart of Lightness

Story and Photos by: FÜSUN ATALAY ~ Copyright © 2007

Eating an artichoke is a bit like eating a lobster: a hands-on, leisurely, social affair. Amidst glasses of cold refreshments and lively conversation with family or friends, you crack the shell, dig out minuscule bits of flesh and dismantle the lobster to claim your reward: that sweet, succulent tail meat.

This quest is similar to dismantling an artichoke. To get at the delectable heart of the matter you must pluck each petal and scrape the pulp at its base between your teeth. Eventually you will reach the delicious, tender heart protected under the gauntlet of the inedible, prickly choke which you discard. But the journey can be quite fun as you dip each petal into a savory sauce and eat the succulent part as you advance towards the treasure.

I didn’t taste a lobster until I was a teenager, but one of my favourite childhood veggies — the artichoke — showed up in many varieties on our dinner table. My favourite, however, was the simplest: steamed artichokes, chilled and served with lemon butter. I had no idea then that I was consuming a thistle which dates back thousands of years, and that at one time it was considered to be the food of the ancient Roman nobility.

Nor did I know the benefits of artichokes for proper functioning of the liver, gall bladder and kidneys; or their being excellent sources of vitamins A and C, calcium, potassium, iron and magnesium. All that mattered was they tasted good.

Artichokes are available all year round with two peak seasons from March to May and September to December. Artichoke hearts are sold marinated in jars, as well as canned in brine or oil. Some supermarkets also carry frozen, ready-to-use artichoke hearts.

In buying artichokes, select those with a bright colour that feel heavy for their size, have compact heads and tightly closed leaves. Once touched by the knife, these delectable thistles discolor quickly, but rubbing with lemon and submerging in a bowl of acidulated water retards this process. Fresh artichokes can keep up to a week at cool temperatures, and they should not be washed until ready to use.

Preparing an artichoke for cooking requires practice. Cut about a quarter from the top off and remove the outer sharp leaves close to the stem. Trim the stem so the base stands straight. Rub all over with a cut lemon.

Place artichokes and the lemon in a heavy pot with a lid. Add enough water to cover. Bring water to a boil and cook for 40-45 minutes

