Eating In Translation

Seventh Continent Supermarket

Look for it in the tkemali aisle.

Darou Salam Market

Botanically, "pomme de cajou," or cashew apple, is not a fruit at all; it's merely the swollen stalk of Anacardium occidentale, whose true fruit is what's better known as the cashew nut. Click on this photo of Zena pomme de cajou confiture (450 g.; $4.99), from Senegal, and you can take a closer look at how the knobby nuts perch on the end of the red or yellow cashew apples (whether the colors indicate different cultivars or varying degrees of ripeness, I don't know.) And the taste? Zena's confiture has some of the lusciousness of figs, but with a brighter flavor and a trace of tartness.

Darou Salam doesn't have a very large selection, but this friendly West African market does stock several other Zena varieties, including mango and papaya.

Darou Salam Market
235 West 116th St. (Frederick Douglas-Adam Clayton Powell Blvds.)
212-222-2658

Amazonas Deli Grocery

"Productos Ecuatorianos y Mexicanos" are sold at the fruit and juice stand jutting from the corner; behind the shades is a takeout counter for tacos and tortas; and inside, there's a small steam table as well as a few seats along the window. My D'Dioses brand mango chile ice pop ($1.50) had picked up a slight case of freezer burn since it was popped together in Paterson, New Jersey. Despite a few hair-thin mango fibers (evidence of once-fresh fruit, not concentrate), the flavor was less electric than the color.

Amazonas Deli Grocery
41-01 National St., Corona, Queens
718-505-9104

Citimarket Saigon

They make an interesting couple (330 ml.; about 5,000 dong each): Zizy lemon soda comes on like tart, carbonated lemonade, while Thums Up brand Xáxi conjures up black cherry and liquorice.

The beers were less interesting:
Dai Viet bia vang (330 ml.; 6,500 dong). Pale yellow with a short-lived cream-colored head that left a faint tracery on the glass; aroma, flavor, and aftertaste of fermented vegetables.
Dai Viet bia den (330 ml.; 9,000 dong). Ditto, but darker.
333 (330 ml.; 7,800 dong). Pale yellow with a scant white head. Scant aroma, too; astringent mouthfeel, with the flavor of vegetable matter.
Larue Export (330 ml.; 7,000d). Amber with a foamy white head; hoppy aroma foreshadowed a little too much bitterness.

Citimarket Saigon
39 Le Duan, Ho Chi Minh City
(From a November 2006 visit)

Ikea

Saturday afternoon, when I happened to be in Red Hook, was not the time to take the measure of the gravlax, meatballs, and lingonberries in the Ikea café, not without a half-hour wait. With a much shorter investment of time at the market downstairs, I picked up this Swedish elderflower drink (350 ml.; $1.29); it was still and clear, like apple juice with a little lemon flavor but no bite. If you're keen to try elderflowers, you might enjoy them more at Café Sabarsky.

Ikea
1 Beard St., Red Hook, Brooklyn
718-246-4532
http://info.Ikea-USA.com/Brooklyn/

Lorimer Deli

I'm pretty sure that's supposed to be "hot bagels and coffee," and "soda," too, but I'm glad the casual punctuation enticed me inside.

Angkor Market

I'm reasonably sure that Naga (630 ml.; $1.50) was fermented palm juice, even though the only other word I could read was "fresh." That wasn't what came to mind when I opened the bottle: The suggestion of tropical overripeness kicked up through my sinuses and settled on my tongue with a lingering, lubricating, nearly viscous mouthfeel. Nighty-night.

Angkor Market
Siem Reap, Cambodia
(From a November 2006 visit)

Psar Orussey

In and around the Orussey, every day is greenmarket day.

Psar Thmei

A few of the sights waiting inside the "new market" were quite visceral, even for me.

Talat Sao

From the shadows, you can see that this is aptly named the "morning market"; from the parasols, you can tell it's already hot.

Barney Greengrass

It's so salty that your waiter will try to talk you out of it.

CRTZ

Lemonade from Georgia: What's so special about that?

Sahadi's

It's the largest, busiest, and best-known of Atlantic Avenue's Middle Eastern provisioners, but sometimes I just stop in for a drink.

Krause's Candy Kitchen

They have chocolate, too.

Stinky Bklyn

I'm an admirer, too.

G. Esposito & Sons Jersey Pork Store

Balls of fun.

Felmingo

I ended up at the freezer case, not the fridge.

Oaxaca Deli Grocery

Strange, that apple soda is a bigger seller in Mexico than north of the border.

Lorimer Market

I was just going to browse, until another customer tucked into one of these.

For Passover, It's the Real Thing

Coke sweetened the old-fashioned way, with cane sugar, makes its annual appearance.

King of Latvia Delicatessen

"Condensed milk," said the counterman, when I asked what's inside these walnut-shaped cookies.

Efe Market

Here's a brand name that comes right to the point.

Wil & Nino Fish, Fruit, and Vegetables

It's a seaweed, it's a beverage. Irish moss, also called carrageen moss, grows along rocky coasts on both sides of the Atlantic. When harvested and boiled, it yields a jellylike substance, which thickens a popular Caribbean drink called Irish moss as well as International Juice brand Magnum (10 fl. oz.; $2.49). Though Magnum adds peanuts to its blend of seaweed, sugar, milk solids, and water, it lacks the spices (typically cloves and cinnamon) that give a little zing to more-traditional Irish moss and perhaps bolster its reputation as an aphrodisiac.

I'm not sure what this does to its rep, but Magnum — which is emblazoned with the words "Jamaican original Caribbean style" — notes, in small print, that it's bottled in the considerably more temperate climes of Brampton, Ontario, Canada.

Wil & Nino Fish, Fruit, and Vegetables
3618 White Plains Rd. (at 214th St.), Bronx
718-547-0076

Mzalendo Convenience Store

The covered windows of this inward-looking shop advertise computer services, money transfers, dry cleaning, calling cards, movies and more — mainly for Kenyan expats, explained the kind young fellow behind the counter. As for groceries, though, there's little in the larder, and nothing distinctive; these salty-sweet plantain strips (2.5 oz.; $1) can be found in many other African shops, too.

Mzalendo Convenience Store
358 West Side Ave. (Claremont-Grant Aves.), Jersey City
201-332-4900

Carmine's Italian Deli

The few times I've visited this Jersey City neighborhood, I haven't had room to take on the big food at Carmine's (the deli on Mallory, not the "pizza factory" on Brunswick). Just from walking in the door, though, I can tell you that the heft and satisfying appearance of the heros and hot entrees are matched by the heft and satisfied appearance of the patrons.

Do any readers have first-hand experience with this place?

Carmine's Italian Deli
165 Mallory Ave. (near Williams Aves.), Jersey City
201-434-5155