The week leading up to Match Day I was in Florida with my family. It was a reward for a few months of self-obsession about my future, worrying about my individual path that would emerge from the Match algorithm. I had brought a copy of The House of God, an American classic about medical internship that I had been encouraged to read many times during med school. I was sitting outside reading the book when an older gentleman approached me and asked, “hey, how do you like that book?”
As it turns out, this man was a classmate of the author at Harvard Med, and knew a lot about him and his intern year at Beth Isreal. Apparently, Stephen Bergman was as smart as his book’s protagonist, and as iconoclastic (to prevent elderly patients from falling out of their beds, he once put all of their mattresses on the floor and almost got kicked out of residency). All of the characters in the book were real people, as was the culture of medicine at the time.
Later on that week I ran into him while with my dad and sister, both of whom are physicians. We chatted about our stages in life — my sister three years into practice, the gentleman in practice, my dad retired. For the first time in a while, I remembered that I am following a wonderful tradition. I can make it my own, but I’m also excited to do what I’ve seen people do before me.
Ingredients (see below for “How to fold a wonton”)
- 1-2 packs of square wonton wrappers (found at all Asian stores and many regular grocery stores)
- 1/2 cup of water in a small bowl
- 1 pound ground meat (I used turkey, I bet beef would be delicious)
- 1 tablespoons chopped parsley
- 2 Tb grated parmesan
- 1/2 tsp salt
- pinch of red pepper flakes
- 2 small garlic cloves, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 large egg
- Cilantro pesto: (2 cups chopped cilantro, 1 small handful walnuts, 1/4 cup parmesan, 3 cloves minced garlic, 2 tsp salt, 3 Tb olive oil processed in a food processor. Use water as necessary to make it smooth)
