Eating In Translation

Wan Zhoung Wang

In southern China, rice ball soups tend to be on the sweet side, the fillings more so than the soups themselves. At this Fujianese small-eats joint, whose terse menu includes nothing that you might mistake for dessert, the dumplings are stuffed with ground meat, probably pork. I'm not sold on the combination of glutinous-rice wrappers and savory fillings, but there's no arguing with the price for a bowl of ten: $3.

Also at the table: a Huy Fong squeeze bottle, on the left, and a shaker, front and center, that contained the sriracha and black pepper you'd expect. The other two squeeze bottles had been refilled with vinegar and soy sauce, presumably bought in bulk. The small Kikkoman dispenser, also repurposed, now held fish sauce.

Wan Zhoung Wang
773 60th St. (Seventh-Eighth Aves.), Sunset Park, Brooklyn
718-680-8886

Santa Cecilia Mariachi Fest

The food played second fiddle: Mariachi music was the main attraction at this annual Thanksgiving eve festival. True, the chow was plentiful, inexpensive, and varied — chicharrones preparados, posole, tacos, tamales, flautas, chalupas, elotes, mangos enchilados, champurrado — but the enticing aromas of cooking in progress were absent from the concert venue, a school gymnasium. Top: piña colada cupcakes, one of which was my dessert after several hours in the nearest Chinatown. Bottom: one of many mariachi ensembles. When the broad-brimmed hats came off, they were just getting started.

Santa Cecilia Mariachi Fest (previously the Santa Cecilia Encuentro de Mariachis)
Our Lady of Perpetual Help, 545 59th St. (Fifth-Sixth Aves., inside Notre Dame Hall), Sunset Park, Brooklyn
www.Facebook.com/events/1497080397288433
(The 2015 festival was held on November 25)

Joe's of Avenue U

Here's an underappreciated hallmark of the sandwich maker's craft: a hollowed-out loaf. For some sandwiches, the crumb is carved away as a matter of course; for others, your counterman (rarely, counterwoman) might do this on request. In the case of my caponata ($6.50), hollowing out the roll not only raised the ratio of filling to bread, it also cradled a messy Sicilian eggplant salad in the equivalent of a crusty, sesame-seeded bread bowl.

Previously: Pasta con sarde sports a thick sauce flavored by fennel, pine nuts, and sardines (for this rendition, possibly both fresh sardines and salted anchovies) and, traditionally, a dressing of finely ground, toasted breadcrumbs. Suggested beverage pairing: Manhattan Special espresso coffee soda. At bottom, the photo of the restaurant was taken on the afternoon of my pasta lunch, a number of years ago; both Joe's and the nearby Harold's Pharmacy have since freshened their signage.

Joe's of Avenue U
287 Avenue U (McDonald Ave.-Lake St.), Gravesend, Brooklyn
718-449-9285
www.Facebook.com/Joes-Of-Avenue-U-115168725182994

Our Lady of Grace Parish Christmas Fair

Sure, meatballs would have been the easy choice with baked ziti, but a moist slab of meatloaf looked (and tasted) great. The homemade cheesecake that followed was so creamy I almost traded in my fork for a spoon ($8 total).

Our Lady of Grace Parish Christmas Fair
Inside Fr. Cutrone Gym, Ave. W at East 2nd St., Gravesend, Brooklyn
www.OLoGChurch.com
(The 2015 fair was held on November 20-22)

First a pharmacy, later a liquor store

At least two bygone Jersey City businesses are evidenced in this photo from my archives. The older layer of signage advertises a pharmacy, the newer, a liquor store. I took this photo in 2009 while documenting the passage of a later business at this location, Bombay Cafe, which offered a cornucopia of exotic ice cream flavors — including thandai, chikoo, kesar pista, and gaajar halwa — and perhaps a dozen seats in which to enjoy them, even in inclement weather. The current tenant, of several years' standing, is a retailer of mobile phones.

First a pharmacy, later a liquor store
Surviving signage, perhaps effaced but probably only covered, 771 Newark Ave. (just west of John F. Kennedy Blvd.), Jersey City

La Tropezienne Bakery

When given a choice, usually I'm partial to the pastries that are selling fastest. Glazed in caramel and filled with chantilly cream, my choice of an éclair Tropezienne (at bottom left, $4.50) reduced the inventory by half.

La Tropezienne Bakery
2131 First Ave. (109th-110th Sts.), Manhattan
212-860-5324
www.TwoBakeriesAndARestaurant.com

The Hard Hat Cafe

(This venue is closed.) The housemade hot sauce struck a ancestral chord.

Qingdao Restaurant

Green things abound at Qingdao, not only in cold appetizers and sizzling stir-fries but inside these bready "furnace buns," too. The name aside — and despite the abundance of baked snacks at this restaurant's streetside display — they appear to be pan-fried, or perhaps steam-fried like shui jian bao. The filling of chives (I believe) and pork was tasty enough, but the chewy-and-crispy texture of the buns themselves is their main attraction; they're traditionally served bottoms-up for good reason. Fast chopsticks get the best fringes.

For more photos from this meal, see the EIT page on Facebook.

Qingdao Restaurant
40-46 Main St. (40th Rd.-41st Ave.), Flushing, Queens
347-732-9336

La Posada Restaurante

Is there a connection between this casado and a casamiento? The latter, which describes a "marriage" of rice and beans that have been fried together, is found in many countries in Central America but is especially associated with El Salvador. A good rendition appears on the all-day breakfast platter at the tiny Salvadoran restaurant Viña del Mar.

Casado, "married man," denotes several platters at La Posada. This basic version, which includes grilled beef, ripe plantain, and a fried egg as well as white rice and black beans, is the casado Costarricense ($12) — in the style typical of Costa Rica. (It's a legacy menu item at La Posada, whose current owners are Colombian.) Perhaps the name was inspired by the inevitable marriage, at the table, of two key ingredients, or perhaps by a style of cooking that a man might miss when away from home: When spooned over the rice, those beans revealed red bell pepper and bits of translucent onion, too. The beans, would you believe, were the best part of my casado.

La Posada Restaurante
1055 Main Ave. (Clinton-Hadley Aves.), Clifton, New Jersey
973-779-4947

Batata asada vendor

This fellow keeps long hours, so my all-starch breakfast, batata asada (roasted sweet potato, $3 per pound), might as easily have been lunch or dinner. Unlike Flushing's potato vendors, he does business during shorts weather, too, when his roasted corn, and his skewers of beef, pork, and chicken, may be bigger sellers. A chill in the air adds appeal to his potatoes, but unless you're traveling as part of a pack, get the smallest one possible — or be willing to tote around a spud-shaped hand-warmer.

The photo at bottom, taken late last winter, before scaffolding cast shadows on this vendor's usual corner, shows a pair of empty boxes off to one side of the cart. Only afterward did I recognize the brand of sweet potatoes, a well-known sight in Upper Manhattan.

Batata asada vendor
Sherman St. at Dyckman St., Manhattan