Test for doneness by pulling a petal from the middle row of leaves — if it comes out easily, artichokes are cooked. Remove them from water and drain upside down. Serve at room temperature or chilled (chilled artichokes are more flavourful); plain or with a simple lemon-butter sauce.

~~~~~~~~~

Amazing Capers

"And we praise You, my Lord,
for our Sister Earth,
who sustains us with her fruits,
and colored flowers, and herbs!"

From the Canticle of the Saint Francis of Assisi (Giovanni Bernardone, 1181-1226) Founder of the Order of Friars Minor, Patron saint of animals, zoos, ecologists, and environmentalists

Story and Photos by: FÜSUN ATALAY ~ Copyright © 2007

I've known for a long time that capers came in small jars in brine, but I never questioned where they originated or how they got there— until I visited the Mediterranean coast of Turkey some years ago where I saw young boys along the roadside selling small baskets of green, pea-sized berries they called ‘kebere’.

I don’t know if it was the adolescent voices of those young boys eager to sell the fruits of their early morning forays into the perilous habitats of caper bushes, or the tiny, dull, green berries which I couldn’t identify as anything I’d seen before that fascinated me and aroused my curiosity.

In any case, it took a little investigation before I could make the connection between those freshly picked ‘kebere’ and the caper berries I know, pickled in brine. Ever since, however, I’ve been intrigued by these olive-green flower buds of a hardy, perennial Mediterranean bush (Capparis spinosa) that contribute to the culinary cultures of the world.

As a naturally propagated wild bush, the caper plant is not fussy about its environment and thrives in dry earth, sending roots up to 40 meters deep into rocky crevices and arid hillsides exposed to the intense July and August sun.

The flower buds are picked before they start opening—a very labour intensive, daily task. This is a job best done by young, small hands because, as innocuous as they may seem, the buds of the thorny plant are not easy to harvest. After harvesting capers are sun-dried and pickled during July and August, when the sun is at its hottest along the Mediterranean coast.

Capers are preserved in brine or vinegar, or packed in sea salt (other kind of salts may cause early deterioration of the berries) after which their shelf life becomes practically indefinite. They range in size from the tiny (French) 'nonpareils' -most sought after for their pronounced taste and delicate texture- to those as large as cocktail olives. Perhaps because of their longevity after pickling, as well as their ability to complement many native Mediterranean herbs such as basil, oregano and tarragon, capers are one of the most versatile condiments and garnish ingredients.

French, Italian, Spanish and Turkish cuisines use capers to enhance the flavours of tomato and wine sauces, mayonnaise dressings; to add a pleasant piquancy to anchovies, poultry, fish and meat dishes or spice up appetizers, egg, potato and seafood salads.

Pickled capers are found in small glass jars among olives, pickles and other condiments on the supermarket shelves. They are commonly packed in brine; however they can be also salted and sold in bulk. In the latter case rinse the excess salt before using the berries. If you are buying pickled capers, look for bottles with no sediment, and once you open the bottle refrigerate the unused portion.

It’s ironic that my chance encounter with the young ‘kebere’ pickers on the sultry hillsides of the Turkish Mediterranean coast taught me more about capers. So it seems only fitting to end with a final word of advice I received from these amazingly knowledgeable, enthusiastic youngsters : If your recipe calls for capers in a cooked sauce, add them during the last few minutes of cooking to retain their intricate flavours and aroma.


Here are two delicious recipes which use capers as an essential ingredient.

Halibut with Caper-Lemon-Butter Sauce Serves 8

8 halibut steaks,
Sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
4 Tbsp olive oil
3 shallots, chopped
4 Tbsp capers in brine, drained
freshly squeezed juice of half a lemon
1 Tbsp lemon zest, finely grated
4 Tbsp butter
1/4 cup flat-leaf (Italian) parsley, chopped

Season halibut with salt and pepper on both sides. Place 2 Tbsp oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat.

Coat four fish steaks with flour and place in hot skillet. Cook, turning once, until fish is opaque and edges golden brown, (2 to 3 minutes). Transfer to a plate and keep warm. Add more oil to skillet, if necessary, and cook remaining floured halibut pieces.

When fish is cooked lower heat to medium, add remaining oil, shallots and capers to skillet. Sauté until shallots are light golden. Add lemon juice and zest, and bring to a boil. Simmer for one minute; add a pinch of salt and pepper. Remove from heat; whisk in butter and stir in parsley. Spoon over fish and garnish with slices of the remaining lemon half. Serve with oven roasted potato and fennel slices.

Pasta Puttanesca Serves 4

Quick, easy and tasty this dish is said to have originated in Naples after the local ladies of the night. Although spaghetti or linguine is the traditional, choice you can use any type of pasta on hand.

28 oz can Italian tomatoes
1/4 cup olive oil
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 Tbsp fresh rosemary leaves, finely chopped
1 tsp dried chilli flakes
2 Tbsp capers, drained
1/4 cup pitted black olives, roughly chopped
6 anchovy fillets in oil, drained and chopped
1 Tbsp fresh oregano
1 lb spaghetti or linguini
1/3 cup Italian parsley, chopped
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, torn to bite-size pieces
salt and pepper, to taste

Roughly chop tomatoes ; set aside.
Boil pasta in lots of salted water
