34 — Wednesday, October 21, 1998 — North Shore News nerth shore news (3 FOOD Learning gastronomy in granny” sy kitchen ONLY in America. Ms. Susan Baldassano of New York organizes cooking classes and culinary tours for protessional and amateur cooks. The teachers are grandmothers and grandta- thers, often with some pro- fessional cooking back- ground. The motivation tor this four-year-old venture is to pass on authentic cuisine information and skills to upcoming and younger gen- erations, Twice a month classes in Cuban, Jewish, Syrian, Italian, Indian, Rassian, Sri Lankan and Spanish cuisines and folklore are offered. The classroom locations are the kitchens of the grand- mothers’ or their friends. As pare of the course, there is often a visit to the market where the class buys the food, meets merchants, and hears lots of stories. Apart from managing “Grandmother’s Kitchens” she is now an instructor at the Natural Gourmet and at The Learning Annex cooking schools. She has traveled extensively in Europe and Mexico, with a scholarly eve on culinary traditions. Reaching back to our culi- nary past — with grandmoth- ers no less — working in smaller batches with no short cuts seems a little out of place in today’s bottomline directed existence. Is this not an antithesis of what awaits us in the kitchens of the 21st century? Perhaps it is. My thanks to Ms. Baldassano and the “Grandmothers” for these recipes, and their story. May we always have a warm and scented Grandmother’s kitchen to go to and enjoy food from times past. A Sah Beeh A Seth La’age (Syrian finger astries) ts pita c su Ke comstarch in vour kitchen 1 tsp. rosewater % c and 1 Tbsp. melted unsalted butter 4 1b. phyllo pastry sheets icing sugar and ground cin- namon Method: Select a large saucepan heat 3 ¢. milk, add the sugar, stir, Mix the corn- starch and the remaining milk. When the milk in the saucepan comes to a boil, remove from the heat and mix in the milk with corn- starch. Return to heat and bring to a slow boil, simmer stirring for 2 minutes. Add the rosewater and | Tbsp. butter. Whisk. Remove trom heat, and pour into a pan, se the pudding on the bottom will be $-inch thick. Cover with plastic wrap. Cool for 3 hours, unt firm. Preheat oven to 350 F, On a board untold the phyllo sheets, cut in nwo equal parts. Brush one sheer with butter, place 2 tea- spoons of pudding 2 inches from the botrom edge. Roll from bottom halfway up, fold ia the sides and continue rolling. Brush with butter and place into a buttered baking sheet. Repeat to fill the sheet, one layer only. Bake until golden brown for 25-30 minutes. Serve hot, dusted with icing sugar and cinnamon. Makes about 3 dozen. This recipe hails from Sri Lanka. PH present it in its original format with the orig- oe : = inal ingredients. Try and pur- . NEWS phote Cindy Goodman MILK, sugar, butter and cinnamon are all ingredients of A Sah Beeh A Seth See Buy page 35 La’age, or Syrian finger pastries. A SOY BEVERAGE for the NATURALLY Now ovat your CHOOSY. family have a healthy choice. SOYGANIC —- The Natural Soy Beverage, is prepared with 100% certified organic, non-genetically modified whole soy beans. SOYGARIC caters to today’s modern tastes while providing a good source of soy protein. Available in a handy one litre carton, try our three popular varieties of delicious Original and Vanilla (both Low Fat) or delectable Chocolate. In the convenient 1.89L carton, try SOYGARIC 4EEIEE>. Our Origina! and Vanilia flavours are now enriched with calcium (300mg per 250ml serving) fora total of 6 essential nutrients including Vitamins A, By2,. D, Riboflavin and Zinc prepare for winter with "Well Preserved" by Mary Anne Dragon Pickles, Relishes, jams & Chutneys for New Cooks ail preserved your entire family will enjoy - choose natural — choose SOYGAHIC. Serew-top carton ensures extra freshness.