Cleveland's political vegetables

Hero's have changed mightly since my youth's passage. Presently the two mature adult Afro - American men dressed in cast off clothing , pushing an appropriated supermarket cart past my doorway at two a.m. while in search for cast off aluminum can's qualify.Whatever sustains them against a bitter November's weather proves to me the true grit and spirit in our eternal quest for survival far more than any professional athlete's endeavors possibly could. A bunch of hapless men and a few women live the year around huddled in the confines of near bye Erie Street Cemetery. Hammocks slung over tree limbs during the summer months , building makeshift tented structures with building materials under bridges during colder months. These nomadic folks are survivors. Television clowns posing as such brave creatures while playing a reality game" , fall short. The former would consider eating insects as means for survival , the later for amusement and profit. Combining a homeless tribe of American citizens and a culinary reality show could be in the works? A morbid reality culinary big game three ring circus replete with contestants hunting , gathering , and ...... ? I suppose you can can fill in the blanks concerning this fictitious matter. Sadly , a morbid success would occur , and a new window into the narcissistic American " foodie " movement unfold as well. My current cooking heroes are the men and women that serve those less fortunate by donating their most precious resource , time , in volunteering in a soup kitchen. The real culinary art is to make fresh ingredients of a common or utility nature sing with flavor and feed a multitude . Stews , soups , chowders , salads , grains , tubers , thick with fresh vegetables , rudimentary proteins ,and the occasional sharp edge provided via very fresh spices the trick. . Fresh ingredients and scratch preparation the operative words. This form of work , given freely by those that have to those who do not , a great gift for all involved. Like those two men pushing the scrap metal gathering grocery cart up and down city streets until they gather enough for the scrap dealer. Real survivor's in today's America might live under freeway bridges on the edge of your downtown area. Thirty years ago Cleveland , Ohio had a terrible bitter cold winter , that barely saw any above freezing weather from early December through April 1978. That June of 1978 in old Cleveland Municipal Stadium , I witnessed snow in the air while attending a Indians game. Point is that it remained cold for quite sometime that spring. That same winter a number of homeless men had taken up residence in a abandoned multiple level parking structure on East Second Street between High Street and Huron Avenue , in the Historic Central Market district. These men had built human nests a few stories above the street and within the airborne spaces designed for the automobiles . Imagine a honey comb of multiple colored cloth American male human beings wrapped in cardboard boxes and attempting to survive such a brutal sub zero streak of weather with winds that drove the temperature into double digit " chill factor " territory. We stayed awake most evenings playing cards and drinking in the apartment above the Italian food store next to the homeless men in their parking lot suspended above the food store. I was always amazed by the resilience of these true " survivors" , and how they were able to still function after spending a night in a cardboard cocoon? One cold evening we were interrupted from our games with the loud wail of fire sirens. Seems that one of these men had built a fire for warmth and it got a little out of hand and caught a citizen's attention. Pretty weird on the eyes at three a.m. People that work long and hard at providing children with stability and education in the face of poverty and social ills of life in contemporary urban America are my heroes as well. Athletes and entertainment figures who give back to the world via a charitable pipeline to those with less on their plates are heroes as well. By the way , after the winter of 1978 I moved to North Carolina swearing off the absurd graven politics and darker nature of Cleveland , Ohio. Not to mention the rather frigid gulag winter's. Sworn never to return to Cleveland , Ohio again . Weather passed , and I returned to Cleveland in time for most of the 1980's , hoping against hope that a multi cultural progressive renaissance might occur. It never did. Hey Cookman! Here is a great way to clean out your vegatable drawer and feed a crew of hungry bipeds. In a large cast iron or non stick skillet over medium low heat shake in some olive oil or other fat. Add in this order the following combination of vegatables , chopped onions , peeled and chopped garlics and shallots , green , yellow , and red peppers , chopped , peeled , seeded , and devained. Any variatle squashes , members of the cabbage family , and whatever other non tuborous vegetable matter in your icebox. Season with fresh and dried herbs , including a large palm full of smoked parika , a shot of commercial hot sauce , and whatever flavor you personally find simpactico! Turn down the heat to low , cover , and simmer , turning occasionaly until done to your taste. Serve with a fresh loaf of crusty bread , pasta , or any starch of your choosing. Yes , you can add tomatoes in season or out , and a simple green salad is also a fine complement to this simple meal. Cleveland's Central Market district was a great asset to downtown, drawing customer's from both sides of the city drawn to it's fresh meats , fish , groceries , and especially quality fruits and produce. The Central Market served as a citizen freindly historic and festive public food market site downtown for over one hundred years until being dismantled for the short sited construction of the non historic district that is called today " gateway". Gateway is an example of corporate welfare that occured in the construction of the non descript " cookie cutter" baseball stadium called " Jacob's Field " for the Cleveland Indians , and the indoor sports facility " Gund Arena" for the Cleveland Cavalier's basketball interests. Ignoring an expensive 1970's urban plan executed for the City of Cleveland by Lawrence Halprin , which recommended preserving and embracing the Central Market District as a new urban residential area , the cabal of career corrupt politicians , and usual suspects in the media created enough ballyhoo and blather to pass a countywide tax by less than one half of a percentage in favor of establishing a sin tax to pay for these corporate sports facilities at the expense of the historic Central Market District. Less than one half of a percent! A recall should have been an immediate event , though when your media is merely the propaganda wing of government , you gets what you gets. In this case the citzens of Cleveland , who voted against the tax , lost valuable property now assigned to corporate professional sports interests got screwed mightly. This single political debacle has left downtown Cleveland the ghoulish creepy ghost town that it is now most days and evenings of a calendar year. A renevated public or municipal market with historic cache such as Cleveland's Central Market the dream of a contemporary City planner anywere in the world today. Destroying the Central Market District yet another Cleveland , Ohio mistake on a grand and profound level. The very wooden pear crates that hold the books inside the confines of Old Erie Street Bookstore are from the graces of a few kind freinds at the Central Market , and in choosing the location of this bookstore in 1980 much was based on the potential of a renovated Central Market District. Fast forward to 2007 , this booksotore is closed to the public due to lack of economic street level retail activity. Booze , cheap beer , and vomit are found in these parts instead. My old hero's the homeless men and women who lived and survived around the Central Market were polite and corteous compared to the coarse well fed drunken bums who gravitate around here currently. Bookselling Time! All this blather concerning vegetables , and not even a politician in sight. A scarce compendious tome is JANE GRIGSON"S VEGETABLE BOOK. If you are to own one volume on the subject of vegetables this would be a fine choice. Smartly researched and penned , this delightful volume won the prized 1978 Glenfidich Writer of the Year Award in England.

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