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| Amil Tschache, 1949 Lake Erie beach near Buffalo, NY |
He'd sing bits of his favorites while gardening, fishing, playing gin with my grandmother. Walking into a room, sitting down at the breakfast table or refilling his pipe with Prince Albert tobacco--all were occasions for a few bars of some old chestnut. "Overhead the moon is beaming, white as blossoms on the bough," the first lines of Sigmund Romberg's overwrought Serenade from The Student Prince, often sprang forth in his mock-serious baritone. He was quite comical that way, and he knew it. Rudolf Friml's flowery Rose Marie was another one. I don't think Dapo--that was our nickname for him--knew any words to the song other than the first line, "Oh Sweet Rose Marie," but we heard it often. He would simply dum-de-dum the rest of the melody.
I loved all of it. It sure wasn't the kind of music we heard on the local radio station in Columbia, Tennessee in the 1950s and 60s. It was Dapo's music, and to this day I have a powerful jolt of memory of him whenever I hear those songs.
Cooking is another way I revisit memories of Dapo. Of German descent, he was born in 1892 in Janesville, Minnesota, one of nine brothers. In his youth, he helped build the railroad. When my mother was born in 1915, he was manager of a Robin Hood flour mill in Saskatchewan, Canada. He worked with the company after moving to Buffalo in the 1930s. After he retired, he opened a florist shop in Old Hickory, Tennessee, to be near my family. We had moved south in the 1950s when the DuPont company transferred my dad there. He was as patient with a grandson who had no talent for fishing (or any other sport) as a grandfather could possibly be, and I will always love him for it.
Dapo was also one helluva cook. The following is a recipe he made when he visited. To my knowledge it was never put on paper, but over the years I think I have developed a decent facsimile of this fine creation of a natural born chef. Enjoy, and while you're putting it together, pour a glass of wine, listen to a little Romberg at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRqcRsY8aNg, and drink a toast to Dapo, a man who loved music.
Dapo's Pork Chops
Brown four pork chops well in 2T of olive oil. Season with garlic powder, salt and black pepper. Remove from pan.In drippings, sauté a chopped onion, two chopped garlic cloves, a chopped celery stalk and carrot until the onion is soft and translucent. Deglaze the pan with a cup of red wine, continually stirring the vegetables and scraping all the good bits off the bottom of the pan. Add a 30 oz. can of crushed tomatoes and an 8 oz. can of tomato sauce. Add a bay leaf. Simmer until a bit of the liquid evaporates, maybe 15 minutes or so.
Lightly coat the bottom of a glass casserole dish with a little of the sauce. Arrange the pork chops on top. Sprinkle each chop generously with Worcestershire sauce. Cover with one large bag of egg noodles (I use the whole grain kind) boiled for 6 minutes in water and a little olive oil until al dente. Spoon the sauce evenly over the cooked noodles, then jostle the casserole dish a bit so the sauce sinks down nicely through the noodles. Top with 2 cups of grated mozzarella cheese. You can also add some parmesan. For last night's creation, I left off the parmesan but added four slices of smoked gouda before sprinkling on the mozzarella. Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes until brown and bubbly. Makes four generous servings with plenty of noodles left over for lunch the next day.
