Maima's, in Jamaica, Queens, may be the only Liberian restaurant in town, but a large émigré population in Staten Island has fostered an outdoor market where perhaps a dozen vendors, primarily women alone or in pairs, proffer West African staples.
Spread on umbrella-shaded tables, many of these provisions are commercially packaged, though I did note eggplants, hot peppers, hand-bagged peanuts, and dried fish in various configurations. I had no hint of prepared food till I saw one lady eating lunch. She pointed me back to the table I'd just passed, and, after some gentle queries, this collard greens cookup ($10) emerged from hiding.
I might have had it with potato leaves instead; both versions, I gathered, were equally fortified with chunks of turkey (my guess) but more strongly flavored by shrimp and, likely, dried fish, with a gentle undercurrent of red pepper. Not shown: a like-sized container of rice. It wasn't flecked with green like the chuck rice at Maima's, where the color may come from okra; it was simply white but mysteriously lubricated.
Given the guardedness of many of these vendors at seeing a stranger passing through (even with camera lens carefully pointed at crook of elbow), for the time being it's best that I don't broadcast this market's exact location. Should you find your way here, however, try the table with the leafiest-looking umbrella.
Liberian outdoor market
Vicinity of Grasmere, Staten Island
