>> food
Jennings' work reveals that the pro-
cess of inquiry can lead to exciting
discoveries, almost always resulting
in a clearer picture of events.
"Sol insisted that during his time
at Mauthausen concentration camp,
he was a forced laborer in a cave that
built [V-2] rockets:' Jennings says,
recounting one instance when the
oral record he was transcribing did
not match up with known facts.
"For Sol's story to be true, he
would have been 500 miles away in
a different camp and [working in] a
different year:"
To reach into Sol's murky memory
for the missing clues, Jennings
employed a unique strategy. He
asked simple yet detailed questions
like, "How did you get from here to
there?" and "What was the weather
like that day?"
That technique prompted the
speaker to enlarge upon the day-to-
day reality of his situation and expe-
rience. "Ultimately, Sol's story was
completely accurate," Jennings says.
"We found the subterranean sub-
camp in the location and year that
he said, but it was under a different
name from the one used by Sol and
the prisoners!"
Jennings' trilogy is comprehensive.
Instead of only relating his subjects'
survival stories, he prompts them to
reflect on their lives before and after
the war. Omitting this information is
"a disservice and even a distortion of
the complete truth," says the author.
"We need to know how the sur-
vivors lived before the war in order
to fully appreciate the magnitude of
what they lost, and we need to know
how they rebuilt their lives after the
war to appreciate the compassion
and hope that rose from the ashes of
the crematoriums," he says.
Reflecting on these grim stories
induced an emotional healing pro-
cess for Jennings' subjects, one he
says was challenging at first but
immensely rewarding in its culmina-
tion.
Finally, publication of this series
provided a permanent record of each
survivor's personal triumph.
This message of perseverance
finds a special home at Beach Lloyd
Publishers, an independent press
dedicated to bridging a time-hon-
ored Franco-American relationship
through literature.
By publishing World War II and
Holocaust memoirs in French and
English, this publisher has filled
a small but significant niche with
quality titles including Girl in the
Belgian Resistance by Fernande K.
Davis, Tu t'appelles Renee by Stacy
Cretzmeyer, and I Will Never be
Fourteen Years Old by Francois
Lecompte.
"Our books and DVDs are top
quality, always professional and
bearing a message of hope," Beach
Lloyd's manager, Joanne Silver, tells
JNS.org.
Like all publishers in today's rap-
idly changing industry, however,
Beach Lloyd's educational goals are
threatened by financial realities
that could impair access to quality
Holocaust resources.
"We cannot continue the expense
of large exhibits and travel:' Silver
says. "It's not the materials. It's the
[small] size of the niche and the fact
that public schools are financially
strapped and cannot buy the materi-
als:'
The legacy of the Holocaust
includes themes of anger, frustra-
tion, forgiveness, courage and
achievement, evoking strong lessons
that must provide a moral compass
to future generations.
But "genocides continue, deniers
are still heard, and the Holocaust
slips into history:' says Silver,
underscoring the need to continue
educating youths and adults about
intolerance.
How prepared are survivors'
descendants, particularly the young,
to embrace Holocaust history?
Silver's comments echo the essential
discomfort that many people feel
discussing the past.
"I think that a young author could
be hesitant to probe beyond a factual
account so as to avoid an emotional
reaction," she notes.
As Holocaust survivors pass, the
genre of literature that will preserve
their memories is poised to undergo
a significant transformation.
Silver advises, "This history
should be embraced with great
respect and with the conviction that
one person, by being an upstander,
can make a difference:'
She anticipates a new dialogue
emerging in which survivors' sto-
ries are combined with second-
generation accounts, and additional
commentaries by noted Holocaust
historians are woven into the texts.
"The most important thing is to
capture the unique voice and per-
sonality of the survivor" for poster-
ity, Jennings says.
Silver stresses the importance of
disseminating accurate information
about the Holocaust that transcends
all nationalities, races, religions and
the passing of generations.
