the papal visit

today the pope is visiting my neighborhood, yorkville, on manhattan's upper east side. certain restaurants have been making meals with some of the pope's (allegedly) favorite foods to honor him, and probably to get him to stop by for a nosh. i mean, he must get hungry doing all that running around and who wouldn't like a bit of wurst with some pumpernickel and a frosty one? the pope is in the hood because it has german roots, and there are definitely still signs of it. like the heidelberg restaurant on 2nd ave. between 86th and 85th streets, where men in leiderhosen and buxom women in push up bras with their ta-tas hanging out serve you; and schaller and weber, the german deli on the same block. i like german food. when i last visited my family in columbus, ohio, we went to an area called german town. it is a very old, historic neighborhood with beautiful, little homes (all worth a fortune now) and some great german food. i remember i had this huge plate of a variety of wurst and sausage with sauerkraut and potatoes and good hearty bread, all washed down with lots of cold german beer. interestingly, in spanish the word for pope is "el papa", and all you have to do is change the article from masculine to feminine "la papa" and it means potato, which is one of my favorite veggies. boiled, baked, fried, scalloped, creamed, in soup, mashed, OMG!!! spaniards love potatoes, and that's another way i feel my roots. anyway, the pope hopefully got something tasty while in NYC. word has it that he was looking forward to some strawberry shortcake. in any case, no matter what your religious affiliation, i hope you will enjoy some wurst, or some potatoes made just the way you like 'em; and say a prayer for peace.

THE POPE


NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH


AND THE BEST WURST