Ho Fame! (I'm Hungry)

Ho Fame! (I'm hungry)

By Bob Rixon

So it's December in Peterstown and you're worrying about your weight?
Are you kidding? Just take a stroll from Loomis to South Street.
Take your time, no hurry. It's impossible to do this without eating something.
More than anything else, Peterstown has a reputation for food. You're just doing what generations have done before you. You'll find businesses that stayed in the same family for years. Other businesses might have changed owners, but the name over the door stayed the same because the commitment to quality and service stayed the same.

So as you walk, you try to pass by these delicatessens and restaurants and meat markets and produce stands, but you can't resist. You see shoppers walking out carrying bags of sausages, breads and cheeses. Your eyes are drawn to counters loaded with jars of olives, peppers, and boxes of imported cakes. And hanging from the ceiling are delicacies too heavenly to describe here in the language of mere mortals. The aroma of fresh ravioli and pizza wafts out of doors and windows. You hear the hiss of an espresso machine. You see stands heaped with fruit and vegetables. You see beautiful fish arranged in rows on ice, their eyes staring up at you. You watch a butcher trimming a piece of tender veal.

And you know you're gonna eat. Maybe in a restaurant, maybe in your own kitchen. But you're gonna eat right through Christmas and all the way to Capodanno. And in this multi-cultural world of ours, you'll probably circle Three Kings Day on the calendar and celebrate that, too. By that time, you can start thinking about your last fling before Lent begins, and the banquet you'll have when Easter arrives in a burst of Spring flowers and a gigantic tray of lasagna.
Let's face it, food is a year round preoccupation here in The Burg, which is why we lead off this first issue of Round About Peterstown with a song in praise of food. This is not just any food - it's Italian, folks, and it's not just like mamma used to make - it's like great grandmamma used to make, and she's the one who stayed in the old country!