Here's a story with a bit of a self-interest link: I used to work at Ellis Island as an interpreter with the Park Service, and I met Tom (subject of this article) there. I helped him get this latest printing of the book off the ground, because after 9-11 he was in a hard spot as far as finding a printer. I'm putting the whole thing here because the paper's archive is free for only two weeks, then you have to pay to read it so a link alone won't work.
The temporary link

Worldly flavors of Ellis Island book will whet your appetite
Author pays tribute to past with immigrants' recipes, stories
Wednesday, December 22, 2004
By Sonia Andresson-Nolasco, [Jersey] Journal staff writer

Today, it is unlikely that someone wouldn't know how to eat a banana. But in the early 1900s, when so many newcomers to the Americas set foot on Ellis Island for the first time, the pale yellow fruit, like so many other foods, was an enigma.

"We didn't even know how to eat a banana," said Tom Bernardin, reciting the phrase he often heard uttered by immigrants who had passed through Ellis Island.

Bernardin, 56, the author of the "Ellis Island Immigrant Cookbook," and a former Ellis Island interpreter, met many of these immigrants in the mid-1980s while presenting a slide lecture he developed, "Ellis Island - The Golden Door," at senior citizen centers and nursing homes.

Most of the immigrants he met, then in their 80s, had come through Ellis Island in the early 1900s.

"(The book gives) people a sense of importance of family, memory, tradition, hope, and respect for their past and admiration for these people," said Bernardin, who has done a lot more cooking since publishing the book. One of his favorite recipes is a Polish honey cake.

Though some immigrants cooked with olive oil, and others with curry or soy sauce, noting the different ingredients used isn't the only aim of Bernardin's book. With 272 pages of recipes and family stories of people from 30 different countries, the book also illustrates the comfort and connection that food provides and demonstrates how food can make connections to the past.

"If you draw a circle to show what we all have in common, we all needed to eat. I wanted to use food to tell the Ellis Island story," he said.

It's the scents and flavors of the foods, passed down from generation to generation, that resurrect a person, place and time. As the new year approaches, Bernardin's book offers a simple way to summon the past.

The book's plain cover, showing the back of a modestly dressed woman with a child over her shoulder - an image Bernardin found in his lithograph collections of immigrant images - also tells a million stories.

"It jumped out at me. It's sentimental, sweet, and you can't see her face, so it can be anyone," he said.

Bernardin never imagined himself working at Ellis Island, even though he had long collected Statue of Liberty memorabilia, until one day a friend suggested he apply for a job there.

"Much has changed," he said. "The 35 original buildings were very dramatic, and had an almost haunted quality. You would arrive there and wander around. But some of the ghosts have been swept away to accommodate the people."

It wasn't until the curators for the National Park Service at Ellis Island began gathering artifacts to reopen the Ellis Island museum following its restoration that Bernardin realized something was missing.

And that something was food.

Inspired by the conversations he had with seniors citizens about food at Ellis Island, Bernardin put notices in newspapers and sent out press releases, starting a national recipe search asking people to send him family recipes. As the letters poured in, Bernardin received more than just recipes. People sent all sorts of family stories, which he felt compelled to include in his book.

And though his family didn't come to America by the way of Ellis Island, he includes two of his own family recipes: cretons, a pork recipe often used on Boston baked beans, and stuffing for pumpkin or turkey.

Bernardin is originally from Lawrence, Mass., where his father, a French-Canadian immigrant, settled after meeting his mother, an Irish-German American, at a wedding at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York.

For the last 33 years Bernardin has made New York City his home, and has no plans to leave the city he finds "addictive."

Also addictive was the full control he had over his book; something he managed to do by remaining self-published. Even though he has not been able to sell his book at mainstream bookstores, Bernardin has sold more than 73,000 copies.

In addition to recipes, the book has immigrant portraits ranging from Italian and Russian to Swedish and Hungarian faces. Also, there are 24 entries by immigrants about food in a chapter called "Immigrant Food Memories."

He also includes a section called, "Tips on Preserving a Family Recipe." The tips include taking notes or tape-recording discussions with family members about recipes, and videotaping the process of preparing food. There is also a model family tree and information on how to trace your family roots, plus a number of resources to begin the search.

It took Bernardin several years to complete the cookbook and another 13 years to promote it while giving his lectures, which he still offers. The book has been featured on a number of television programs, including the History Channel's Modern Marvels and on QVC and the Food Network.

"(People said) 'You're book inspired me to save my family recipes,'" said Bernardin, emphasizing how much this meant to him. "I didn't even know what I was doing."

Today, Bernardin works as an independent, licensed New York City tour guide, and gives private tours of Ellis Island and other New York City landmarks.

But launching himself as a licensed tour guide didn't come easy. Bernardin obtained his license shortly before the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 and was forced to cancel a number of scheduled tours because of the disaster.

Like many sectors of New York's tourism industry at the time, Bernardin's business suffered, particularly since two of his main attractions - Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty - were closed to the public. Ellis Island did not open for three months after the attacks and the Statue of Liberty was closed until this past summer.

Though Bernardin was unemployed following the attacks, he managed to get by with help from the Salvation Army, the American Red Cross and other charitable organizations - for which he reserves a special note of thanks in his book.

As a way of giving something back, last Christmas Bernardin organized a food drive for St. Frances Xavier Church in New York City, and wound up helping more than 1,000 families. He has also made it a tradition to grow out his white beard and then, wearing a Santa costume, he visits bars in New York City to recruit people to help him with his drives.

This year, he's doing a toy drive to service the Bailey House - which helps HIV-positive families.

"This is my opportunity to give back," he said. "I dress up and run around and speak to bar managers to start these drives."

For more information about the Ellis Island Immigrant Cookbook, visit http://www.ellisislandcookbook.com/. To contact Tom Bernardin, call (212) 229-0202 or e-mail Ellisbook@aol.com.