Celebrating Rosh Hashana, circa 1919

       Sholom aleichem!" said Shiva Shapiro in a heavy Yiddish accent to her visitors.As she deftly stuffed cabbage leaves with rice and stewed tomatoes, and displayed other dishes she has made on her 1900 Beauty Hub coal stove, Shapiro drew her guests into her life.
       "This is 1919," she said."Last year was the end of the influenza epidemic and the end of the war to end all wars. We're a Jewish family and we're keeping kosher in our home. I don't read English, only Yiddish and Hebrew. My daughter Mollie learned about bananas at school. I think that bananas are mushy, but I take her to buy a hand of bananas for 25 cents."
       Shapiro is actually Barbara Ann Paster, one of the actors here at the Strawbery Banke restoration, a living museum in which over 350 years of Portsmouth homes,stores, churches and history have been preserved. It is in Puddle Dock, which was a decrepit neighbourhood destined to be razed under urban renewal until a campaign in the 1950s and '60s led by the town librarian saved 42 houses on 10 acres to create the museum.
       The area was first settled in 1695 by the English,who found a profusion of strawberries there. By the turn of the 20th century Italians, Irish, English, FrenchCanadians and East European Jews had come here to find work. Although most immigrants at that time settled in large cities, some settled directly in smaller towns like Portsmouth. By 1919, 152 Russian Jews made up about a quarter of the immigrant population of Puddle Dock and 18 of them were Shapiro relatives,according to the museum.
       As Shapiro, the wife of a pawnbroker with a 9-yearold daughter, Paster cooks dishes that follow the rhythm of the seasons, and the Jewish calendar.
       She may make strawberry jam for her strudel in June, or pickle cucumbers with dill from her garden,or put up Reliance peaches with brandy in August.
       For Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, she excitedly pinched rolled-out strips of pasta dough into bowtie noodles to use with leftover kasha stuffing from her roast chicken, and made traditional honey and poppy seed cakes.
       Paster,61, has been portraying Shapiro since the Shapiro house opened in 1997."My entire life was made for this job," Paster said with a laugh."I married an Orthodox man. I'm Jewish from Russia, so I know the rules of kashrut and family purity. I am also a storyteller."
       The real Mrs Shapiro immigrated from Anapol,Ukraine, in 1904 with other family members to meet her future husband, Abraham, also from Anapol, in Portsmouth, where he went to work in a shoe factory and later became the president of Portsmouth's synagogue, Temple of Israel.
       At Strawbery Banke, visitors encounter Shiva Shapiro as a 34-year-old woman whose time is spent in her kosher kitchen with its coal stove and icebox."I get 50 pounds [23kg] of ice for 25 cents [8 baht] every other day and I can keep kosher meat for up to three days,"she said."There is hardly a time when I would need to keep it so long as there are two kosher butchers with delivery: Jacob Segal in a horse and buggy and Harry Liberson, who came here from an advertisement looking for a butcher in The Jewish Messenger out of New York and has stayed for 65 years."
       Holidays were at the centre of the Shapiro family's life, and the museum staff took great pains to ensure the historical accuracy of the foods prepared and the items the family had available.
       "To authenticate the Shapiro house," said Michelle Moon, director of education for the museum,"the curatorial staff interviewed 30 people from the neighbourhood and took pollen and seed analyses to determine what grew and was eaten in their home."
