Eating In Translation

Food-Friendly Events, February 3-16

Flux Factory
Opens Friday, February 3, through Sunday, February 12, 10:00-10:00
Flux Factory, 39-31 29th St. (39th-40th Aves.), Long Island City, Queens
www.FluxFactory.org/projects/banquet-for-america
Admission: exhibition, free; see website for details on four special-event nights

ChowdaFest
Saturday, February 4, 11:00-4:00
Bedford Middle School, 88 North Ave., Westport, Connecticut
www.ChowdaFest.org
Admission: adults, $6; seniors 65 and older, $5; kids, $2; proceeds benefit the Connecticut Food Bank

International Great Beer Expo
Saturday, February 4, two sessions: 12:30-4:00, 5:30-9:00
Meadowlands Exhibition Center, Secaucus, New Jersey
www.GreatBeerExpo.com/meadowlands
Tickets, per session: general admission, $40; designated driver, $10; ages 21 and over only

Food-Friendly Events, January 20-February 2

Kids Food Festival
Saturday and Sunday, January 21 and 22, 10:00-6:00
Citi Pond at Bryant Park (near 41st St. and Sixth Ave.), Manhattan
www.KidsFoodFestival.com/events/new-york-city
General admission, free; additional programs, $25 per session; all events require parental attendance

Cochon 555
Sunday, January 22, 4:00-???
The Lighthouse at Chelsea Piers, Pier 60 (at West 19th St.), Manhattan
www.Cochon555.com/2012/menu/buy-tickets
Tickets: $125 and up; ages 21 and over only

Chili Cookoff
Sunday, January 22, 6:00-???
The Habitat, 988 Manhattan Ave. (Huron-India Sts.), Greenpoint, Brooklyn
www.TheHabitatBrooklyn.com/events
Admission: $5

Food-Friendly Events, January 6-19

Cassoulet Cookoff
Sunday, January 8, 1:00-4:00
Jimmy's No. 43, 43 East 7th St. (Second-Third Aves.), Manhattan
www.JimmysNo43.com/events/event/fourth-annual-cassoulet-cookoff-to-benefit-hurricane-relief
Admission: $20; proceeds benefit the Greenmarket's Farm Hurricane Relief Fund

IACP Launch Party
Monday, January 9, 7:00-9:00
Santos Party House, 96 Lafayette St. (Walker-White Sts.), Manhattan
Launch party for the International Association of Culinary Professionals (www.IACP.com), which will be hosting its 2012 national conference in New York. Incoming IACP president Doug Duda and city chair Judith Klinger will welcome industry professionals (press, chefs, food purveyors) with complementary cocktails, food samples, beer, and wine.
RSVP to IACPnyc@gmail.com by Friday, January 6

Zlatne Uste Golden Festival
Friday, January 13, 7:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m.; Saturday, 6:00 p.m.-2:00 a.m.
Grand Prospect Hall, 263 Prospect Ave. (Fifth-Sixth Aves.), Park Slope, Brooklyn
www.GoldenFest.org/about/golden-festival-2012-press-release
"Complimentary Balkan and Middle Eastern snacks/cash bar"
Ticket prices vary; see website for details

Prachum Benda festival

Also called Pchum Ben, this Buddhist festival is a time for Cambodians to pay respect to their deceased relatives.

St. Andrew Avellino International Fair

Rice Krispies treat, Cocoa Krispies attitude (50 cents).

St. Andrew Avellino International Fair
At the St. Andrew Avellino School
35-50 158th St. (Northern Blvd.-35th Ave.), Murray Hill, Queens
718-359-2625
(The autumn 2011 fair was held November 27)

Carnitas stand

What kind of carnitas? Depends on who's stirring the pot.

St. Lucia Jounen Kweyol

Kingfish, yellow yams, dasheen, and lentils from the very leisurely celebration of this eastern Caribbean island's Creole Day.

St. Lucia Jounen Kweyol
Held at St. Teresa of Avila Parish Auditorium, 563 Sterling Pl. (Franklin-Classon Aves.), Crown Heights, Brooklyn
Last Sunday of October (the 2011 ceremony was held October 30)

Kathina ceremony of the New York Dhammaram Temple

The home of this Corona-based Buddhist monastery could easily pass for a single-family house. That's far too small to accommodate the annual kathina ceremony, at which lay members of the congregation offer donations of food as well as the saffron robes called kathin.

