East Village Meat Market

If you're drowsy when you step into this Ukrainian market, the striking scent of sausages will snap you to attention.

The thinnest of the bunch — it's about as big around as a nickel — is the kabanos (plural: kabanosy; $8.50 per pound), a smoked pork sausage that's often air-dried, like the one below, to concentrate the flavor. Many kabanosy have a touch of caraway; mine may have been seasoned with little more than black pepper.

Also: chleb babuni ($3.25 per pound), "grandmothers bread" from the Silver Bell Bakery, is gently sour, with a fine crumb. Amino brand zurek slaski (sour soup mix, not shown; 45 g., $1), like the Eastern European beverage called kvass, takes its flavor from rye flour; some bacon bits and this-and-that are tossed in to little additional effect. The sweet cheese blintzes at the deli counter ($2) make a nice dessert, provided you arrive early enough in the day to find them. There's no seating at the market, but you can take your nosh to little Abe Lebewohl Park, a block uptown.

East Village Meat Market (a.k.a. the J. Baczynsky market)
139 Second Ave. (8th-9th Sts.)
212-228-5590
Closed Sunday

Comments

[margie]

Their headcheese is the best in the city!

[Ksenia D]

The East Villege Meat Market is a Ukrainian, not a Polish
establishment!

[Dave Cook]

You're right, Ksenia; thanks for the correction.