       Shapiro's grandson, Burt Wolf,75, recalls picking seed pods for poppy seed cake or filling for his grandmother's holiday strudel.
       In 1919 it was still too early for standard East European ingredients like kasha, poppy seeds and kale to be in mainstream cookbooks like "Fanny Farmer", which Mollie translated for her mother. Even Florence Greenbaum's International Jewish Cookbook (1918)had only one recipe for mohn (poppy seed) roly polys and none for kale or kasha.
       But immigrants brought seeds of their traditional foods, like yellow Ukrainian carrots, kale and parsnips.Shapiro bought harder-to-save seeds like beets in Jackson's hardware store.
       "Mr Wolf and many older immigrants told us that they ate yellow Ukrainian tomatoes, which we know Mrs Shapiro was growing in her garden," said John Forti, curator of culinary historic landscape for the museum. The red tomatoes were canned.
       Forti found a Reliance peach tree growing out of the compost pile in the Shapiro's garden. Seed catalogues from that time included climbing Russian cucumbers and Zubrinski yellow potatoes, which are planted there now.
       Stoneware crock shards found in the yard were a clue for the staff."Mrs Shapiro was putting up the food in the old style as well as using canning jars," he said."We found kale seeds in the walls of another immigrant's house."
       Jewish truck farmers in the neighbouring town of Greenland grew buckwheat for kasha, an East European staple, used at that time in America only for buckwheat pancakes.
       Recipes were handed down orally, at least in the East European immigrant communities, and they also travelled between neighbours."Whenever Camilla Pento comes to the house she points to the mandelbrot and says 'biscotti'," Shapiro said."She came to my house one day to show me how to make her biscotti. Nothing wrong with her recipe but in order for my family to eat it, we need to make it here so it's kosher. I made my mandelbrot and poppy seed cake and she her biscotti and pizzelles with a brand new pizzelle iron."
       The Sabbath and holidays were the center of Shapiro's world and they also meant a lot of work for the Shapiro matriarch. Visiting just before Rosh Hashana, the first in the Jewish High Holy Days, I spoke with Elaine Kraskar, Shapiro's great-niece,82, who was a prominent Democratic state legislator for 16 years. Kraskar remembers going with her grandparents to farms to get chickens for holidays and the Sabbath.
       "We would put them in a burlap sack and bring them to be ritually slaughtered by Mr Liberson," she said."My grandmother would singe the feathers, pluck and clean out the chickens. Everything was used. The intestines were cleaned and stuffed. We roasted chicken stuffed with kasha. Rosh Hashana was a special time,a time for families to be together."
       Although Kraskar gave the museum her grandfather's safe, a Victrola with Yiddish records, and a nightie her grandmother made for her, she couldn't give up her rolling pin or scrub board.
       "I put the scrub board up on the wall in my laundry room," she said,"to remind me how hard life was for her and how much easier it is today."NYT NEWS SERVICE
       CRISPY KALE Time:
       Adapted from the Strawbery Banke Museum 20 minutes / Serves 6 to 8 as a finger food, snack or side dish Ingredients: Preparation:
