Eating In Translation

Emily's Pork Store

2008-09-05T22:00:00-04:00

The aromas grabbed ahold of me as soon as I opened the door.

The fragrances of garlicky sausages, sundried tomatos, and marinated artichokes combined to set my belly rumbling at this Italian specialty store; a serving of the fresh mozzarella called bocconcini ("small mouthfuls"; about 5 oz., at $5.99 per pound), dappled with parsley, set it aright.

Emily's Pork Store
426 Graham Ave. (Frost-Withers Sts.) Williamsburg, Brooklyn
718-383-7216

Food-Friendly Events, September 5-7

2008-09-05T02:10:00-04:00

29th Richmond County Fair
Friday, September 5, 6:00-11:00; Saturday, 11:00-10:00; Sunday, 11:00-7:00
Richmond Rd. and St. Patrick's Pl., Historic Richmond Town, Staten Island
www.RichmondCountyFair.org
"New York's only county fair...combines traditional features, like cotton candy, pie-eating and hot dog eating contests, and a flower and vegetable contest, with a mix of contemporary and retro entertainment." $15 admission per day (includes unlimited amusement rides, ideally, before you eat)

31st Norwalk Oyster Festival
Friday, September 5, 6:00-11:00; Saturday, 11:00-10:00; Sunday, 11:00-8:00
Veterans Park, Sea View Ave., Norwalk, Connecticut
www.Seaport.org/OysterFest.html
Best for the tents featuring more than 100 juried arts-and-crafts vendors; other entertainment includes the Oak Ridge Boys (Saturday) and Sister Sledge (Sunday). Special $26.25 Metro-North fare includes round-trip rail transportation and shuttle bus, plus festival admission; oysters and typical festival chow sold separately. Note: Veterans Park is extremely muddy after it's rained.

Brazilian Independence Day Festival
Saturday and Sunday, August 29 and 30, exact hours unknown
Riverbank Park between Jackson and Somme Sts., Newark, New Jersey
www.IronboundNewark.com/annual-brazilian-independence-day-festival
Information is very sketchy, but figure on grilled meat.

Ferragosto
Sunday, September 7, 12:00-8:00
Near Arthur Ave. and 187th St., Bronx
www.InAbbondanza.com/journal/2008/8/4/ferragosto-arthur-avenue-187th-street-bronx-ny.html
Entertainment, children's activities, and of course food and drink in the Bronx's Little Italy. Free admission

Festival Gastronomico Salvadoreño
Sunday, September 7, 11:00-8:00
Bank of America Park, 135 Jefferson Ave., Elizabeth, New Jersey
www.ConsuladoElSalvadorNJ.com
Even if your Spanish isn't great, when you see a poster (like the one shown above) that promises "un dia agradable con platillos tipicos, musica y mucha diversion," you get the drift.

The '68 Election: An Alternative Reality

2008-09-05T02:00:00-04:00

In the Star Trek episode "Mirror, Mirror," four officers of the Starship Enterprise find themselves in a cruel, imperial version of their familiar universe, and Spock has a beard. In my briefly and bizzarely imagined reality, the Yippie presidential candidate Pigasus has tusks, and his image is hoisted high so all can see, and tremble. (Click the photo for a larger version, if you like.)

Back in our more familiar universe, the original Yippie campaign pledge is more reassuring, though not for tuskless, whiskerless Pigasus: "They nominate a president and he eats the people. We nominate a president and the people eat him."

I'll wring two morals from my story: 1) Register, and vote; and 2) Stay hydrated when you're on a photo safari in Bushwick on a 90-degree day.

Flags flying over the Boar's Head Provision Co.
24 Rock St. (Bogart St.-Morgan Ave.), Bushwick, Brooklyn

Now dairy-free!

2008-09-05T01:40:00-04:00

(Momentarily) surviving signage at the former Matamoros Puebla Grocery
193 Bedford Ave. (North 6th-North 7th Sts.), Williamsburg, Brooklyn

Fishers of Men II

2008-09-04T01:05:00-04:00

Whiting may be a grayish and slightly fishy sort of fish, but this light pepper-speckled batter showed it off to best advantage (fish and chips lunch special; $5). Lots of it, too. For about a dollar less, you can forgo the fries (this batch was limp) and get the same number of fish filets, stacked impossibly high between two slices of white bread. Or take your whiting with grits, available all day.

