Something Old, Something New
Where I buy fish. A forgotten cookbook. And one of my favorite lost restaurants.
It was Eric Ripert who first introduced me to Browne Trading Co., but until Covid hit, I’d used the chef’s favorite online seafood source for just a few specialty products. I’ve been a longtime appreciator of their huge red shrimp from Spain (I wrote about them here), and I occasionally ordered salmon roe from them. But last year, stuck at home in a land-locked area and hungry for fish, I began exploring the site in earnest.
I was so desperate to eat sushi that I even taught myself to cut yellowtail, tuna, hiramasa and shima aji as an occasional splurge. I began keeping their unagi in my freezer: it’s ready to eat, delicious and the easiest supper imaginable. Then I branched out, ordering Dover sole, black cod and other fish. The quality is superb, everything I’ve ordered has arrived in pristine condition, and my biggest problem is my tendency to spend too much money.
I find this menu from 1941 utterly charming. The note at the bottom of the cover reads: “I haven’t yet the courage to offer Tongues and Sounds or Fresh Honey Comb Tripe, but they may come later.” My guess? They never did. Tongues and Sounds, should you be wondering, are the tongues and fish bladders of cod fish. Read about that here.
The Croydon Hotel was on 86th Street, near Central Park. It has now been converted to apartments.
This is the strangest pair of books, but I’ve always loved everything about them. They were conceived by the the Hammermill Paper Company as a way of demonstrating the difference in papers. Although both books contain the same number of pages, More, which is printed on thick, high-bulk paper, is twice as thick as Less.
It’s a clever idea, but what makes it so delightful is that everyone involved with the project had so much fun. The designers, Gertrude and Jerome Snyder (he was the Art Director of Scientific American and co-author of New York Magazine’s Underground Gourmet column), played around with type choices and type line length. The artist David Levine clearly reveled in the project; his drawings are a treat. Editor Maryellen Spencer (I can’t seem to find any information about her), writes with wonderfully wry wit, her tongue in her cheek.
The existence of these books also demonstrates how much the book business has changed. I can’t imagine what they spent on this project, but it must have been a bundle. Which means that paper companies were doing very, very well.
I used to think I had the only copy in existence, but I recently found some at AbeBooks, so there must be a few more floating around.
I wish the menus could be made clearer somehow. Many of them are too small to read, and when you expand the picture they become too fuzzy to read! On another note, lockdown introduced me to Wild Fork, an online meat and fish purveyor whose prices are quite reasonable. Thanks to you I now have another source for fish--perhaps not quite so reasonable in price but definitely sounds spurge-worthy.
Ruth Just catching up with these wonderful postings. I couldn't respond to your inquiry from your readers. Yes, please continue, how often you can. Always enjoyable and inspiring.