traditions M a rket
Broadway Market to feature food demonstration, tasting
by ELIZABETH TAUFA Reporter
W estern New York's holiday traditions, while varying by

Sandy Starks will present a food demonstration and tasting of traditional Polish foods at the Broadway Market on Dec. 9. The demonstration is part of the "Come Home to the Market" campaign. Photos by John Rusac

et hnicity,

have some common threads - the most prominent of which is food.

At 1 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 9, the Broadway Market, at 999 Broadway St., in Buffalo, will host a public cooking demonstration and food tasting that aims to honor the food traditions of Western New York's cultural herit age.

Prepaid reservations are required at a cost of $11 per person and will include the demonstration, tasting and a history lesson.

The presenter will be Sandy Starks, Taste of Home magazine's Western New York field editor and member of Slow Food Buffalo.

"The biggest population (in WNY) is Polish," Starks said. "So we decided to do the traditional Christmas Eve celebration called Wigilia (pronounced vyg-ILY-uh)."

Wigilia foods available for tasting include mushroom soup, pierogi, seafood and the traditional Christmas wafers called opla tek.

The Broadway Market is home to many WNY-owned and operated family businesses like Perison's. Here, Helen Wylubski, owner of Perison's offers a traditional Polish mushroom soup to Dan Wittkop of Buffalo.

The meatless meal is also known as "the vigil" and historically, is eaten on Christmas Eve while awaiting the birth of Chr ist.

The Broadway Market opened in 1888 and has been a fixture on Buffalo's East Side ever since.

According to Starks, the idea for the demonstration and tasting came from Carol Bronnenkant, who is involved with the revitalization of Corpus Christi Church, which is located on Clark Street in Buffalo, a few blocks from the market.

In seeing the strides being made at the church, Starks decided that an event at the Broadway Market would fit with the goals of Slow Foods Buffalo, as well as an ongoing campaign for Western New Yorkers to "Come Home to the Market."

Other "Come Home to the Market" events include appearances by Santa Claus on Dec. 2, 9, 16, 21, 22 and 23 from 10 a.m to 4 p.m. and performances by the Buffalo Public School Music Department during the lunch hour on Dec. 7, 8, 11, 12 and 14.

"With the programming done at the Broadway Market, people can also see how beautiful the church is," Starks said.

The busiest time of year for the company is Easter, drawing approximately 300,000 people, according to Starks, who has her own memories of the Broadway Market from childhood, followed by Christmas.

"Our goal is to bring people to the market year-round," the Amherst resident said. "We want to get people interested in supporting Buffalo-based and family oriented businesses."

Starks' organization Slow Food Buffalo, a chapter of Slow Food USA, hosts events to raise the awareness of local food producers and their products, holds educational tastings and supports local groups that share similar goals.

Previous Slow Food events have had a home at the Roycroft Inn in East Aurora and, according to Stark, have been well attended.

"People come from all over the world to see what we have here," she said. She referenced a recent group of travelers who came to the area to "immerse themselves in all things Frank Lloyd Wright."

She noted that the unsung historical attractions of the area, such as the Broadway Market, are important to the healing process of WNY's economy.

"Cultural history, to me, is the key to revitalizing Western New York," she said.

Starks also noted that the value of supporting local businesses, as opposed to chains or large corporations, is immeasurable.

"These people have invested time and money in these businesses, and it's really important to support them," she said. "You can get a loaf of Wonder Bread anywhere, but there aren't many places where you can get a good loaf of Italian bread or Polish rye bread that is fresh out of the ove n ."

For more information about the Broadway Market, call 893-0705. For more information on the demonstration and tasting or to make a reservation, call 839-5150 or visit the Web site www.YourBuffaloTours.com

e-mail: etaufa@beenews.com