For Father's Day, these Maine dads go far beyond grilled steak, burgers and Old-Fashioneds

Yahoo

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Jun. 11—If there were an official menu for Father's Day — a holiday that sits toward the beginning of Maine's brief but glorious grilling season — it'd surely be loaded with standard, meaty dad favorites like grilled steaks and sausages, barbecue ribs and smoked brisket.
But some dads go for something different, whether they're leaning more into plant-based foods for health reasons, or they're expats craving traditional foods from their homeland, or endurance athletes fueling up with thousands of extra calories to offset what they burned during an epic bicycle ride. We talked with four Maine dads about the special dishes they'll be enjoying this Father's Day.
A FATHER'S FAVORITE PIE
Dick Farnsworth's strawberry pies have been in high demand over the years.
The former Maine state representative from Portland remembered one pie he made for the Legislature's biennial memorial scholarship auction in 2016 that fetched $70, even though it never made it to the auction block. "Before it ever got to be auctioned off at the event," Farnsworth said, "the people in the office decided they'd chip in and provide the resources to devour it themselves."
The pies sparked bidding wars at fundraising auctions for the former Hall School, too. "Dad would always put up a pie, and it raised more and more every year," said Farnsworth's son, Rick. "I think the last year the principal bid on it and it went for $75."
So naturally, Farnsworth's prized pie will be the pièce de résistance at the Father's Day gathering at his home with his son, Rick, daughter, E.J. Fechenda, and their families.
The dish is his mother Bessie's recipe, which she taught him to make when he was in his late teens. Now 84, Farnsworth estimates he's made it hundreds of times over the years.
"I've developed some skills around making a strawberry pie," he said, explaining the procedure: Start by baking off a pie crust (he "cheats" with store-bought), fill it with whole fresh berries (local, if in season), and top with glaze. "And when you get done, it is beautiful. It just glistens, it's so pretty. And the flavor is also fantastic.
"It's not complex, but there are certain things where you use your chef's intuition, especially when you're making the glaze," Farnsworth added. "You want to make sure that it's just thick enough, not too thin, because then it'll all run down, and not too thick because then it'll lump up." He said when he's stirring the glaze, he can feel the subtle point where the glaze offers his whisk just the right amount of resistance.
"It's very zen," chuckled his son. "I learned how to make it. My wife and daughters did too. We were never quite as good at it as my dad. We didn't always get it to gel properly. He's artistic in his presentation of the strawberries, and mounds them beautifully high. He's an outstanding chef, and he just has the touch."
The main course for the Farnsworth family Father's Day gathering this year is indeed more like traditional dad food: grilled, applewood-smoked pork tenderloin from Ming Tsai's "Blue Ginger" cookbook. With the strawberry pie waiting in the wings, Dick Farnsworth will gladly preside over grill duties.
"Of course," he said. "It's a Father's Day privilege."
FUEL FOR AN IRONMAN DAD
The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend an active man in his early 40s should eat about 2,800 calories a day. Zev Myerowitz Jr., 41, of Cape Elizabeth will consume more than twice as many calories this Father's Day. That may sound like a splurge, but it's only because he's also going to burn 6,000 calories beforehand.
Myerowitz is well beyond "active": He's a nationally ranked Ironman triathlete. His annual Father's Day gift from his wife, Amber, is a "husband cycling day pass."
"I don't have to take care of any kids," he said. "I get to ride all day long as long as I want, and I just have to be home for dinner."
Last year, he and his bicycle racing buddies rode 150 miles in just over seven hours, with 10,000 feet of climbing around Peaked Mountain along the way. "We're not riding easy," he said. "We're riding hard."
Myerowitz's food plans for the day are laser-focused on fueling his body for the epic ride. Before, during and immediately after the ride, he's throwing back thousands of calories from nutrient supplements like ketone shots, amino acids, bicarbonates, liquid carbohydrates, energy chews, and protein shakes fortified with probiotics and maple syrup for glycogen replacement.
An hour after the ride, Myerowitz starts eating real food. First, a roughly 1000-calorie ham and pineapple pizza with a high-protein crust made from ground chicken, egg and Parmesan cheese. Then Amber makes him one of his favorite meals (about 2,000 calories, all in): gluten-free chicken Parmesan with charred broccoli and rice, followed by their traditional celebratory dessert.
"As healthy as Zev Meyrowitz is, he has a sweet tooth," Amber said. "So we'll go to a local ice cream shop and just go wild." The Myerowitzes and their four young kids will head to Gelato Fiasco (for Myerowitz's favorite, Sweet Resurgam) or Willard Scoops in South Portland (for mint chocolate chip or pistachio — or both).
"When you hollow out a leg, if you will, you get a little flexibility in how you refill it," Myerowitz said.
Amber said when she and Myerowitz started dating about 16 years ago, he'd only just started his physical conditioning regimen. "I remember he went for a 3- or 4-mile run, and he was in so much pain the next day that he could barely get in and out of the car," she said. "So I've seen it from the beginning, and the progress he's made has been absolutely phenomenal. It takes true hard work and determination to be where he's at right now."
Myerowitz earned his "pro card," enabling him to tour professionally on the Ironman circuit, though his full-time work as a chiropractor makes it unfeasible. Still, he trains up to 20 hours a week, from 4-7 a.m., so he can be available for the kids when they get up for the day.
