Dear Manhattan-American:

I am planning a trip to New York in June. I have not visited it for 40 or so years. Friends have informed me that Manhattan is now very gentrified and has lost its edge, and I should concentrate on Brooklyn. What is your take on this?

—  Nancy from Denver, CO

Dear Nancy:

Brooklyn, ugh. Isn’t that the place where people who can’t find an apartment to rent in Manhattan decamp to? There is nothing in that borough that is better than in Manhattan. So go ahead, walk across the Brooklyn Bridge, take in the view, and immediately turn back.

P.S. If you haven’t visited in 40 years, no doubt you have lost your edge as well.

Death Manhattan-American:

I am from Oregon and very proud of my Irish ancestry. I believe the name ‘Paddy Wagon’ stems from New York. Is the name a slur, something that I should take offense?

— Declan Fallihee of Portland, Oregon 

Dear Declan:

Prisoner vans were called paddy wagons because back in the day the police force primarily comprised Irishmen. If you are seeking things to take offense about, there are a great many more that ought to get your Irish up.

Dear Manhattan-American:

I am an ABC (American Born Chinese) married to a Euro-American male. We’ve never been to NYC before. We have two weeks for our vacation, and I want to explore every inch of Manhattan. The problem is that my husband is terrified to visit Harlem in fear that he will stand out. Is there anything I can say that will alleviate his concern? He is not a racist, just worried.

— Suzy Chang-Larkin, Kansas City

Dear Suzy:

For my entire adult life I have lived in Manhattan. I have never been to Harlem. I believe they have three attractions: Sylvia’s and Red Rooster restaurants and the Apollo Theater. I would be more concerned about traveling to Harlem via our dirty, rat-infested, homeless-sheltering subways than by being in Harlem. Take an Uber, cab, or bus there and back and both you and your husband should be fine.

Meet our Manhattan-American: Susan Breslow

This installment of our advice column comes from Susan Breslow, the Web’s foremost expert on romantic travel. In fact, she breaks out in hives when the words “family travel” are mentioned. A widely published travel journalist, Susan’s assignments have led her from Alaska to Zimbabwe. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, Condé Nast Traveler, Departures, National Geographic, and other major magazines and she is the author of Destination Weddings For Dummies and I Really Want a Dog. She served as president of the New York Travel Writers Association and is a member of the Society of American Travel Writers Editors’ Council. As the former marketing director of New York Magazine, she originated the highly successful “City Weddings and Honeymoons” section, which was spun off into the freestanding New York Weddings magazine. Susan holds a Master’s Degree in Journalism and a B.A. in English and studied Multimedia Technology at New York University.

Read more about Susan.

See the list of Susan’s articles here.

Readers,

Feel free to direct any question of your choice to our advice team at **@tr**********.com . T-Boy has an illustrious team of writers with an acute understanding of their ancestral homeland.

The post Dear Manhattan-American by Susan Breslow appeared first on Traveling Archive.

Early Americans were absolutely oyster crazy. When the first English settlers arrived at Plymouth Rock, oysters were a reliable and tasty source of nutrition. Coastal American Indian Nations had already been harvesting them for at least 3,000 years. As the young colony’s population grew and spread to cover much of the East Coast, folks along the shores devoured oysters. In stuffings, chowders, pan roasts and on the half shell, both rich and poor enjoyed as many oysters as they could eat. America’s oldest still operating restaurant, the Union Oyster House of Boston, opened in 1826 to showcase the bivalve. And New York City pushcarts sold the by the bushel, freshly harvested from the Hudson Bay. A whopping 700 million were harvested from the Bay in 1880 alone.

This oyster bonanza coincided with the mass immigration of Irish settlers to the United States. Even before the Potato Famine of 1845-1852, Irish had ventured to America for better lives and a fresh start in a new land. Of course, the vast majority of these Irish were Catholic. They followed religious dietary customs around holidays, one of which was to abstain from eating meat on Christmas Eve. Fish was the protein of choice instead. Back home in Ireland, the Christmas Eve meal revolved around a fish called the ling. Cooks made a simple stew from dried ling, milk, butter and pepper. The ling was heavily salted for preservation, as well as chewy from being dried for so long. Milk tenderized the fish, and mixed with the butter and salt to create a rich, delicious broth.

Irish cooks could find no dried ling in America, but they did find plenty of oysters. And, as it happens, oysters taste pretty similar to dried ling: they’re salty, briny and can be quite chewy. The ling stew recipe was quickly adapted for oysters. And the cook in charge of the dinner didn’t even have to live near the ocean, either. Oysters were so popular throughout the country that canned, pickled and yes, even dried oysters had made their way across the continent en masse by the 1860s. Perhaps this year it’s time to revisit the oyster stew, and see what made this simple, satisfying dish so popular for so many Irish-American families.

New England Oyster Stew

Ingredients:

1/2 pt. oysters
1/2 stick butter
1/4 c. water
Salt and pepper
1 cup light cream and 1 cup milk
Add celery, scallions or onions if desired

Directions:

1. Melt butter in a large pot. Add the oysters with their liquor. Heat until the oysters curl.
2. Meanwhile heat the whole milk and light. Add to the pot when the oysters have curled.
3. Salt and pepper to taste. The stew will take a lot of seasoning.
4. Simmer above ingredients for 5 minutes
5. Serve hot with oyster crackers

The post Oyster Stew on Christmas Eve appeared first on Traveling Archive.