Eating In Translation

Indonesian food bazaar

"Black soup," the fellow called it. At a recent Masjid Al-Hikmah bazaar, he and two friends were sharing a bowl of a Javanese favorite called nasi rawon, a beef soup bolstered with rice (nasi). Another rendition I spotted shortly thereafter was served with rice on the side. The ingredient that lends the dish its dark color and nutty richness is kluwak, or kluwek, the fermented nuts of the kepayang tree. These nuts, along with numerous seasonings, are sauteed to form a thick black gravy (the rawon), which becomes the base for the soup.

Kluwak, however, is difficult to source in New York, at least in commercial quantities. The chef of Masak (now closed) would have preferred to use buah keluak, the more common name in Singapore and Malaysia, to braise his pork shoulder, but he was disappointed in the quality available in local markets; he employed black garlic instead. K.F. Seetoh of Makansutra renown maintains that the best substitute is unsweetened baking chocolate, with 100 percent cacao. Perhaps the chef who prepared this nasi rawon has her own stash of kluwak. You can ask her yourself, if you can spot the soup at a future bazaar; look for an unmarked pot on the simmer at the back of a stall.

If there's one qualm I have about the bazaars behind Masjid Al-Hikmah, it's the heat. Not the spicy heat of chili peppers in a made-to-order gado-gado (three out of a possible five chilis is plenty) or the fire licking at skewers of satay, soon to be dressed with homemade peanut sauce. The bazaars are held during the warmer months on the small parking lot behind the mosque, and even a score of tented canopies can offer only just so much shade. A wise way to beat the heat is to arrive on the early side, say, around 11:00. As at most bazaars, this also enables you to enjoy the widest and freshest selection of food, some (but not all) of which you can see in my slideshow.

Indonesian food bazaar
Masjid Al-Hikmah, 48-01 31st Ave. (at 48th St.), Astoria, Queens
Periodically, on a weekend, during the warmer months

Note: The date of the next bazaar at Masjid Al-Hikmah has not yet been publicly announced. However, an unaffiliated fundraising event will be held on Saturday, May 18, inside the First Presbyterian Church of Forest Hills. This event, "coordinated by Indonesian foodies," will benefit Roslin Orphanage in Kupang, Indonesia.

Ukus

The awning of this compact Montenegrin restaurant proclaims it a cevabdzinica and buregdzinica, a shop that prepares the skinless sausages called cevapi and the savory pies called bureks.

Masjid Al-Hikmah satay stall

Coconut shells, too, are put to the flame.

Zakir's Bakery

The upper-floor canopies are still trimmed in the Italian red, white, and green of Vaccaro's Bakery ("est. 1981"). And the products they advertise — "pastries, cookies, cakes, bread, ice cream, pizza" — are still on offer since a recent change of ownership. It's only the name that's Bangladeshi.

Update: A frequent EIT commenter has also seen Zakir's-labeled "Bengali-style white bread (pauruti)" at "Bangladeshi groceries all over the city, especially around Church Ave." (Thanks for the word, Peter!)

Zakir's Bakery
30-01 Astoria Blvd. (at 30th St.), Astoria, Queens
718-721-6575

Holy Trinity Russian Orthodox Church Bazaar

How snug was the seating? The already small church kitchen, which I found down a flight of stairs, past a walkway hung with racks of used clothing, and through the far door of a thrift shop, doubled as the dining room during the bazaar. Fortunately, the company was amiable, and the food was homemade — literally, by various ladies of the congregation in their own home kitchens. Stuffed peppers ($3); apricot cookies ($2).

Holy Trinity Russian Orthodox Church Bazaar
25-36 37th St. (Astoria Blvd.-28th Ave.), Astoria, Queens
September (the 2012 bazaar was held September 29-30)

Butcher Bar

My review of Butcher Bar — which offers cuts of local, natural meats to be taken home and prepared in your kitchen, or cooked and served on the spot — appears in the February 8, 2012 edition of The New York Times. For photos, see my slideshow.

Harissa Cafe

(This venue is closed, but its website states that "Harissa Cafe is in transition and will re-open soon at a new location.") The pancakes had a flavor I couldn't place immediately.

Arepas Cafe

Venezuela's Christmastime tamale.

Mango's New York

Absent visual evidence, you might imagine that sojouk in pita ($4) would involve a pocketed bread filled with chunks of heavily seasoned sausage. I'd already perused the display case at this Lebanese joint, so the appearance of the sojouk — ground "marinated spicy beef" that probably had never seen the inside of a sausage casing — was no surprise.

But the pita, I soon saw, was a broad pocket-free flatbread that was rolled around the beef, and tomatoes and pickles, too. At this point, unlike Mango's other pitas, it was toasted under a sandwich press — a nontraditional touch, acknowledged a co-owner, applied simply because it "tastes better." Toasting can do that.

Mango's New York
25-89 Steinway St. (25th-28th Aves.), Astoria, Queens
718-777-0600

Souvlaki cart

Carbs included.

Manila! Manila!

There is indeed rice in the bagoong rice ($7.95), pronounced "buh-Gong" and fried with garlic and shrimp paste, but — typical for the breed — it's not nearly as photogenic as it is delicious. Here it's utterly blanketed by pork binagoongan (also flavored, and colored, by shrimp paste), scallion, tomato, green mango, and strips of fried egg.

Manila! Manila!
47-16 30th Ave. (47th-48th Sts.), Astoria, Queens
718-726-2415
www.ManilaRestoGrillNYC.com
Closed Tuesday

Wooyong Deli Grocery

Shown for the minimalist annotations to classic Coke signage, under two different owners. The first photo was taken on a short-sleeve weekend afternoon, the second, some two years later, on a weekday.

Wooyong Deli Grocery
48-02 Broadway (at 48th St.), Astoria, Queens
718-729-5082

Nayeli's Mini Market

Last gasp for summer gazpacho.

China Pagoda

I had a craving for kung pao.

Alba's Pizza & Restaurant

Pining for the fjords?

Point Brazil

My review of this restaurant-café, which offers monthly specials from the Brazilian state of Bahia and a splendid buffet seven days a week, appears in the January 12, 2011 edition of The New York Times.

For photos, see my slideshow. And for a nod to Bahia's best-known novelist, see my daily amuse-bouche Two Soft Covers.

Island Bakery

What happy isle is this?

EuroMarket

Thomas Kemper orange cream soda (12 fl. oz., $1.49), from Portland, Oregon, is sweetened with cane sugar and honey. The flavor isn't Creamsicle bright, though in fairness, my tastebuds had just been swatted at EuroMarket's long deli counter by a salty sample of pecenica, or smoked pork tenderloin. I spotted many more-attractive pairings for pecenica in the ranks of refrigerator cases at the back of the market, but those hoppy potent potables weren't street legal.

EuroMarket
30-42 31st St. (30th Ave.-30th Dr.), Astoria, Queens
718-545-5589

Astor Bake Shop

The last slice of peach pie looked wonderful, too, but it wouldn't have traveled as well.

Peruvian Independence Fair

For lunch on a sizzling blacktop playground, ceviche seemed inauspicious, well-chilled or not.