Heat oil in a pan with the garlic and rosemary, simmer gently for about a minute.
Add the chilli, anchovies, tomatoes, olives, oregano, and black pepper. Simmer 10 minutes. Add the capers and continue to simmer for 1-2 minutes more.
Meanwhile, cook pasta in boiling water to al dente, approximately 7-8 minutes.
Drain pasta ; transfer into a large serving bowl and pour the sauce over. Sprinkle chopped parsley and toss together. Serve immediately.

They Rest Facing the Sun

This is the story of a cemetery at Harbour Main that dates back to 1776, and the active efforts of one man to restore and reclaim something historic as a legacy to his community.

Text and Photography

By:

Füsun Atalay ~ Copyright © 2003

Visiting a cemetery to see the grave stones of one’s ancestors and reading the names, dates and relationships inscribed on their head stones can be a humbling experience, especially when one can trace the family back over two centuries. But occasionally time, and particularly neglect can rob people of such contemplative experiences.

The setting is Harbour Main. It’s a perfect summer day with sunshine and a mellow breeze The only sounds are those of the gulls and other sea birds. The grassy hills are covered with yellow and purple wild flowers, The water is clear and calm as a sheet, dotted with white sailboats here and there. And high up on a hill facing an arm of Conception Bay is a graveyard where stones, marking the burial plots, face the rising sun and the waters of the bay. An ideal, tranquil setting for the remains of the departed to be laid in their final resting place.

This is the story of a cemetery at Harbour Main that dates back to 1776, and the active efforts of one man to restore and reclaim something historic as a legacy to his community. Known as the Irish Cemetery this was the burial ground for people from the communities of Holyrood, Salmon Cove (Avondale), Cat’s Cove (Conception Harbour), Harbour Main and Chapel’s Cove.

Until ten years ago, when Richard Kennedy took it upon himself to restore the graveyard, stones marking names such as Woodford, Ezekiel, Kennedy, Costigan, Luce, Furey and Doyle were camouflaged by nature’s wild growth. "When I started this, you couldn’t get through here," he says. "The trees were right over my head, you couldn’t see anything."

Ever since he was a child, Kennedy had known about the cemetery which pre-dates any parish in the town by about 25 years . What he couldn’t understand though was why nobody had paid any attention to it in the past century. The site had been so badly neglected that trees and wild brush growing to a height of up to two metres had taken over the area, covering up any signs that the ancestors of many residents in the community were buried there.

He is reluctant to point to the Kennedy plot, lest there be a misunderstanding about his motives in restoring the cemetery. "I didn’t do it for this," he emphasizes. "I didn’t even know this was the original family until I found Johnny the Blunt’s will. And then I realized this is Johnny the Blunt, my great -grandfather."

In a certain light on a sunny morning, the inscriptions can be seen very clearly. "Here lies the body of James Kennedy who departed this life in 1776, aged 60 years". Although the grave of James (his great-great-great grandfather) is the first one known of his ancestors, Kennedy has no idea where the former was born. Next to the headstone of James are those of his two sons, John and Patrick. Patrick’s son, Johnny the Blunt, was Richard’s great-grandfather. In those days, many people had nicknames based on a quality of character or appearance to distinguish them from one another.

Close by is the Woodford family plot where, next to that of William Woodford’s, one can see the unusual two piece headstone of James Woodford who was buried in 1853. The Woodfords, like the Kennedys, were among the earliest residents of the area.

"Everywhere you see a stone is a burial place," points Kennedy. " When I put up the large (wooden) cross this year (at the entrance) by the picket fence, we brought up a beautiful tibia and fibula. I was amazed at how well it was preserved- you know, really, almost as good as the ones they gave us to study in the first year of medicine."

A retired pediatric surgeon in his eighties, Kennedy was the right person to come upon such a find. He adds that they tried to pick an area where he hoped that they wouldn’t strike anything, but unfortunately they did. This may well indicate the presence of some remains whose markers are no longer in existence.

The majority of the headstones at the cemetery are not ornate or expensive because "many of the people were so poor at that time that they couldn’t afford anything else," says Kennedy. Often the burial spots were simply marked with a rock. Frequently the markers are Newfoundland slate on which the names are chiselled.

On some of the Victorian stones such as the O’Keefe stone, the name of the stone carver is also visible, perpetuating not only the memory of the early inhabitants of the Catholic communities at the head of Conception Bay, but also constituting a source of great interest to scholars studying the history of stone carvers of the nineteenth century.

Dr. Cyril Burne, Chair of Irish Studies program at St. Mary’s University in Halifax, is one such scholar. He has ancestors who hail from Holyrood and Conception Harbour. Over a decade ago he photographed the then-visible stones and transcribed the words on them in the context of a larger project in Harbour Main. Unfortunately those names and dates are now lost to erosion.

The first uncovered headstone, judging by its quality and the design carved on it, may have come from Ireland. It is inscribed with the name of Costigan, a native of Kilcash of County Tipperary, Ireland who was buried in 1844 at age 54. The names of his daughters, Johanna who died at age 25, and Mary Ann who died at 22, appear on the same stone.

