Morning, Gentle Readers! This is a note from a deferred tradition. It goes back a ways through several contributors, though with a stringent eligibility criterion. They can no longer be strictly of this world. The project began with the Cook-Book we started with Jinny Martin.

There has been a curious periodic eruption of old Spook trade-craft over the years. The current endless political campaign for the American Presidency has brought the issues to a certain luminous quality. Jinny had been married to an old Spook named Barnie. Before his passing, he finished a career in espionage as the Chief of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. A man whose trade-craft was superb, and enabled effective collection all along the way.

With service on warships painted stern gray, he had also served in pseudo-diplomatic posts around the world. Like the one in Istanbul, Turkey.

That historic city, once called “Constantinople,” guards the Bosphorus, a 700-meter wide, 19-mile long strait that joins the Mediterranean and Black Seas in the network of world commerce.

There is news from there this week. The “Special Military Operation” continues in Ukraine. There was a treaty protecting merchant ships filled with grain peacefully leaving Odessa and traveling south to Egypt and Eastern Africa. The Russians announced no such protection exists this morning.

For Jinny’s husband, that often mean taking the Embassy boat and crew out to the navigational channel and seeing what ships are deeply laden, and which might have cargoes to make the Geiger-counters count. It is not just wheat on those ships.

But what interested us was what it was like for ladies like Jinny who had to run households in those islands of diplomacy. Like a prominent NATO ally’s capital. What to talk about in the living rooms that could steer cocktail-talk to the appropriate counter-intelligence topics?

What cocktails appealed to what crowd of guests? What snacks worked best to loosen tongue and support the report that would have to be written over coffee the next morning?

You can see this rapidly becomes complicated, and that is why Janet, who Marlow nick-named “W” to avoid marital strife, passed along the meat-ball recipe as a back up main-course that never failed.

Here at Big Pink, we are blessed with the presence of Grace, the best Angel-hair pasta chefs in all of Northern Virginia. When a plate of those delicate pale noodles emerges from the strainer, they still need some help in terms of rich, vibrant sauce festooned with grated Romano cheese.

Marlow had the answer for that. Not just in terms of delightful browned meats and vegetables. Imagine for a moment those amazing noodles smothered with tomato goodness shared with a happy crowd all mentally preparing their own reports for the morning meetings that will come on the inevitable Monday morning meeting tomorrow…

From Marlow’s perch across the Styx comes this recipe for the centerpiece of a cozy comfy Italian plate of healthy calories. It will add a little spice to the beginning of a week that could feature the end of commercial shipping on the Black Sea. That is the point of this cook-book, anyway. And a note from the next world to this one while we simmer and pour a refreshing glass of red to help guide us forward to a meal that will support robust counter-intelligence collection operations at the dinner table, wherever that might be!

Marlow’s Meatballs

1 pound hamburger

½ pound ground pork

½ pound ground veal

2 eggs

1 cup pecorino/romano cheese (grated)

1 ½ tbsp chopped fresh parsley

2 cloves garlic minced

Salt and pepper to taste
2 cups fresh breadcrumbs (leftover baguette from La Grignote

French restaurant in Key West, 1211 Duval St, Key West, FL 33040-3129)

2 cups warm water (He uses water leftover from soaking dried mushrooms from previous meal- and uses both cups!)
1 cup olive oil for frying

Directions:

-Combine meats, eggs, cheese, parsley, garlic, salt & pepper.

-Mix in bread-crumbs.

-Mix in water ½ cup at a time until moist.

-Fry in oil until brown.

-Serve with tomato sauce.

-Freeze extra separately on sheet pan after frying. When frozen, place in bag.

Chef’s Tip: Use one cooking session to prepare servings based on entertainment/collection opportunities. Romanians coming? Make a few extra meatballs and tuck them away in the freezer!

Copyright 2023 Marlow & Vic Socotra
www.vicsocotra.com