Eating In Translation

Dominican sweets table

In New York, the typical Venezuelan arepas and the most celebrated Colombian arepas bear little resemblance to each other. They're practically twins, however, when compared with Dominican arepas (first photo, $1 each), which suggest slices of a baked, firmed-up majarete. Dominican arepa recipes variously employ some combination of coconut milk or coconut cream, cinnamon sticks, raisins, and brown sugar; this particular version was very dense but, perhaps, not quite as sweet as intended.

Much gooier and sweeter: dulces de cocopina ($1 each). Also available in all-coconut, no pineapple.

Dominican sweets table
Broadway near the southwest corner with 170th St., Manhattan

Mid Atlantic Fish Market

Many uptown Manhattan seafood markets cook finned fish and shellfish to be consumed on the spot. I dug into deep-fried stuffed crabs ($2.75 each) amid a clinking Caribbean soundtrack; for a more Mid-Atlantic vibe (and a crabbier stuffing), cross the street to the GWB Station (also shown) and catch the Bolt bus to Baltimore.

Mid Atlantic Fish Market
4250 Broadway (180th-181st Sts.), Manhattan
212-923-1600

El Chico

Ah, the tenacity of wheat paste. This decades-old poster for a Washington Heights nightspot was recently uncovered during construction nearby. Starch-based liquid adhesives have been used at least since the time of Toulouse-Lautrec to affix handbills and posters to flat surfaces; if not peeled free before the paste has dried, they're very difficult to remove. Adhesive tape, used on many Columbia band flyers from the same period, is much less messy and more amenable to preservation, too.

El Chico
In 1983, near the corner of Jumel Pl. and West 170th St., Manhattan

Patacon Pisao

It's excellent against the cool night air.

Las Americas Bakery

My hot cup of te de jengibre ($1) was paler and not as potent as similar drinks from the East Indies, the West Indies, and West Africa. In fairness, though, it's an appropriate match for mildly flavored Dominican pastries, and the price is right. Two sugars, please.

Previously: Under the watchful and perhaps envious eyes of Los Tigres del Norte, I bagged myself a sweet mini-sandwich of fried plantain folded over cheese and butter ($2).

Las Americas Bakery
3362 Broadway (at 136th St.), Manhattan
212-234-2715

"I Love My Hood" shaved-ice mural

Interesting choice by the artist, Dister Rondon, who expresses love for his hood throughout Washington Heights. It's rare, on the street, to see a woman wielding the raspado. Unlike many of Rondon's works, the lifespan of this one will be short: It's painted on a construction barrier outside a shuttered shore that's awaiting a new tenant.

"I Love My Hood" shaved-ice mural
Outside 186 Dyckman St. (Sherman Ave.-Broadway), Manhattan

Kenny Bakery

Cherry rounds off the sharper, more astringent notes of this coco Cubano ($1.25). The business, to be sure, is Dominican, and the namecards, it seems, were meant for a Chinese bakery — in one corner, each bears the character "yuan" that indicates a unit of currency.

Kenny Bakery
126 Dyckman St. (Nagle-Sherman Aves.), Manhattan
212-569-8414

Parada Maimon

There's no candy to be found here in flip-top containers. "Pez cotorra," noted the man behind the counter, should have been printed "pescado cotorra," maintaining a common Spanish-language distinction between food fish still swimming free (pez) and caught or prepared (pescado). On offer at this Dominican seafood restaurant: a species of parrotfish that can be colorful enough to pass as Pez but is much harder to catch hold of.

Parada Maimon
25 Sherman Ave. (Sickles-Arden Sts.), Manhattan
212-942-2226

Sunrise Grill

A cookup, in the Caribbean, is an umbrella term for any number of one-pot concoctions. Cookup saltfish (about $4.50) is traditionally prepared with cod, though in light of the recent scarcity of that species, another white-fleshed fish is often substituted. (I didn't get the specifics.) A side order of some sort of carbohydrate is standard, both to get your day off to an energetic start — this is a breakfast dish — and to sop up cooking oils infiltrated with fishy essence.

At this Jamaican truck, the dumplings (50 cents each) serve admirably. They're simply fried dough, without filling, like oversized unsugared donut holes. I've enjoyed them straight up, too.

Sunrise Grill
Truck parked on Broadway between 166th and 167th Sts., Manhattan
Reportedly open weekdays only, early morning till late afternoon

"Masa de pasteles"

The aroma of steaming pasteles, to many New Yorkers of Puerto Rican and Dominican descent, is the aroma of Christmas. Pasteles, which resemble oversized tamales, often feature a labor-intensive filling, and when a home cook sets out to prepare 50 or 100 leaf-wrapped bundles for a single festive occasion, the temptation of time-saving measures is understandable.

For the preparation of pasteles the masa, or dough, is traditionally made from plantain — which seems to be illustrated on the flyer — or some combination of tubers.

"Masa de pasteles"
Flyer seen on West 207th St. at Post Ave., Manhattan

Liberato Grocery

Delivery that's fast, as well as free, is the implicit message. And spelled out, on the tail section: "Liberato vende barato," or "Liberato sells cheap."

Liberato Grocery
3900 Broadway (at 163rd St.), Manhattan
212-927-8250

Al Kasba

In Yemen the meat would more likely be lamb, perhaps chicken.

Tri-Thai Cuisine

(This venue is closed.) Wet curries, yes; dry curries, no.

Devin's Fish & Chips & Seafood

The only exotica are outside, on these decorative tiles.

Granizado cart

In other quarters the granizado can appear as a coarse-grained slushy, sometimes with multiple add-ins like a cholado. At this Ecuadorian cart the end product (large, $2) was similar to a Dominican ice, except that it was cranked out expeditiously with a rotary blade rather than a handheld raspado. The blue, ostensibly blueberry, may remind you of frozen squeeze tubes — stained fingers and all.

Granizado cart
Near the northeast corner of Broadway at 158th St., Hamilton Heights, Manhattan

Empanadas Monumental

My report on yaroa is still virtually a blank slate.

Dominican ice cart

In the Dominican heart of Upper Manhattan, I've never heard one of these ordered by name.

Cachapas y Mas

The patacon Maracucho is just as luscious outside Maracaibo.

Mi Pais

Even by malta standards, Puerto Rico's El Sol (12 fl. oz.; 59 cents) is very sweet; especially in aroma but also in flavor, this brown-black beverage brought to mind chocolate Yoohoo. Also spotted on the shelves: Ranchero brand salsa Inglesa and salsa China. You may know them better as the sauces Worcestershire and soy.

Mi Pais
3361 Broadway (at 136th St.), Manhattan
212-281-4280
Also at 1460 St. Nicholas Ave. (at 183rd St.)
212-568-0721

Cholent Cook-Off

Born of necessity, but after long experience, delicious.