       1bunch of kale,(about 450g), cored, leaves rinsed and thoroughly dried 3 to 4 Tbsp olive or vegetable oil 3 to 4 cloves garlic, minced Kosher salt, to taste 1. Preheat oven 260กC. Meanwhile, flatten kale leaves and use the point of a knife to remove tough center ribs. Stack leaves and roll them together, then slice crosswise into chiffonade strips 1in. to 1in. wide.2. Place kale in a medium bowl. Toss with olive oil, garlic and salt, making sure leaves are well coated with oil. Spread evenly across a large baking sheet.3. Bake, tossing once or twice, until leaves are crispy but not burned, about 5 minutes.Serve as is as a finger food or snack, or top with poached eggs as a breakfast or lunch dish.
       KASHA-STUFFED ROAST CHICKEN Adapted from Elaine Kraskar Time:2 hours / Serves 6 to 8Ingredients: Preparation: 4 Tbsp chicken fat or vegetable oil, plus additional for greasing pan 3onions,1 diced and 2 coarsely chopped 1large egg 1cup dry kasha 2cups chicken broth or water 12cup diced celery 1cup sliced mushrooms, optional 2 Tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley 1 Tbsp finely chopped fresh sage 1roasting chicken,1.8kg to 2kg 3cloves garlic, minced 450g whole, unpeeled,small potatoes 3tart apples, quartered and cored 4carrots, peeled and cut into 3- to 4in.chunks 4parsnips, peeled and cut into 3- to 4in.chunks 1 Tbsp chopped fresh rosemary leaves Salt and freshly ground black pepper 1. Preheat oven to 190กC. Grease a roasting pan and set aside. In a skillet over medium heat, heat 2 tablespoons of chicken fat or oil,and saute diced onion until golden. Remove from heat and set aside.2. In a small mixing bowl, beat egg lightly and stir in kasha. Mix well to coat all grains.Place a dry heavy skillet over high heat.When it is hot, add egg-coated kasha and stir with a wooden spoon to flatten it and break up any lumps. Continue to stir until egg has dried and kernels are browned and mostly separated. Add broth or water, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil.Add cooked onions, celery, mushrooms (if using), parsley and sage. Simmer, covered,stirring occasionally, until kasha is tender,about 15 minutes.3. Rub exterior of chicken with 1 tablespoon of remaining chicken fat or oil and garlic.Season with salt and pepper to taste. Stuff both cavities of chicken with kasha mixture.(Excess kasha may be baked in an ovenproof dish, during last 30 minutes of roasting time.)4. In bottom of roasting pan, combine potatoes,apples, carrots, parsnips and chopped onions.Add remaining 1 tablespoon chicken fat or oil, and rosemary, and toss well to coat.Gently place chicken on top of vegetables and bake until golden and cooked through,about 11
       2hours. To serve, carve chicken as desired and serve each portion with some of vegetables and apples.
       POPPY SEED CAKE Adapted from Strawbery Banke Museum
       Time:90 minutes / Serves 12 Ingredients: Preparation:
       1cup poppy seeds 1cup milk or soy milk 1cup (225g) unsalted butter or pareve margarine, plus more for greasing pan 2cups all-purpose flour, plus additional for dusting pan 2cups sugar 3large eggs, separated 2 Tsp vanilla extract 12tsp salt 21
       2tsp baking powder Confectioners sugar, for dusting 1. In a small saucepan, combine the poppy seeds and milk. Bring to a boil, remove from heat, and allow to rest until cool, about 20 minutes.2. Preheat oven to 176กC and prepare a large loaf or tube pan by greasing it with margarine and lightly flouring the inside of the pan.3. In bowl of an electric mixer with a paddle attachment, cream together butter or margarine and sugar. Add egg yolks, vanilla, and poppy seed-milk mixture, and beat until smooth. Gradually add 2 cups flour, salt and baking powder. Mix well; remove bowl from mixer and set aside.4. Place a clean bowl in mixer, with a whisk attachment, and whisk egg whites until stiff but not dry. Gently fold into batter. Scrape into pan, and bake until a knife inserted into the cake comes out clean, about 1 hour. Cool on a rack. When cool, dust cake with confectioners sugar.

