Offering nourishment for the body and soul

“Every country has a peasant dish that is affordable, local and healthy, and which provides sustenance,” says Klara Tammany, executive director of the Center for Wisdom’s Women at 97 Blake St. in Lewiston. At the center’s Peasant Pantry Cafe, the women of the center prepare and serve such dishes and more, welcoming the public to share nourishment for both the body and the spirit.

Although the cafe occurs only once a month and prepares just “one dish,” often served with bread or a vegetable on the side, the women at the center also prepare a meal once a week, which is shared with whomever is present when the dish is laid on the table.

“It’s not just (about the) cooking,” explains Tammany, “it’s a community-building experience.”

Their goals, she says, are four-fold: learn to prepare affordable and substantial meals that are healthy; cook together and share the fruits of their labors with others; earn a small bit of income; learn about food in other countries.

With respect to the small bit of income, the Peasant Pantry Cafe’s fare, like all other services at the Center for Wisdom’s Women, is free. Donations, however, are welcome, and the proceeds are divided among the women who prepare, serve and tidy up after the meal. “You can give 25 cents or $25,000,” says Paul Drowns of the St. Mary’s Nutrition Center.

Drowns, whose primary role is community cooking educator at the Nutrition Center on Bates Street, teaches cooking classes at the Center for Wisdom’s Women.

Cooking, says Tammany, is different than sitting across a table from someone. Whether you’re eating or simply talking, “the focus is on the third thing — the cooking — and conversations and friendships bloom out of it.”

“We’re friends and sisters here,” says Christine Zucatti-Doyle, a guest, worker, volunteer and now a member of the board of directors at the center. According to Zucatti-Doyle, the center “is a supportive environment where women can develop and share talents, grow friendships and help each other with the ups and downs of their lives.”

She adds that it’s “all about empowering women, supporting women, improving the lives of families, neighborhoods and making the community stronger and safer.”

At the Peasant Pantry Cafe, it’s also about the food.

All meals served at the cafe have an international flair in keeping with the mission of providing education about food in other countries. In the last two months, the cafe has served ratatouille and choucroute garnie, both “one-dish” meals. Drowns has shared his recipe for the latter with us today.

Choucroute garnie, explains Drowns, “is an Alsatian dish from Alsace Lorraine, a small place in France that borders Germany.” Prepared with sauerkraut, onions, carrots, potatoes and kielbasa, Drowns’ version is a tasty yet “healthier version” of the original dish.

“We’ve cooked Hungarian, Greek, Moroccan, Italian, Cuban and Irish dishes,” says Tammany. In upcoming months, the cafe will serve succa y fagioli, pasties, pad Thai and frijoles negro con arroz.

The center opened its doors in 1998 and started the cafe in 2014. “The meal brings different people to the center to experience both the center and the women who are so important to this place,” says Tammany.

In addition to the support and camaraderie that she has found at the center, Joyce Levigne, a volunteer at the center, says she enjoys “learning new recipes and (about) healthy eating.”

The Center for Wisdom’s Women serves hundreds of women every month. In 2014, over the course of nearly 4,000 visits, women found friendship, encouragement, education and nourishment at the center.

Center board member Helen Belisle attended October’s Peasant Pantry Cafe with two friends, who were making their first visits to the center. “It is relaxed and cozy and everybody is welcoming and friendly,” says Belisle. “Sharing a meal at the Center for Wisdom’s Women is like sharing a meal with a big family.”

“We are all equal,” she adds. During each visit, “we all give a little of ourselves.”

The center has been serving about a dozen people at each monthly Peasant Pantry Cafe. Tammany hopes to increase that number. “We serve family style, once a month, for two hours,” she says.

The next Peasant Pantry Cafe will occur on Thursday, Nov. 12, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. The public is invited.

Choucroute garnie

Serves 6

Time: 3 hours 30 minutes

Ingredients:

2.5 pounds bulk sauerkraut

4 tablespoons olive oil

2 cups finely chopped onions

1/2 cup chopped carrots

1 large clove of garlic, minced

1 medium-sized cabbage, cored and thinly sliced

1.5 cups chicken or vegetable broth

1 bay leaf

6 whole black peppercorns

4 whole cloves

8 juniper berries, crushed

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

2 pounds turkey kielbasa, fresh or smoked

6 medium-sized potatoes, peeled and quartered

Dijon mustard for serving

Method:

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Drain the sauerkraut and reserve the juice. Rinse it in two changes of cold water, wring it out well, and set aside.

Warm the oil in a large pot or enameled casserole over medium heat and gently fry the onions until golden. Add the carrots and cook until soft.

Add the garlic and cabbage and cook, stirring, for several minutes.

Add the sauerkraut and broth and bring to a simmer.

Add the bay leaf, peppercorns, cloves and juniper berries, season to taste with salt and pepper, and then cover and bake in oven for two hours.

Cut up the sausage. Remove the pot from the oven and tuck pieces into the cabbage and sauerkraut. If the choucroute looks dry, add a little water. If it needs more bite, add a little of the reserved juice.

Cover and bake another 30 or 40 minutes.

Center for Wisdom’s Women

97 Blake St., Lewiston

513-3922