More of the remaining inscriptions can be read on a sunny day because the stones all face the east. Letters or dates which couldn’t be seen before stand out in clear relief when the angle of the light is right. For example, the previously unreadable inscription on one of the stones: " Here lieth the body of Matthew Hawco, died 7th of August 1813 age 15 years " is clearly legible in the mid-morning sun. "A lot of people died very young then," remarks Kennedy. "Living was anything but easy in those times".

"I’m sure there are inscriptions on all of them, but you can’t read some of them anymore. See, this is local rock," he indicates a brittle slate with the tip of his walking cane. The stones are flaking or breaking away; and the inscriptions are getting lost as a result. Kennedy wants to maintain what can be preserved so that local residents who have been searching for information about their ancestors can come to the graveyard and find out more. But keeping old headstones and grave markers in any kind of decent condition seems to be an uphill battle in the sometimes harsh Newfoundland climate.

Another stone, dated 1797 and the only one inscribed in French, is also very clear on this day due to the position of the sun. Kennedy is happy that the inscription which was invisible on previous occasions is clearly legible on this particular day. "This is an interesting stone- Lacour is a family name here," he says. " They’re supposed to have come from (the island of) Jersey, as many fisherman did centuries ago. The thing that’s fascinating to us is that whoever ‘Lecor de SBS’ was, we don’t have a clue what SBS means."

The inscription is puzzling. The first two lines read: ISI LECOR DE SBS / SE REPOS 1797. (Here lies Lecor of SBS 1797). The spelling is phonetic: ISI, for example, is modern French "ici". If Kennedy is right, and Lecor is a phonetic spelling of Lacour, then SBS is likely an abbreviated place name in Jersey, or an acronym for a religious order event hough no one recognizes it as such. On the other hand, although less likely, "lecor" may also be a phonetic spelling for "le corps" (the body), in which case SBS may be the initials of the person buried there at age 23.

In either case the initials SBS remain a mystery: It is unlikely that someone would use only the initials of a person or a place if these could not readily be identified. The simple elegance of the carving on the plain stone, nevertheless, makes this one of the most beautiful ones in the cemetery.

Moving on, Kennedy points to the row of Ezekiel stones in progression dating back to 1725. Patrick Ezekiel was Jewish. "He first came to Harbour Grace in 1700 and later married a Catholic woman in Harbour Main. He is the ancestor of all the Ezekiels in Newfoundland today."

The largest is the Gushue family stone, bearing the names of John, his wife Rachel and their son John. The inscriptions reveal that John Gushue, who expired on July 2, 1814 at 69 years of age was a "generous friend and affectionate neighbour".

Below this inscription is the name of his "beloved wife Rachel Gushue who in her 56th year departed this life on 22 July, 1814". Son John’s inscription, "who in the gloom of his lingering disease expired at the age 11 on 15 April 1817," is inscribed below his mother’s name on the massive Gushue stone.

The major task of restoration started with cutting down all trees and wild shrubbery which had uprooted and displaced many of the headstones.

At first people in the community were slow to help, as nobody was even aware of the existence of a cemetery on the land. Once Kennedy started the work, however, many residents pitched in by painting fences and doing whatever they could. Following the advice of Wade Greeley at the Newfoundland Museum now Dr. Kennedy and his helpers are numbering the stones, using India ink and other approved materials.

One can see the labour of love that went into marking the burial lots with wooden crosses, and placing the overturned headstones back into their proper position in their right places. The greatest challenge ahead now lies of protecting the old headstones and the brittle slate grave markers from the ravages of time.

"The reason this was chosen as a cemetery site," says Kennedy, "is that this must have been the centre of the community in the 1700's, because Keating’s Stage, where Sunday Mass was held in 1775, is just up from the cemetery". Because saying mass was illegal at the time, the participants in the mass were punished and sent back to Ireland.

An ironic yet significant event that followed the recovery of this cemetery is the Mass that was held in late July for the first time in many decades on the grounds. Father Fred Terry, the celebrant of the Mass also has ancestors buried there. The event has brought forth stories about the ancestors of some Harbour Maine residents.

One of these was told by Hubert Furey who was in attendance. Hubert’s great-great-grandfather George Furey, who is buried in the cemetery, was shot and killed, and many others were wounded during an election riot in the area in 1861.

Unfortunately, many stones are eroding very badly and on the slate stones, the markings are flaking off. There is really no way of conserving them short of removing the stones from the graves and setting them in a stone wall with a protective covering, as was done in one historic cemetery in Nova Scotia. But such a concept defeats the idea of erecting a grave stone in memory of a departed one.

Richard Kennedy has completed his massive plan of restoring a piece of history to the community of Harbour Main. But time is the enemy. Unless serious and significant steps are taken soon, his efforts of the last six years will have been in vain.

Copyrighted Material. All Rights belong to Füsun Atalay Copyright © 2003