Fishers of Men II
121 West 125th St. (Lenox Ave.-Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd.)
212-678-4268
Closed Sunday
"Same owners...same recipe...same great taste" as Famous Fish
684 St. Nicholas Ave. (at 145th St.)
212-491-8323

New Wing City

2008-09-04T00:10:00-04:00

These Memphis sweet-and-spicy BBQ style wings (half-dozen, with fries and a soda; $6.25 lunch special) are one of ten styles at this small, sunny spot with Louisiana roots. (My hint, as I waited at the windowside counter, was an AC that drained into an old jar of Zatarain's.) After my light midafternoon meal, I was treated to a sample of a very peppery (off-menu) gumbo; a full serving over rice, and perhaps a little fried okra, awaits a return visit.

New Wing City
1902 Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd. (115th-116th Sts.)
212-222-8820

Under D Tree

2008-09-03T23:00:00-04:00

Though it's no burger pattie, it often gets a "bun."

This Jamaican jerk chicken pattie ($1.85) is cradled in coco bread (50 cents), which contains no coconut but may take its name from the way it's cracked apart to accept the pattie. Coco bread not only fills out a light meal, it also captures delicious pattie drippings — though Under D Tree, I discovered, prepares a pastier style.

Under D Tree
182 Lenox Ave. (119th-120th Sts.)
212-411-1183
Also at 2086 Adam Clayton Powell Blvd. (124th-125th Sts.)
212-662-1183
www.UnderDTreeInc.com

"Swimming Cities of Switchback Sea"

2008-09-02T22:35:00-04:00

Looks like many a kitchen, but only in closeup.

The "swimming cities" are seven hand-crafted vessels that have been making their way down the Hudson River since mid-August. "Imagined as a hybrid between boats and bits of land mass broken off and headed out to sea" by installation artist Swoon, according to the project's website, the flotilla has brought performances and music to a number of riverside venues during the past three weeks.

Undoubtedly, Swoon and her artistic collaborators have restocked provisions at their ports of call, and likely they've taken a meal or two ashore, but it's always a comfort to cook up a little something in the galley.

"Swimming Cities of Switchback Sea"
Docked for the day at 70th St. Pier 1, Riverside Park
September 7-13, 2008, in Long Island City, Queens
www.SwitchbackSea.org

An end-of-summer acrostic

2008-09-02T11:55:00-04:00

Inspired by a contest on A Hamburger Today.

When an
Immediate burger craving
Meets a temporarily
Penurious financial situation,
You know what to say.

Question: "Spree Lunch" (1957), from which this excerpt is taken, gives a wording that's a little different from the most famous formulation. (Here's the whole cartoon.) Am I mis-remembering the line, or can someone point me to an instance where it was spoken the other way 'round?

West Indian Day Parade

2008-09-02T00:05:00-04:00

By the time I saw the sign, I was too weary even to ask what it was.

More on labba, later. The colorful West Indian Day Parade presents many opportunities to sample cuisines that don't often show their face in New York. Many of the vendors aren't affiliated with restaurants; they prepare food only for catered events and other special occasions.

Under the sunny flag of Antigua (below), the spread from Wadadli Kitchen (after the island's former name) included a serving of cassi, salt cod, and ducana. A steamed, glutinous log, ducana is made from flour, coconut, sweet potato (often), and spices; it can be cloying, I soon found, but salt fish balances it nicely. The fellow diner who recommended the fish also suggested the cassi, which might be cactus, or maybe acacia.

You may want to step lightly around the plate combos, though, given the variety of light bites to choose from. Also shown below: a dessert of tamarind stew, also from Wadadli; a Trinidadian "bake and shark"; the dough balls called pholourie, Trini style (bagged with sweet-tart tamarind sauce) and Guyanan style (topped with spicy-sour mango); feathery light Bahamian conch fritters; small, tart yellow-green plums; a slice of roast breadfruit; and a gizzarda — in Barbados, a tart of grated coconut cupped in a crunchy dough shell. (See more photos from 2007 and 2008.)

The West Indian Day Parade is held each year on Labor Day; it runs along Eastern Parkway, in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn. You'll find food vendors along the parallel roads to the north and south of the parade route. Though it's possible to cross Eastern Parkway, this becomes more and more difficult as the parade proceeds; by mid-afternoon, in many places it's difficult to maneuver at all. A good strategy is to arrive by late morning at the Utica Ave. end of the parade route, work your way along the booths on the south side of the parkway, cross over as you near Grand Army Plaza, and eat your way back to Utica Ave., or as far as your stomach can take you. This year, after several hours, my stomach had no room even for the thought of labba; next year, perhaps I'll spot that curried Cuniculus paca earlier in the day.