China to launch "chocolate wonderland"

       China plans to cater to the country's rising number of chocoholics with the opening next year of a Willy Wonka-style theme park in Beijing, complete with a replica Great Wall.
       "The 'world chocolate dream park',reminiscent of Roald Dahl's beloved book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory , will feature a life-size edible Terracotta Army,Great Wall and versions of famous paintings," the China Daily said."Our 'chocolate wonderland' will be beyond the imagination," Tina Cheng,general manager of the company that will operate the park, was quoted as saying.
       The park, due to open in January 2010, will be located in the Olympic Green, which also includes the iconic Bird's Nest stadium and the Water Cube aquatics centre used during the Beijing Summer Games last year.
       "The site will include five pavilions and two outdoor sites where chocolatemade objects, such as the replica Great Wall, will be on display," the report said.
       Chocolate is not as popular in China as it is in Western countries, but the sweet treat is increasingly popular with the nation's younger generation.
       Cheng was quoted as saying that a number of prestigious chocolate makers from Europe, including Belgium and Switzerland, wanted to participate in the project, but she would not reveal their names.
       "There is the potential for a huge market in China with regards to chocolate consumption," she said, according to the report."That's why many overseas chocolate producers are vying to join our project."

Universal gives glimpse of new Harry Potter park

       Creators of the highly anticipated Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Orlando revealed some details of three major Potterthemed attractions on Tuesday, including a "Forbidden Journey" ride set in the iconic Hogwart's Castle.
       "(It is) brand new, extremely exciting,never been done, never been seen before.I can't say big enough words. It's going to be absolutely mind-blowing," said Alan Gilmore, the project's supervising art director and art director on two Harry Potter films.Paul Daurio, show producer for the Wizarding World, said the attraction couldn't be further from a roller coaster.
       The 20-acre "park within a park" is due to open next spring. In a Webcast,descriptions of the attractions were generalised, and questions submitted via the Internet about ticket price and the effect on park attendance were ignored.
       The Webcast included a short animated video but no actual photography of the park.
       Mark Woodbury, head of Universal Creative, said Wizarding World scenery,attractions and souvenirs were faithful to British author J.K. Rowlings' sevenbook Harry Potter series.
       Woodbury said visitors would be able to sample butter beer and pumpkin juice at the Three Broomsticks Restaurant,relax in the Owlery and be fitted for a magical wand in Ollivander's Wand Shop,all of which are familiar to Potter fans.
       Major attractions include the Dragon Challenge, a high-speed ride described as "definitely for the brave." It is based on the Triwizard Tournament, a fictional 13th century contest between students of the three most prestigious magical schools of Europe.
       Another is Flight of the Hippogriff, a coaster based on Rowlings' magical creature with the head, wings and front legs of a giant eagle and body, hind legs and tail of a horse.
       Actor Tom Felton, cast as Draco Malfoy in the film versions of the Harry Potter novels, participated in the Webcast and said of the park:"It's going to blow some serious minds."
       Woodbury said the Wizarding World had been under development for five years. Park details have been tightly held since the project was announced in 2007.
       Universal Orlando is co-owned by the Blackstone Group private equity firm and NBC Universal, a unit of General Electric Co.
       Universal's Webcast capped two-anda-half weeks of headline announcements by Orlando's two biggest theme parks.
       On Aug 31, the Walt Disney Co agreed to buy Marvel Entertainment Inc for $4 billion in the biggest media deal of the year.
       And on Sept 12, Disney announced a major expansion of Fantasyland at Orlando's Disney World to break ground in 2010 and open in two stages in 2012 and 2013.

Disney World embarks on Fantasyland facelift

       Mickey Mouse's house and his Toon Town world would make way next year for a vastly larger Fantasyland, in the biggest-ever expansion of the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World in Florida, Walt Disney Co said on Saturday.
       The Fantasyland expansion, whose price tag was not disclosed, will open in two stages in 2012 and 2013 and builds on the popularity of the Disney Princess and Fairies franchises, which have topped $4 billion in global retail sales.
       Disney theme parks chairman Jay Rasulo said the Fantasyland project, which breaks ground next year, would be paid for from funds designated for the theme park division's annual capital expenditures.
       Plans call for four Disney Princess characters - Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty,Belle from Beauty and the Beast and Ariel from The Little Mermaid - tobe featured in "fantasy lands" where park visitors engage in dancing, storytelling or a birthday party with costumed characters from the films.
       The expansion includes two new dining spots - Gascon's Tavern and the 552-seat Beast's Castle. A new underwater ride based on The Little Mermaid , will be built both in the Florida Fantasyland and at the ongoing expansion of California Adventure in Disneyland.
       The second phase of the Fantasyland expansion will be an oversized world based on the fairy world of Pixie Hollow from Peter Pan , but no other details were available because the attraction was still in early development stages,Rasulo said.
       As part of the Fantasyland expansion,Disney plans to double the size of the popular Dumbo ride to add a covered "three-ring circus" waiting area with interactive games and a play area.
       Disney Imagineers, who design rides and attractions, said the Toon Town attraction would be dismantled and its popular Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse houses relocated to another section of Walt Disney World.
       Rasulo also announced an upgrade to the Star Tours rides at Disneyland in Anaheim and Disney's Hollywood Studio in Florida to open in 2011.
       Star Tours simulates a ride through space aboard spacecraft like those in the original Star Wars film.The updated version "features new digital 3D effects and projectors that let ride operators vary 'destinations,' as well as upgrades to the Star Speeder cabins,"Rasulo said.

