Breaking bread with the godfather of punk

Terri Hooley (left) and the John Hewitt pub. — Anna Lisa Gross (left), and a John Hewitt pub postcard

The Troubles in Northern Ireland officially ended in 1998, but it took years for people to return to Belfast’s city center, where paramilitaries blew up bombs and people in delis and pubs. In 2004 I waited tables and pulled pints at a pub called the John Hewitt. Named for a Protestant poet, managed by a Catholic, and owned by a nonprofit organization, the John Hewitt was an exceptional scene.

The John Hewitt’s regulars were from the neighborhood. Journalists left the daily paper’s office two blocks away to start drinking at 4 p.m., and stayed until drunken bedtime around 9 p.m. I wondered how their wives felt, if their wives still waited up, if their wives even existed. One of the many named Patrick was gay, but the rest of these graying men had wedding rings.

Art students with blue or green hair cut in dramatic waterfalls came for lunch between classes or picked through their portfolios over pints of Guinness on weekends. The John Hewitt’s walls showcased the best or luckiest painters and photographers.

Visual art welcomed the young and pierced, but the John Hewitt’s audible art came only from the world-weary and wrinkled. The poets and musicians were old, and looked older than they were. Terri Hooley was the most famous, the godfather of Belfast’s punk scene. Terri opened Good Vibrations record store in the height of Belfast’s Troubles on a bomb-pocked block, and when I met him at the John Hewitt decades later, he was still a citizen of punk rather than of Northern Ireland.

Terri’s opening line was about his glass eye (worn since a childhood accident). His conversation dripped with humor, and his humor was crude. I’ve always been easily offended, but Terri’s generous heart beamed through a huge smile and one twinkling eye. I never recoiled from his bawdy jokes or sloppy hugs.

Terri was attacked a few years later while walking his dog, because a bigot considered him a disgrace to Protestantism for living outside of sectarian lines.

Terri’s is the spirit of the John Hewitt, named for a Protestant, managed by a Catholic and loyal to art before anyone’s politics.

Terri’s Good Vibrations store and ornery warmth remind me of John Lewis’ Good Trouble. Sure, Terri doesn’t have the moral authority of Lewis and Lynda Blackmon Lowery, but he bears scars of bigotry on his body.

When artists and poets eat and drink together, it is political, of course, in every time and every place. Breaking bread, tearing tortillas, passing pan and chewing chapatis feed our humanity. The John Hewitt’s bread was thick and crusty, and it lay next to steaming bowls of beef stew (or plump slices of vegetarian quiche for those art students), and it fed us until we were full.

Take — this is my body, broken for you. Take and eat.

Ornery, warm, troubling, good Jesus, enter us in body and in spirit. Strengthen us for your peace riot. Our world cries out for justice and kindness. Reform us, today, we pray. Amen.

Curry over chips (French fries) is a common dish in the United Kingdom and was an occasional dish at the John Hewitt.

Easy Curry

2 Tbs olive oil
½ tsp cumin seeds
½ tsp mustard seeds
1 medium onion, finely chopped 
3 cloves garlic
½ inch finely chopped ginger root or 1 tsp ginger powder
hot chili pepper, optional
1 tsp ground cumin*
1 tsp ground coriander*
½  tsp turmeric*
½ tsp to 1 tsp salt*
1 large tomato and 2 Tbsp tomato paste 
2 cans of garbanzo beans
½ tsp of garam masala

*Premixed curry powder can also work with this recipe.  Check to see if the powder includes salt before adding more.

Instructions

1. Heat 2 Tbsp olive oil in a large frying or sauce pan.

2. Sauté ½ tsp cumin seeds until they splutter. Add ½ tsp mustard seeds if you have them and like them.

3. Add finely-chopped onion, 3 cloves garlic and ½-inch finely chopped ginger root or 1 tsp powder. If you would like, also add a hot chili pepper.

4. When the onion is translucent, add these spices (or a premixed curry powder):

  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp ground coriander
  • ½ tsp turmeric
  • ½ tsp to 1 tsp salt

5. Turn the heat down a bit, and cook for 3-4 minutes. Then add 1 large tomato and 2 Tbsp tomato paste (if you only have one option, add more of it).

6. Cook a few minutes. Add 2 cans of garbanzo beans and ½ tsp of garam masala.

7. If the mixture seems dry, add some water. The longer you let it simmer, the more the flavors merge. Eat with rice or on top of french fries, as Terri Dooley does.

Variations:

  • Start with dry garbanzo beans. Cook them a long time, then do the rest.
  • Add 2 oz. tamarind pulp.
  • Between the tomatoes and beans, SLOWLY stir in a half cup of yogurt.
  • Use meat, potato, mushroom, etc. instead of (or with) garbanzo beans.
  • Experiment with amounts and proportions to your taste.
  • Cover with fresh cilantro.

Anna Lisa Gross

Anna Lisa Gross grew up on a mini-commune of Christian hippies, who prefer to call themselves the Grosses and the Read More

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