West Indian Day Parade
Eastern Parkway (Utica Ave.-Grand Army Plaza), Crown Heights, Brooklyn
www.wiadca.org
Labor Day

Bahamas Culture Day

2008-09-01T01:15:00-04:00

If it's destined for a salad, the conch had better be fresh.

You're more likely to find "The Conch Man" at Goldie's restaurant in Nassau, Bahamas, or at its namesake in Miami. In New York, he told me, it's difficult to find fresh conch, so don't expect to see him or his salad ($12) except at this annual festival. That's one serving on the chopping board: onion, green bell pepper, tomato, and the meat from two conchs, ultimately zinged by some non-bell pepper and the juice from a whole large lime. Two other festival vendors prepared conch fritters, as well as typical jerked and curried island standards, though at 2:00, one stand was still setting up, and the musical entertainment was nowhere to be found.

Today as always, Pier 66 was also home to a bar and grill that serves burgers, steamers, and beer, as well as soft drinks that are surely more innocuous than suggested by the photo below. Be that as it may, I hit up the Bahamian drink stall for a pineapple-y Goombay soda ($2) and took in the riverside view.

Bahamas Culture Day
Pier 66, West 26th St. at 12th Ave. (the location has changed from year to year)
www.BahamianAmericanCulturalSociety.org
Typically held on the Sunday before Labor Day

Brazilian Day Festival

2008-09-01T00:05:00-04:00

That's one way to rise above the crowd.

At noon, it was already difficult to maneuver along Little Brazil St. — the stretch of West 46th between Fifth and Sixth that harbored the bulk of the Brazilian food on festival day. (You'd find a little more in the blocks just to the east and west, but the closed-off stretch of Sixth Ave. hosted generic street-fair stalls to the north, and a packed-tight crowd in front of the main stage, to the south.)

After warming up with a chicken croquette called a coxinha (co-Keen-yah, I think; $3) — the name means "little thigh," and traditionally it's shaped more like a drumstick — I picked up my most curious item of the day. A cachorro quente Brasileiro ($5) is a "Brazilian hot dog" freighted with peas, corn, crisp slivers of fried potato, ketchup, mustard, mayo, and grated parmesan from a can. The dog itself was indifferent at best, but at least I got a start on my veggies for the day. Chopped collard greens accompanied a serving of the meat-and-beans stew called feijoada (feh-Zhwah-duh; $10), though my healthy-eating brownie points took a hit from that pork rind garnish. Also shown below: paste for acarajés being stirred, then deep-fried; the busy stall for those black-eye-pea fritters; and a pair of desserts.

Brazilian Day Festival
46th St. between Seventh and Madison Aves., and Sixth Ave. between 42nd and 56th Sts.
www.BrazilianDay.com/english/home.html
Late August-early September

Lavagem da Rua 46

2008-08-30T23:40:00-04:00

Some 24 hours before the big, boisterous Brazilian Day Festival, "The Cleansing of 46th St." presented a purifying ceremony, "inspired by the tradition, mysticism, charm, and religious foundation of the area of northeast Brazil known as Bahia," that began far too early in the morning for me. When I arrived in the afternoon, the street was lightly decorated in Brazilian colors, a lively pop group was playing for several hundred spectators, and a handful of stalls were offering food and drink.

The skewered-meat stall did nothing for me. Across the way, $8 for an acarajé, or $12 for a platter, was pricey, especially since those stuffed pea fritters seemed smallish. And the festival's most expansive stall, where for a moment I hoped to find moqueca, a Brazilian seafood stew, turned out to be staffed by a nearby Mexican restaurant.

That left me with the dessert table, and two options: bolo de cenoura, a chocolate-covered carrot cake, and quindim (Keen-Zheen; $3), a baked custard. Quindim won the coin flip largely on its glistening good looks; it's heavy on the egg yolks, a testament to Portuguese colonial roots. It's just as heavy on the sugar and coconut, reflecting the bounty of Bahia as well as someone's very intense sweet tooth.

Lavagem da Rua 46
46th St. between Sixth and Madison Aves.
www.LavagemDaRua46NY.com

Patel Brothers

2008-08-29T23:30:00-04:00

Even when they're young, they're prickly.