Amber said as much as she admires her husband's Ironman pursuits, the appeal of extreme endurance sports is lost on her.
"I'm not going to even pretend that I want to do that," she laughs. "It's his thing. It's what he loves. But he's a phenomenal athlete and an even better dad."
A PERUVIAN FEAST
Luis Alberto Perez Narvaez of Bangor celebrates big days throughout the year with his version of a traditional meal from his native Peru: combinado siete colores.
It's a combination of dishes like tallarines rojos (pasta in tomato sauce, highlighting the influence of Peru's Italian population); arroz con pollo; white fish ceviche; and papas a la huancaína (potatoes in a cheesy sauce spiced with aji amarillo peppers). The combinado plate — though Narvaez plates the dishes separately — traditionally displays seven colors.
"In Peru, it's for special occasions. And for every single Sunday," laughed Narvaez. "It reminds me of soccer tournaments on Sundays in Peru."
But because the feast takes Narvaez about six hours to pull together, he makes it only about six times a year. "It's not easy to do," he said. "It's a lot of work."
He made the combinado siete colores for the first time in 2019, after gleaning tips from online instructional videos. Narvaez works in renovation construction and as a part-time Lyft driver. But in 2022, he briefly operated a Peruvian restaurant in Veazie called Mi Causa, where he honed his technique.
"I'm doing it better now," he said. "With time and practice, you improve. And patience."
A pivotal turning point in his learning curve came when he realized chicken in the United States is fattier than Peruvian poultry. To compensate, he now par-cooks the chicken separately to render and discard most of its fat. As a result, his arroz con pollo now tastes like what he remembers from Peru.
The rice itself is multi-colored, flecked green with cilantro, spinach and peas, and studded with carrots and red peppers. The ceviche comes together quickest, since the fish marinates in leche de tigre — a lime juice-based mixture — only about a minute. He rounds out the seafood dish with red onion, cilantro, hot peppers, corn and roasted sweet potato.
Narvaez is a single dad whose four children live with their mom. Because he's spending this Father's Day with his kids, he's postponing the labor-intensive feast to the following weekend, though his 11-year-old son Damian will be on hand to enjoy the combinado with him.
"And actually, I'm going to make more than usual," he said. "I'm going to have a lot of stuff. There's going to be like 15 colors."
PLANT-BASED PIZZAS
There was a time when a special occasion meal for former chef Alex Desmond would have been built around slow-smoked brisket.
He's a longtime barbecue lover who once worked a 500-gallon offset Texas smoker. But at this year's gathering at his Glenburn home — his first Father's Day since becoming a dad nine months ago — Desmond is making a variety of vegan and vegetarian pizzas for the crowd, including his parents, in-laws, wife, brothers and their families.
"My father-in-law sings the gospel of healthy food a lot, and it's rubbed off on me over the years," said Desmond, executive director of a Massachusetts-based nonprofit. During his career as a chef, he cooked at venues including a Salem, Massachusetts pizzeria and the former Log Cabin Restaurant in Bar Harbor.
"In general, we're trying to make healthier choices, especially now that my wife and I have had a child. Having a little one motivates me to be as healthy as I can," he said. "I believe strongly in fresh food and local agriculture. I think the best thing that anyone can do for their health is to eat good stuff."
Desmond's wife, Lisa Rosenthal, said her parents have been eating a mostly vegan diet for health reasons for several years now. She and Desmond have been inspired to eat plant-based meals throughout the week more regularly.
As much as Desmond may still love his barbecue, both he and Rosenthal had been either vegan or vegetarian for years-long stretches earlier in their lives. "We're both familiar with plant-based meals, so it's not too hard to make the conscious switch," Rosenthal said.
Desmond has entertained with pizzas in the past, and said his whole grain-crusted vegan pizzas go over just as well as the omnivore pies. "Often people will dig into the vegan pizzas and not necessarily notice they're eating the healthy pizza and enjoying it," he said.
"They're delicious," Rosenthal said. "It's not like they're relegated to the vegans. He's really perfected his dough over the years. It's crispy on the bottom, with a chewy crust. He makes the basic elements really well, so the sauce and dough are full of flavor."
His produce-centric creations this year include a pizza with wild mushrooms, caramelized onions and Miyoko's vegan mozzarella; a spinach, artichoke, yellow squash and pesto pie; and another with gnocchi, figs and walnuts.
This year, Desmond will be cranking out pizzas with a new multi-fuel Ooni pizza oven, his Father's Day gift from Rosenthal and her parents. He said he looks forward to the day when his daughter, Margo, is old enough that he can teach her to cook.
Rosenthal said she couldn't help but notice that Ooni also sells a toy pizza oven. "We'll probably get one of those for her once she's big enough for it."
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GLAZED STRAWBERRY PIE
This recipe originated with Dick Farnsworth's mom, Bessie. Farnsworth likes to top it with whipped cream and a little maple syrup.
3/4 cup water
2 tablespoons cornstarch
3 tablespoons strawberry gelatin
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 cups strawberries, hulled, washed and dried
1 (9-inch) baked pie shell
Combine water, cornstarch, gelatin and salt in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir with a whisk until smooth. Cook 3 minutes or until thick and clear. Let cool until you can touch the glaze without discomfort.
Mound the strawberries in the pie shell. Pour the glaze over berries, making sure all berries are covered.
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