CHARNCHAI BACKS JAPANESE REQUEST TO RAISE TWO JUMBOS AT OSAKA ZOO

       Bangkok and Tokyo will hold talks over a plan to send a pair of Thai elephants to a state zoo in Osaka, Industry Minister Charnchai Chairungruang said yesterday.
       The minister, who is in Japan to promote trade cooperation, said the jumbos would be a "present to mark close trade ties between the two countries".
       Japan had expressed strong interest in raising a pair of Thai elephants at its zoo in Osaka, which already has one Thai jumbo, Mr Charnchai said ahead of a meeting with the Japanese environment minister.
       "Japan has been asking for the past six years if it can look after a pair of jumbos, but the Thai government has yet to reply," the minister told the Bangkok Post via telephone from Japan.
       "Giving the elephants to an important trading partner such as Japan will be a good way to strengthen economic cooperation," Mr Charnchai said, adding he would discuss the issue with Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and the Natural Resources and Environment Minister Suwit Khunkitti upon his return.
       Animal rights groups and environmentalists say sending the elephants to Japan would send a wrong signal that Thailand supports trade in endangered wildlife.
       Soraida Salwala, founder of the Bangkok-based Friends of the Asian Elephant Foundation, urged the minister to scrap the planned jumbo export.
       "The government should keep the elephants here, while Tokyo should stop asking for the jumbos," said Ms Soraida.
       Thailand had a bad image as one of the world's largest wildlife trade hubs.
       Ms Soraida said many countries had asked Thailand to send Asian elephants to their zoos, including the Philippines, and Sri Lanka.
       Elephants are one of 51 wild animals listed on Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, which bans the export and import of listed animals except for educational and conservation purposes. However, some imports and exports of protected wild animals have been conducted under government-to-government animal exchange programmes.
       Thailand has sent elephants to countries for educational purposes and to strengthen relations, such as the 2006 elephant-koala swap under which eight elephants were sent to zoos in Australia.

Panda prize winner faces travel hurdle

       A prize winner in the contest to name the Chiang Mai panda cub Lhinping says she is being denied permission to travel to China as part of her prize because she is not a Thai citizen.
       Naruay Jaterng,14, who was a third place winner in the contest, said her parents were from a hill tribe in a remote village in Mae Ai district in Chiang Mai.
       They were about 12km from the district administration office and had found it impossible to go there to register her when she was born, which meant she had been stateless since birth. A stateless person's identity card is the only documentation she has to prove her identity.
       Naruay said her parents were descendents of tribal people granted Thai citizenship.
       She was one of millions who entered the naming contest organised by Chiang Mai Zoo using postcards. Her name was drawn as the third prize winner which earned her 100,000 baht in cash and an air ticket to China's Chengdu city for four days and three nights from Nov 15-18.
       Naruay's stateless plight echoes the difficulties faced by Mong Thongdee,the 12-year-old Shan boy who was initially denied permission to travel overseas. Mong's dream of going to Japan for a paper plane competition was finally realised when he was granted a 90-day visa on Wednesday.
       An official letter of permission to travel outside Chiang Mai for seven days helped Naruay go to Bangkok to collect her prize on Monday. Although her birth could still be registered, it could take up to a year to get the birth certificate that is needed to apply for a passport, meaning she would miss out on the trip.
       Zoological Park Organisation director Sophon Damnui said he was shocked by the news, but said she would receive cash equal to the value of the prize if she could not go to China.
       Chiang Mai deputy governor Pairoj Saengpuwong said Article 23 of the Nationality Act held the answer to Naruay's problem. Under the act, overseas travel was no problem if those without Thai citizenship had the status of highlanders. Permission was possible if authentic identity documents were produced. Naruay's parents are acknowledged as highlanders in Thailand.

Cougar seized in Seattle park after 2 weeks

       A cougar that apparently had lived in Seattle for more than two weeks and forced the city's largest park to close was captured on Sunday and returned to the wild, state officials said.
       The cougar was immobilised with a tranquiliser in Discovery Park after hunting dogs treed it, Department of Fish and Wildlife Captain Bill Hebner said.
       An enforcement officer and the dogs tracked the animal after it was spotted in or near the 216 hectare preserve.
       The cougar is a healthy two-year-old male, weighing 63.5kg, he added.
       After examining the animal, wildlife agents drove it to the foothills of the Cascade mountains,72km from Seattle.
       "It's a very good prospect for relocation," Capt Hebner said."It wasn't aggressive or stalking people."
       The animal likely preyed on house cats during its time in the park, he said.
       Capt Hebner said the heavily forested park had been a perfect place for the cougar because there's plenty of food in the form of rabbits and other small animals, along with neighbourhood pets.Agents attached a global positioning system collar on the cougar that will transmit updates on its location twice a day.