A ripe jackfruit is a sweet thing, for all its size; it makes a nice smoothie, too. When still green, like this two-pounder from Patel's ($1.99 per pound), it can be skinned, cored, then boiled (alone or in a stew) for use in any number of recipes. At this stage, the seeds, sheathes, and pith are all edible, but young jackfruit is better as a vehicle for spices, since it has little flavor of its own. A few other selections from the Patel's produce bins are also shown below.

If you're simply looking for a nibble, however, you'll find plenty of choices. Bikaji brand mastkin (400 g.; $2.49) is a blend of corn flakes plus potato sticks, cashews, a host of spices, and the occasional golden raisin (though more raisins would have been welcome). Chandan brand tulsi vati (70 g.; $1.99), a mouth freshener that identified itself as "basil tablets," smacked of black pepper, too. And the freezer case up front offers ice cream in chickoo, thandai, rose, fig, pista kulfi, and a half-dozen other flavors; just be sure you hurry home.

Patel Brothers
37-27 74th St. (37th Rd.-Roosevelt Ave.), Jackson Heights, Queens
718-898-3445
Also 42-92 Main St., Flushing, Queens
718-661-1112

Food-Friendly Events, August 29-September 1

2008-08-29T00:15:00-04:00

Santa Rosalia Society Festival
Continues Friday and Saturday, August 29 and 30, 5:00-midnight
18th Ave. between 67th and 75th Sts., Bensonhurst, Brooklyn
If it turns out that the booths along this stretch of Cristoforo Colombo Blvd. offer little more than sausage and peppers, you'll still have a good excuse to visit Gino's and Villabate (see the showcase special at left). Free admission

Cleansing of 46th St.
Saturday, August 30, 9:00-6:00
46th St. between Sixth and Madison Aves.
www.LavagemDaRua46NY.com
This new event "is inspired by the tradition, mysticism, charm, and religious foundation of the area of northeast Brazil known as Bahia." Ceremony begins at 9:00, music and other festivities at 11:00. "Besides food stands of typical northeastern cuisine (moquecas, acarajes, abaras & vatapa), there will be arts and crafts, paintings and everything that the northeast of Brazil has to offer." Free admission

Brazilian Day Festival
Sunday, August 31, 11:00-6:00
46th St. between Seventh and Madison Aves., and Sixth Ave. between 42nd and 56th Sts.
www.BrazilianDay.com/english/home.html
The "cleansing" event (above) will continue on Sunday as part of this much larger, more boisterous, and almost certainly more crowded festival — but even so, Brazilian Day is only the second-most-crowded event of the weekend (see below). Free admission

Bahamas Culture Day
Sunday, August 31, noon-midnight
Pier 66, West 26th St. at 12th Ave.
www.BahamianAmericanCulturalSociety.org
Bahamian music, "continuous dancing" to a DJ, arts and crafts vendors, plus "The Conch Man and other authentically Bahamian foods and beverages including our own Kalik beer." Free admission

West Indian American Day Carnival
Monday, September 1, 9:00-6:00 (parade starts at 11:00)
Eastern Parkway (Buffalo-Flatbush Aves.), Brooklyn
http://www.wiadca.org/
In midafternoon (by which time I plan to be headed home, with a full belly), the crowds along Eastern Parkway may number in the millions, and some of the floats play music so loud that earplugs would be a good idea. But if you arrive early (I'm figuring on 11:00), you'll have the opportunity to sample many Caribbean cuisines that don't often show their face in New York. Free admission

Brazilian Street Festival of Astoria
Monday, September 1, 10:00-6:00
30th Ave. between 29th and 41st Sts., Astoria, Queens
I know about this one only from a posted flyer; if you're in the neighborhood, this might be a way to wind down your weekend. If you go, let me know what you find!

Red Hook Ball Fields
Not an event, but consider it your Labor Day bonus: The vendors in Red Hook, near the corner of Bay and Clinton Sts., will be doing business on Saturday and Sunday (as usual, during the summer), and on Monday, too!

Brasilia Ville Grill

2008-08-27T22:10:00-04:00

Hey — acarajé!

That's one way to remember the pronunciation of this beloved Brazilian street food. An acarajé (Ah-cah-rah-ZHAY; $6.50) is built on a black-eyed-pea fritter that's sliced open, loaded with tomato, onion, cilantro, and vatapá (a mash typically made from nuts, palm oil, coconut milk, and wheat), and decked out with a shrimp (this one still needed a peel).

