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Last updated: August 23. 2006 12:54PM
GOOD COMPANY
Thinking globally dining locally
Gourmet food store owner offers a taste of culture at her dinner parties
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Blond hair tucked behind her ears and dressed in a black pencil skirt and matching beaded sweater, Laudenslager reminds me of the Hungarian women in my own family, ladies dressed to the nines who lovingly prepared multi-course Hungarian meals as if the job were a quick to-do before dashing off to the symphony.
Similarly, tonight’s dinner is no trouble for Laudenslager, even though the attendees have markedly different tastes. Poland, Estonia, Italy, Holland, Afghanistan, Finland, France and Russia are among the countries that will be represented by the 40 guests.
“Actually, 42, because I had a phone call,” Laudenslager says, laughing as she starts to imitate the caller, “‘Can I bring my German friend?’
“Yeah sure. Why not?” Laudenslager continues, with her characteristic no-sweat shrug as she sweeps potato peelings into the garbage disposal before turning to two pots of goulash on the stove.
“I love to cook.”
It was Laudenslager’s easy-going nature combined with her culinary finesse that turned a group of friends meeting to watch the sun set on the Cape Fear into a regular evening of cultural exchange.
Laudenslager, a political refugee who left Hungary in 1979, moved from Michigan to Wilmington about a year ago and opened a Riverwalk gourmet food store, Omi’s, that she has since moved to Front Street, between Grace and Chestnut.
Europeans and Wilmingtonians who lived downtown gravitated to the store. As Laudenslager got to know her neighbors, she would make her signature “little European finger sandwiches” using Hungarian sausages and salami that she sold in her shop.
Soon, Laudenslager’s new friends were inviting her to their homes. To return the favor, she decided to host an international dinner party.
“Everybody was bringing something,” Laudenslager says of that first get together. At subsequent gatherings, guests were referred to as Miss Hungaria, Miss Finland, even Miss North Carolina and Mr. Texas, based on where they were from and the dishes they provided. “We had such fun. It was going on until like two in the morning – from 6 p.m. when we started,” Laudenslager recalls. “And everybody just enjoyed it.”
“That’s because Martha’s the hostess,” says Miss Finland, Julie Gregg, rushing into the kitchen to check her lihapyorykat (Finnish meatballs) and pinaatti-juusto pullat (spinach-cheese balls) warming in the oven. She is among a handful of friends who have arrived early tonight to help Laudenslager.
Although each guest brings a beverage or covered dish representative of his or her homeland, everyone agrees that Laudenslager is the heart of the party. She greets strangers as longtime friends and keeps an eye peeled for newcomers needing extra attention. She threw a last-minute Christmas dinner in 2005 for Wilmington Europeans who were alone for the holiday. Tonight, she insisted that a Belgian U.S. Marine, just back from Afghanistan, bring only himself to dinner.
“I’m Martha’s adopted son,” single Hungarian Antal “Tony” Beczel announces from the side porch. “She cooks for me and I heat it up in the microwave.”
Guests arrive with myriad foods. An Afghan yogi offers basmati rice seasoned with cumin. An Irish-American sets out a braided bread filled with sharp Cheddar, chicken and vegetables. Joining the offerings are a Dutch sauerkraut with apples and Gouda, an Italian stromboli oozing with cheese and fresh tomatoes overstuffed with Polish vegetable salad. Pies, tortes and tiramisu round out the mix.
Despite the cornucopia, everyone wants to know when Laudenslager will serve her gulyás (goulash), the classic Hungarian beef and potato stew seasoned with fresh sweet peppers and paprika. Finally, a German friend pries the host from a bevy of gigglers in the kitchen. Everyone is hungry, she tells Laudenslager. It’s time to begin.
Laudenslager offers thanks for food and friends. Voices respond in unison. “No, thank you, for having us.” Laudenslager blushes and suggests everyone toast in their native tongues.
Egészségedre!
Skal!
Kippis!
Proost!
A salute!
Cin, cin!
Cheers!
“I like all the funny accents,” says Jeroden Lexmond in his own thick Dutch voice. He and his wife, Marieke, immigrated from Holland a year ago to work in Wilmington. Like many at the party, the Lexmonds come for more than a meal. This is a chance for foreign-born Wilmington residents to re-connect with their native customs and share the challenges of living far from home.
“The American culture, I think, is very different from Europe. So it’s nice to sometimes meet people from Europe,” Marieke Lexmond says. “You can test things, you know, ‘Am I weird or is this weird?’ It’s nice to discuss with somebody how to fit in or how things work here.”
For first- and second-generation Americans like Ukrainian-American Jeanette Szwec, the dinner is a return to European customs they lost when they left home or as their relatives passed away. “I was raised in a house where in our neighborhood everyone was Ukrainian. The churches were Ukrainian. It was not only a different nationality; it was your culture,” says Szwec, who came from Delaware to Wilmington for work. “Other than my name, which obviously has 12-inch consonants, you don’t really talk about your heritage much.”
Locals come to the party to learn about their neighbors and welcome them with sweet Southern hospitality. Meg Turner serves it up tonight with thick slabs of pound cake and fresh whipped cream, a dessert probably similar to that which may have been enjoyed by an ancestor who was a Civil War Confederate general. John Fisher, on the other hand, offers another perennial local favorite. “I usually bring a bottle of Jim Beam.”
No matter where they are from or what they bring to eat, Laudenslager embraces all guests. They are like family, a big family to cook for. “I’m a very happy person. I wake up happy. I go to work happy. I have lots of friends. Every day I talk to lots of people. I love them. I love having a good time.”
“The next party is in August,” she says to a shy newcomer in the kitchen, “and you are invited.”
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Here is the list of Wilmington's culinary greats who you selected from.
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Looking for a special recipe for your next party? Browse all the recipes from Wilmington Magazine.
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