At Beach Lloyd Publishers, she
says, it is understood that "the work
of remembrance is a human issue,
not just a Jewish issue:'
On The
Menu
Memoirs from page 64
Think spring.
S
pring, to me, means
food from the Earth
(not roots as we ate
all winter long, but greens,
and lots of them) and light
food — fish — in a wine-
tomato sauce that's as clean
and light as the long daylight
hours we're relishing.
A quick salad and pasta
with pesto made with kale
(instead of basil), pureed
with garlic and Parmesan
QUICK SPRING SALAD WITH
MINT AND OLIVES
Salad:
10 cups fresh baby greens (add fresh
dandelion if you can find it)
'/2 cup fresh mint leaves
'/2 cup chopped, pitted Kalamata
olives
1 cup frozen peas, thawed (or fresh
peas, steamed)
salt and pepper to taste
Dressing:
3 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
3 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
Combine all salad ingredients in a bowl,
and toss well. Add the lemon juice and
olive oil, and toss well. Adjust salt and
pepper to taste. Makes 6 servings.
PAPPARDELLE WITH LEEKS
AND CREAMY KALE PESTO
To clean the leeks, trim the bottoms, and
cut the leeks in half lengthwise. Rinse
with cold water, and slice thin.
Pasta:
2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
6 cups thinly sliced leeks, white and
pale green parts
12 oz. dry (uncooked) pappardelle
'4 cup half-and-half
salt and pepper to taste
Pesto:
3 cups (packed) kale leaves (do not
use tough stems)
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese plus
shaved Parmesan for garnish
'/2 cup slivered almonds, lightly
toasted
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp. fine sea salt
Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet
over medium-high heat. Add the sliced
leeks, and saute for 3 minutes. Reduce
heat to medium, cover the skillet and
allow the leeks to cook for 5 minutes
more. Set aside.
Combine the pesto ingredients in the
and finished with mild leeks
and a bit of cream. Add some
crunchy, chewy bread, and
you've got all those great tex-
tures: soft, creamy, tender and
crisp.
Of course, I always choose
something sweet at the end of
every meal just to let me know
that dinner is over. How about
ice cream? Pick your favorite,
and drizzle something choco-
late over.
❑
bowl of a food processor, and process
until smooth.
Fill a large pot with cold water, and
bring to a boil over high heat. Cook pasta
until just al dente, firm to the bite, stir-
ring occasionally, according to package
directions. Do not overcook.
Drain pasta (do not rinse), reserving
1 cup of hot cooking liquid in the pot.
Transfer the pasta back into the pot with
the water. Add the leeks, half-and-half
and about half the pesto. Stir, then heat
over medium-high heat until hot. Add
salt and pepper to taste and more pesto,
if needed, to taste.
Serve hot with shaved Parmesan
cheese on the side. Makes 6 servings.
COD WITH GARLIC, BUTTER,
WINE AND FRESH TOMATOES
2 Tbsp. butter, cut into pieces
1 tsp. minced garlic
'/2 cup dry white wine
4 cups halved grape tomatoes
6 boneless and skinless Pacific cod
fillets (about 2 lbs.)
1 Tbsp. olive oil (not extra-virgin)
flaked sea salt and freshly ground
black pepper to taste
1 /4 cup chopped fresh parsley (for
garnish)
Melt butter in a large saucepan over
medium-high heat. Add the garlic, and
saute for 1 minute. Add the wine, bring
to a boil and cook for 2-3 minutes, until
slightly reduced. Add tomatoes, and cook
for 3 minutes more. Season to taste with
salt and pepper, and set aside.
Season the fish with salt and pepper.
Heat 1 Tbsp. of oil in a large skillet over
high heat until very hot. Add the cod,
and cook until a "crust" forms on the
bottom and the fish lifts easily with a
turner. Turn over, and cook for 2 minutes
more on the other side.
Serve the fish hot, with the sauce
spooned over and sprinkled with parsley.
Makes 6 servings.
❑
All recipes © Annabel Cohen 2014; annabelonthemenu@gmail.com .
April 24 • 2014
65