About Gael Greene
Photo: Steven Richter
In her role as restaurant critic of New York Magazine (1968 to January 2002) Detroit-born Gael Greene helped change the way New Yorkers (and many Americans) think about food.
"Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Ice Cream But Were Too Fat To Ask," "The Mafia Guide to Dining Out." and " Nobody Knows the Truffles I've Seen" were early pieces. In more recent years her annual roundup of New York City's dining favorites, Ask Gael, was a gourmand's collectible for many years and she continues to write a weekly Ask Gael column for NYM. Earlier she worked at the New York Post.
As co-founder with James Beard and a continuing force behind Citymeals-on-Wheels as board chair, Ms. Greene has made a significant impact on the city of New York. Citymeals, the largest public/private partnership in the country, has raised $200 million in its twenty-six-year history to help feed the city's frail elderly shut-ins.
Ms. Greene's memoir, "Insatiable, Tales from a Life of Delicious Excess" was published April, 2006. Earlier non-fiction books include "Delicious Sex, A Gourmet Guide for Women and the Men Who Want to Love Them Better" and "BITE: A New York Restaurant Strategy." Her two novels Blue skies, No Candy" and "Doctor Love" were NY Times best sellers.
Gael Greene
Articles used with permission of Gael Greene, Copyright 2009. All rights reserved. Steven Richter's photographs may not be used without permission.
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GAEL’S RAW TOMATO SAUCE FOR PASTA FROM INSATIABLE, the Book
My husband and I loved a pasta with uncooked tomato sauce that we ate at a shack on the beach in Ischia during our honeymoon. I gave the idea to Craig Claiborne once. Later he told me he’d tried it and it was awful, but I noticed he ran a very similar recipe some months later. Only the best summer tomatoes will do.
4 large beefsteak tomatoes
4 very large cloves of garlic
6 large basil leaves
1 tsp. salt
6 grindings of black pepper
2⁄3 cup fruity extra virgin olive oil
1 lb. bucatini or perciatelli
Core and chop tomatoes coarsely, between 1⁄4 and 1⁄2 inch. (I never bother to peel them, but you can.) Put the tomato and all its juices into a large bowl. Peel garlic and smash with a chef’s knife if you want to remove it before serving, or mince two of the cloves if you want to leave it in for a more intense garlic taste. Add garlic to tomatoes.
Cut 3 of the basil leaves into fine ribbons and add to tomatoes. Add salt and pepper. Stir in olive oil. Cover and let sit at room temperature for 8 to 10 hours, stirring occasionally.
Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water for 10 to 12 minutes. Drain in a colander, reserving a third of a cup of pasta cooking water in the pot. Return pasta to pot and toss with reserved liquid. Ladle into soup bowls. Remove smashed garlic from tomatoes and ladle over pasta. Sliver remaining basil and scatter on top.
Some will want a flurry of fresh grated Parmesan; purists will not. Serves 4 as a main course, 6 as a first course.
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GAEL’S INSTANT CHILLED TOMATO SOUP
This may be too primitive for some tastes but it’s delicious and could be a summer lunch or a starter for dinner with friends when you don’t feel the need to show off.
To serve two: Chop two giant or three medium beefsteak tomatoes or pulse them in the blender into a pebbly puree. Add to this mixture 2/3 cup of sour cream (or half sour cream and half low-fat yogurt or even all yogurt) and blend. Pour into a chilled bowl and sprinkled snipped basil or mint on top.