Catch 'em when you can; although Brasilia Ville's steam table is more colorful and more regularly refreshed than most, this bright neighborhood eatery prepares acarajés (to order) only on Tuesday, after 4:00.

Brasilia Ville Grill
43-12 34th Ave., Astoria, Queens
718-472-0090

Rio Bonito

2008-08-27T21:20:00-04:00

This breezy market and remittance center doesn't seem to be affiliated with the much-better-stocked "supermercado Brasileiro" of the same name on 47th St. Rolls of Docile brand soft candies (50 cents each) alternate between a fruit flavor (banana for one, guava for the other) and "chantilly" — charitably translated as "whipped cream."

Rio Bonito
31-12 36th Ave., Astoria, Queens
718-706-7272

Roasting Plant

2008-08-27T00:40:00-04:00

They're doing more than sprucing up the interior: A newstand and a flower shop are giving way to the second home for Roasting Plant. The brewer's current location, on the Lower East Side, is well-known for its "Rube Goldberg" coffee works that transport "raw green beans to the roaster, roasted beans to holding chambers, and small amounts of precisely measured roasted beans to Swiss-made brewers for grinding and brewing."

The Greenwich Ave. location — tucked between Two Boots and Bone Lick Park, and across the way from St. Vincent's — will offer four additional varieties of beans for your brew, plus much more room to sit and enjoy them, according to a company representative. The new Roasting Plant should be open in about a month, he added.

Roasting Plant
73 Greenwich Ave. (Seventh Ave.-Bank St.)
Scheduled to open late September 2008
Also at 81 Orchard St. (Broome-Grand Sts.)
212-775-7755
www.RoastingPlant.com

New York Hotdog & Coffee

2008-08-26T23:50:00-04:00

The future home of the bulgogi hotdog, first spotted in New York at last October's Chusok Festival, will be open by this time next week, according to a fellow who was working on the interior.

New York Hotdog & Coffee
245 Bleecker St. (at Leroy St.)
Scheduled to open September 2008

Cookout Grill

2008-08-26T23:20:00-04:00

The mascot looks like a Flintstones fan with a taste for chicken, but the most tantalizing item on the menu must be the "pit beef" sandwich. Many folks hail pit beef as Baltimore's version of barbecue, though it's grilled, not smoked, and though the highly charred crust is complemented by a rare, even bloody midsection. Just pile it high, and pass the horseradish.

Cookout Grill
207 West 14th St. (Seventh-Eighth Aves.)
Scheduled to open September 2008

Yi Pin Chinese Cuisine

2008-08-26T00:35:00-04:00

Looks like there's fresh thatch up on the roof.

Yi Pin and its cold sesame noodles ($5) were profiled in the recent New York Times guide to Flushing food, so no surprise that the owner guessed my order before I even sat down. (She returned while the noodles were cooking to ask if I also wanted the thistle dumplings, likewise praised by the Times, but I had to decline; after all, I was on my way to dinner.)

Before she added the cucumber — julienned nearly as thin as the housemade noodles were thick, which greatly benefited the back-and-forth of flavors when I plucked them together from the bowl — she emerged briefly with a dipper of deep red, thick hot sauce, and seemed happy when I gestured for a healthy portion. Clearly, she disdains peanut-buttery goo on her sesame noodles, as you can tell by the bare leavings in the photo below.

Yi Pin Chinese Cuisine
40-04 Union St. (near Roosevelt Ave.), Flushing, Queens
718-939-3489

Malaysia Special Food

2008-08-26T00:05:00-04:00

Out of their package, SKS Food coconut cookies (150 g.; $1.50) look like checkers pressed from particleboard, but put 'em in a cereal bowl and pour on the milk, and you've got a passable attempt at shredded wheat. (The pandan and coffee flavors might fare less well.) I also ordered a cup of teh tarik (Tay ta-Reek; 75 cents), tea that is "pulled" — poured from a height, with arms spread wide — to froth it manually. At this tiny specialty-food stall, however, that's done through the much more compact gestures of tearing and pouring from an instant-mix packet.

Malaysia Special Food
41-28 Main St. (inside the Golden Mall), upstairs, stall D4, Flushing, Queens
718-801-5576
Also at 34 Eldridge St. (Canal-Hester Sts.)