On Tuesday night, my mother had the family over for Hanukkah dinner at her new apartment. My mom made beef, salad and latkes. As the six of us sat down to this sumptuous and nostalgic feast, I asked my nephew, Greg, what foods he would bring to a desert island. After Greg suggested hot dogs, my Mom, Greg, and I agreed they are one of the most forbidden pleasures. Disty (my wife) suggested her hot dog substitute would be scrapple, a Pennsylvania Dutch breakfast food that is fried and dangerous. She told us that her father had shipped cans of it from Philadelphia to her in Denver and China. Larry and Carol (my bother and sister-in-law) thought they might choose french bread, steak and butter dip. There began a discussion of the best cheese steak and then bounced from one comfortable food to another. This was not a what-was-your-best-ever foie gras discussion, but a discussion about the foods that would do when extreme comfort was needed.

 

Disty mentioned at one point that our friend Catrine told her that when she is on a shoot (she's a food stylist), she and her friends invariably talk about what they would eat for their last meal. They call it the "My Last Supper" game. And there is a book available, Last Meals, which describes those of 50 great modern chefs.

 

For me, I can always count on a few foods to do the trick. Many are dishes that I remember fondly from family and friends. Each is associated with a memory and a favorite person. I began a reverie about final meals as Disty, who was dozing, and I drove home that night. French toast on Sunday, slathered with maple syrup, sharing the last piece with my brother. A pizza with my sons Andy and Chip on Friday night while we watch a movie. Finding a Nathan's with my mom and getting a couple of hotdogs with as much as can be loaded on. My grandmother's poppy seed cookies or her coconut cream pie, certainly I'd have those for my final just desserts.

 

Here is my Philz Final Feed Menu:

Appetizers

Guacamole from Disty, Sally, or my mom, who served an avocado spread on toast that I ate in my living room for the first time around 1962 and never looked back.

The Cheese Plate from "Canoe" in Atlanta that Sue and I shared in 2005 and then had to bring other friends from Arcadia back to try it again and again. It is still good. 

Veggies

Billy's stirfry in his Boston apartment in 1973.

The brussel sprouts with Aunt Hennie and Uncle Julie in 1964ish.

Barbequed asparagus with Disty and my sons Andy and Chip and their girlfriends, summer 2007 (especially if we could barbeque it with the rosemary we picked from our driveway in Lucca).

Fried Artichokes (Carciofi Alla Giudea) that we had with Cooper and Michael in Rome 2005.

Main Course

A hamburger from John Michalski's boy/girl dance party in the summer of 1967.

A hot dog with my mom at Nathan's, with all of the fixins.

Disty's Dishes that she brought back from her job as the cook at the fraternity house, especially the Beef Stroganoff that she purloined in a yogurt container. One exception to this is the much-beloved-by the-fraternity, layered, multi-colored jello dish with alternating layers of miracle whip. This will not be served.

A lobster roll from Patsy's wedding in 1974. 

A cheese pizza and fries from Pizza Express with Andy and Chip on Friday night while watching a movie.

Going to any meal and sitting next to my dad, again.

The Laap Gai we had on the first day of our reuniting with Andy and Chip in Luang Prabang, Laos summer 2006.

Lebanon Bologna with my Uncle Bernie and Grandma Zuckerman in 1959.

The ravioli that my sister Suzanne and I made while Mom and Dad went out.

Sides

Containers of things from the deli (potato salad, cole slaw, olives, etc.) as selected by Myles.

Disty's Fish House Tomatoes (pronounced ta-mah-toes) always.

Bread

The loaf I had with my mom while we ate Gorgonzola and played cards on the night train from Milan to Paris in 1996, when we went to celebrate her 80th birthday. 

Dessert

My grandmother's poppy seed cookies (now passed down to my mom) or Grandma's coconut cream pie, certainly I'd have those for dessert.

Anybody's pumpkin pie. 

Katie's baklava (or anything else she makes for that matter).

A KozyShack Rice Pudding in 2007 hanging out watching the World Champion Boston Red Sox with Microwave P. Ernest (the most beautiful basset hound in the world). 

Wine

The bottle of 1974 Mouton Rothschild Pauillac Cooper brought me for my 25th birthday in 1976.

Beer

A bottle (or two) of Ringnes Special that we drank on the curb of my brother's New York apartment when we moved him on one of the hottest summer days I can remember in 1969.

Cordials

The collection of cordials at the Kelty's.

Bols in the wind-up ballerina bottle that my grandfather gave me (1972ish).