Roo
6' Continues ...
Orchard all
No Jerusalem, No Artichoke
So how did this vegetable get its name?
ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM ASSOCIATE EDITOR
it into a three-act opera. She sim-
ply cannot leave a song alone."
— Truman Capote
Savings up to
80%
Hair in Vogue
Heslop's China & Gifts
ilona and gallery
Karma
Kitchen Glamor
Koochie Koo
Lois Grass Cleaners
The Mop Shop,Salon
Accents in Needlepoint
Papillon Salon
Rochelle's Knit Knit Knit
Rosalie
Alterations & More
Barbara's Art Center
Betsy's Bridal Couture
Bricker-Tunis Furs
Cheese Cake Cafe
The Cover Up
Efras Drugs
Europa Art Gallery
Gemini Travel
Greg Shoes
Guys N' Gals
Gymboree
Q: In a recent column Tell Me Why
told us about a 19th-century gentile
Italian writer who promoted the idea
of a restored Jewish homeland.
Were there any French writers who
did the same?
A: Yes, and a famous one at
that: Alexandre Dumas the
younger, who lived from 1824 to
1895. His father was the
renowned author of The Three
New Sahara West
Sally's Design Boutique
Shangri-La
SHERRI'S - west bloomfield
Shopping Center Market
Soleil Furniture
Star Trax
The Studio
Tapper's Fine Jewelry
Under It All
The Video Place
Wrap It Up
Musketeers, The Man in the Iron
Mask and The Count of Monte
Cristo.
Alexandre junior was chiefly
a playwright, one of the most
successful dramatists of the 19th
century. He is best known for his
0:1 know that people are critical 1848 book (and 1852 play), La
of Barbra Streisand, but I believe her Dame aux Camelias, which
when she says they're just a bunch served as the basis for Verdi's
of jealous nobodies. So I would be 1853 opera, La Traviata.
In 1873, Dumas wrote La
interested in hearing what her col- Femme de Claude, which
leagues, other actors and Hollywood showed how France was suf-
types, h'ave to say about Ms. fering from the deprivations of
impure women. Critics called
Streisand.
A:Well, I have to warn you it hysterical, and it was a fail-
Streisand fans that you're not ure.
Interestingly, the play advo-
going to like what I've discov-
ered. But as one of those who cated the return of the Jewish
finds her insufferable (my night- people to the Land of Israel.
mare come true: being forced to Among the members of the au-
sit through a concert featuring dience was Baron Edmond"
Babs and Barry Manilow), it James de Rothschild (1845-
gives me the utmost pleasure to 1934), who was deeply im-
pressed by Dumas' message.
write it.
'When we commenced On a Dumas and Rothschild later cor-
Clear Day You Can See Forever, responded, and in a letter Du-
I had the mistaken impression mas again emphasized his
that I was the co-star...And I advocacy of a restoration of the
thought she was my leading Jews to their land.
In September 1882, Rabbi
lady, a partner. I doubt I will
choose to work again in Holly- Shmuel Mohilever of Radom,
Poland, appealed to Baron Roth-
wood."
— Yves Montand schild to aid the victims of the
1881 Russian pogroms by spon-
'Working with Barbra soring a Jewish settlement in
Streisand is pretty stressful. Its
Palestine. Scholars believe that
like sitting down to a picnic in one reason Rothschild was so re-
the middle of a freeway."
ceptive was the earlier message
— Kris Kristofferson
he had absorbed from Dumas.
"Barbra Streisand was my
Rothschild ended up commit-
opening act in Las Vegas. She ting a considerable sum to the
was multitalented from the start, project, and in 1883, 101 Russ-
but with the social instincts of ian Jews came to Ekron, a new
a landlady. Barbra is interested village southeast of Yaffa. (In the
in Barbra, and her only mar- early 1900s, Ekron's name was
riage that will survive is the one changed to Mazkeret Batya, in
between her ego and her career." memory of Baron Edmond's
— Liberace mother, Betty). Tell Me Why al-
"I wrote a song ["A Sleepin' ready has described Edmond de
Bee"] that she claims is her fa- Rothschild's extensive support
vorite song, which is really the for Jewish settlement in Eretz
song that started her career ... Yisrael. Part of the credit, it
But she doesn't sing it very well. seems, goes to the playwright,
She takes every ballad and turns Dumas.
Why working with Barbra is like a picnic
— with a twist.
WEST BLOOMFIELD • MICHIGAN
Orchard Lake Road • North of Maple
810-851-7727
We would like lo thank all our friends
and relatives for honoring the memory
of
FRArICES SHAPIRO
with their kindness, concern
and generous contributions.
Sincerely.
Arlene and Sam Freedman
cr)
Lu
c.r)
LLJ
F-
CC
F-
LU
LU
F-
32
Need to get
away from it
all with a
great vacation?
Before
After
Check out the
T oun
gm
01411(TM
in our
Classified Section
Q: Looking through a 1997 seed
catalog I just received, I noticed an
entry for the Jerusalem artichoke.
I've eaten them, and they're deli-
cious. I wonder, is this plant really
from Jerusalem?
A: Not only is the Jerusalem
artichoke not from Jerusalem,
it's not an artichoke. From its
scientific name, Helianthus
tuberosus, we know that it is a
member of the sunflower fami-
ly. Instead of roots it has tubers,
the part of the plant that is eat-
en. How this vegetable came to
be called the Jerusalem arti-
choke is a matter of dispute.
Early American settlers found
the aboriginal Indians eating the
plant. In 1605, French explor-
er Samuel de Champlain was in
Massachusetts and sampled a
tuber the native Indians called
a sunroot. Reportedly, he opined
that it tasted like an artichoke,
hence the second part of the veg-
etable's name.
Champlain sent a sample to
his native France. At the time,
it was the custom to present
newly discovered plants to the
Pope. He, in turn, would pass
them on for cultivation to car-
dinals and bishops with a hor-
ticultural bent. In 1617,
Cardinal Farnese of Rome re-
ceived the sunroot and success-
fully grew it in his garden.
Supposedly it was in the Far-
nese garden that the plant came
to be called girasole articiocco,
Italian for "sunflower arti-
choke." Some scholars dispute
this story, though, and aver that
the word girasole was not used
until the late 19th century.
Another legend has it that
members of an Indian tribe, the
Topinambour, were brought to
France the same time as the
plant, and the tuber was then
known as the topinambour.
In any case, outside of Italy
girasole articiocco gradually de-
veloped into "Jerusalem arti-
choke."
Jewish culinary author Joan
Nathan reportedly once said
that an ancient field of
Jerusalem artichokes grows in
the Old City. Go figure. O
Send questions to Tell Me Why,
The Jewish News, 27676
Franklin Road, Southfield, MI
48034, or fax to (810) 354-6069.
All letters must be signed and in-
dude the writer's address. Ques-
tions answered in the column will
feature only the writer's initials
and city of residence.
c-\
-/