Hi There:
So December has rolled in, 2016 will be exiting in a few short weeks. My sisters used to tease me because it seemed every year I led off my end of year post with Wow, what a tough year this was.
Well by all accounts this was a really tough year, what with celebrities dropping dead left right and center, terrorist attacks, snowstorms, wildfires and of course the Battle Royale that was the Presidential election. They'll be talking about 2016 for years, I'm kind of glad I got to document some of it. Then again, a lot of it I'd like to forget. About the only people that will look back fondly on 2016 are Cubs fans. Seriously!
We'll rehash everything in our end of year issue. For now, onto the news.
CULINARY OBITUARIES:
1) Jim Delligatti a Pittsburgh McDonald's Franchise owner, credited with inventing the Big Mac, died this week at the age of 98. Amazingly, his son Michael claimed that his dad ate at least one Big Mac per week for the past 40 years or so. And somehow made it all the way to 98. That blows my mind.
I miss Big Macs. Two all beef patties, that magical sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles (which I usually took off) onions (ditto) on a sesame seed bun,.... Heaven.
Of course, my doctors told me I wouldn't make it till 48 if I ate a Big Mac a week, never mind 98. So I've been Big Mac free for a year and a half.
Delligatti seemed to be an interesting dude. He wanted to create a bigger burger for his customers. But according to Michael Delligati, McDonalds at first didn't see the need to expand on their menu of hamburgers, cheeseburgers, french fries and shakes. But when sales of the sandwich exploded in Delligatti's stores, the franchise added it to it's national menu in 1968.
So if you are so inclined, please have yourself a Big Mac this week to celebrate the life and times of Jim Delligatti. I'd join you if I could.
2) In one of those ironies that life throws at you sometimes, another food pioneer who created a dish I can't eat also died at 98 this week.
Peng Chang-kuei, a Taiwanese chef who is credited with creating General Tso's Chicken died Wednesday in Taipei.
In late 1992/early 1993, I went to see somebody about a part time job after eating Chinese food for dinner. It wasn't like a formal job interview or anything, just a friend of a friend who was looking for someone to help out for a few extra bucks.
But the whole time I was sitting there talking to the guy, my stomach was doing cartwheels and I had enough gas to end an energy crisis. I told my parents I was done was Chinese food (especially after I didn't get the gig)
From 1993, till I started working at the Post, I avoided Chinese food. Why I started again at the Post? So many late nights of working, I had to branch out. I even broke a vow I made to Auggie and tried Indian Food. (Never again)
In any event, General Tso's chicken became a particular favorite of mine.Lightly battered chicken fried in a chili accented sweet and sour sauce, According to the NY Times on Friday:
.. he created the dish during a four-day visit by Adm. Arthur W. Radford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, during the Taiwan Strait crisis of 1955. On the spur of the moment, he assigned it the name of a Hunanese general, Zuo Zongtang, who had helped put down a series of rebellions in the 19th century.
This stuff could knock you for a loop if they put too much sauce on it. I'm a real wimp when it comes to food. The great Billy Gorta once said "You're not eatin if your not sweatin." It doesn't take much for my innards to burn. I once sniffed a plate of death wings at Pluck U down on LaGuardia Place, and I thought my face was going to come off like the bad guys at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark. (The three of four pitchers of beer I put away at Phoebe's probably also contributed to that)
But General Tso's chicken I could handle. I usually only had to have half a dozen glasses of water to wash it down. It's now on the list of food I can't eat (or can have every once in a blue moon) in order to keep on truckin at is were. So after you toast the Big Mac inventor, have a General Tso's chicken dish. But before you do any of that, make sure you stock up on antacids. I'm thinking the inventor of those is already long dead.
SPORTS: Cespedes returns!
I have to admit I was thrilled the other day when I heard the Mets were able to resign Yoenis Cespedes, even though he stands for some of the things I can't stand about athletes. He can be lazy and aloof, and his stunt last year with driving all different cars to spring training was annoying. And he once again, when the chips were down, came up short in the big game, just like he did in the World Series in 2015
I wish he had just decided to take the contract he signed last year and be happy with it, instead of opting out, but at the end of the day, all he really ended up doing was getting himself a couple more years and a no trade clause. The annual money was about the same.
And let's face it, there is something to be said for someone who wants to play in Queens. The Yankees have the history and the championships. LA has the nice weather, Miami has the large Cuban population. Washington was supposedly offering similar money, and the thought of Cespedes doing to us what Daniel Murphy did last year gave me stomach aches.
I know what the man is capable of. When he is on, he can carry the team on his back. His August 2015 was one of the most amazing months I've ever seen any ball player have, much less a Met.
I just need to see him do it when the money is on the table. If the pitching can come back and stay healthy, we'll get the chance to see if he can.
That's all from here
Have a great Week
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