Chiefo's Kitchen

Scotch eggs ($3) may have been introduced to Nigeria with the creation of the Royal Niger Company, in the late 1800s. They've long been naturalized in that West African country; as adapted by Chiefo Chukwudebe, the sausage-meat layer contains flecks of spicy red and green pepper. These might not fly in the British Isles, but they were more than fine with me.

Chiefo's Kitchen
2948 Folsom St. (25th-26th Sts.), San Francisco
510-689-6096
www.ChiefosKitchen.com
At the San Francisco Street Food Festival
(From an August 2011 visit)

Skillet Street Food and Diner

Fennel chicken sandwich ($8). A better-posed photo would have captured not only the seed-strewn surface but also the juicy white-meat interior.

Skillet Street Food and Diner
1400 East Union St. (at 14th Ave.), Seattle
206-420-7297
At the San Francisco Street Food Festival
(From an August 2011 visit)

St. Nicholas Greek Festival

Sheftalia are stubby Cypriot sausages wrapped in caul fat rather than sheathed in a casing.

Big-Ass Sandwiches

This food truck's basic big-ass sandwich features roast beef (or turkey, or, yes, ham) with hand-cut fries, onions grilled beside the meat, and bechamel sauce.

The Peached Tortilla

Southeast meets Southwest: banh mi and pad thai tacos ($3 each). To me, banh mi and baguette are inseparable; the pad thai taco, on the right, better fused its two cuisines.

The Peached Tortilla
Austin, Texas
512-222-8781
www.ThePeachedTortilla.com
At the San Francisco Street Food Festival
(From an August 2011 visit)

Don Bugito

From this "pre-Hispanic snackeria," an item I didn't manage to sample myself: wax moth larvae tacos.

Don Bugito
2948 Folsom St. (25th-26th Sts.), San Francisco
415-370-8292
At the San Francisco Street Food Festival
(From an August 2011 visit)

Air kathira stall

In the Malay language, "air" means "water"; "kathira," or "katira," offers a sticker problem in translation. The proprietor, and a couple of passers-by, could offer no insight except that it's a common fast-breaking beverage during Ramadan; as with eggnog, many drink it, but few can elaborate on the etymology. Possibly "kathira" is a loanword from Urdu, denoting a gum derived from sap and used as a thickener.

Of several available flavors, I eventually settled on pale green pandan (S$2.00, about US$1.50 at the time) over golden durian.

Air kathira stall
At a Ramadan bazaar on Geylang Road near the Joo Chiat Complex, Singapore
(From a summer 2010 visit)

Fried-food stall

Fish sticks, after a fashion: Keropok lekor, a specialty of the northeastern Malaysian state of Terengganu, are a blend of fish paste and sago. Traditionally they're hand-rolled, though these have a mass-produced, extruded look, then tossed in the deep fryer. My fellow Ramadan bazaar browsers and I got a half-and-half order (S$2.00, about US$1.50 at the time) — four chewy, four crispy.

Fried-food stall
At a Ramadan bazaar on Geylang Road near the Joo Chiat Complex, Singapore
(From a summer 2010 visit)

Indian fritter stall

Prawn vadai (three for S$2.00, about US$1.50 at the time) were soft-bodied yet chewy, and laced with bits of hot green pepper.

Indian fritter stall
At a Ramadan bazaar on Geylang Road near the Joo Chiat Complex, Singapore
(From a summer 2010 visit)

Grilled otah stall

Consider yourself cautioned.

Sweets stall

Most of the wares at this Malay-run stall reflected the owners' heritage. I'd only recently arrived from Kuala Lumpur, where I'd had my fill of Malaysian sweets (if you can believe it), but I let myself be tempted by this Middle Eastern style custard. Very eggy; decorated with raisins and slivered cashews.

Sweets stall
At a Ramadan bazaar near Sultan Mosque, vicinity of Muscat St., Singapore
(From a summer 2010 visit)

Pakistan Independence Day Festival

Pakistan's mountainous North West Frontier Province — the frontier is with Afghanistan, via the Khyber Pass — is home to the chapli kebab.