Eating In Translation

Happy Easter

Hand-chalked artwork on a regularly refreshed signboard outside Mel's Burger Bar
2850 Broadway (110th-111th Sts.), Manhattan
212-865-7100
www.MelsBurgerBar.com

Zou Ji BBQ

Best-known for late-night grilled meat, this Dongbei restaurant also sets out a breakfast spread that includes two-for-a-dollar tea eggs. The steeping liquid (which might or might not include tea) stains the shells; when these are peeled away, the eggs themselves display a gentle marbling that memorializes the pattern of the cracks. Too bad I didn't think to choose that spider-webbed egg at front and center.

Zou Ji BBQ
42-83 Main St. (Franklin-Cherry Aves.), Flushing, Queens
718-353-0086

La Lomita

Ham and black beans — jostling with juicy pork, shreds of the bland white Oaxacan cheese called quesillo, and other typically Mexican fillings of this cemita — earns it the moniker "Cubana." Give the nod to "spicy," and a crimsom seam of chipotles is the payoff. You might not detect pápalo by sight; I recognized this herb only from the aftershocks, which are persistent, if you catch my drift.

La Lomita
(name of a takeout-only corner deli and a sit-down restaurant beside it)
3868 Tenth Ave. (204th-207th Sts.), Manhattan
212-567-9355

Mama's Too

"Focaccia-style" is the house designation for the square-lipped, firm-crusted pizza shown here. Unlike focaccia, however, it is baked not on the oven floor but in a pan, its surface is allowed to bubble freely, and the toppings — such as potato, pepperoni, or sausage and mushrooms — are applied liberally, often more than my photos reveal. As in the pies at Emmy Squared, the crust is crisp and just a tad oily; this is a major part of its appeal.

Mama's Too, which also prepares round pies with a rather puffy cornicione, offers counter seating and takeout; the narrow dining area is enclosed by a glass-fronted garage door that can be rolled up in good weather. An avenue block to the east, its older sibling Mama's Pizza serves classic New York slices in a classic corner pizzeria setting.

Mama's Too
2750 Broadway (105th-106th Sts.), Manhattan
212-510-7256
www.Facebook.com/MamasToo

Koronet Pizza

Any reasonable assessment of the jumbo slice at this Columbia University mainstay must take into account not only the sprawl — it's shown, for scale, beside a U.S. quarter — but also the heft, even in the absence of additional toppings. Eat it freehand at your peril, or settle in for a few minutes and rest your elbows.

Koronet Pizza
2848 Broadway (110th-111th Sts.), Manhattan (shown)
212-222-1566
www.Facebook.com/pages/Koronet-Pizzeria/111687708870657
Also at 4087 Broadway (172nd-173rd Sts.)
646-559-5566

Bari Sandwich Shop

In far west Sunset Park, by the Brooklyn Army Terminal, I beat the lunch rush for a late morning pick-me-up: steak and peppers on a roll. Wish they'd had the meatloaf; the counterman seemed disappointed to tell me it was 86'ed. Also: condiments (hot sauce at left); leavings.

Bari Sandwich Shop
135 58th St. (First-Second Aves.), Sunset Park, Brooklyn
718-765-0170
Open from early morning till late afternoon, probably on weekdays only

Akwaaba Restaurant

Many West African meals consist of a starch and a protein-enhanced sauce or soup. The first, often served on the side but sometimes deposited directly in the main bowl, is employed to scoop up the second. In matters of texture, some people new to these cuisines are put off by fufu, a thick paste of cassava generally blended with green plantain. During a group lunch at Akwaaba ("welcome," in the Akan language of Ghana), our yellowish wad of fufu sank down and spread out under its own weight. That's typical.

Los Poblanos Grocery

My first sight of this grocery, in June 2017, came as I led a small tour group over (largely) familiar ground. Los Poblanos wasn't on my map, but from a distance I spotted the tubs that advertise nieves. The afternoon was hot; the group needed little persuasion to make a detour; the nieves, mango and melon, were excellent.

While passing by several months later, I saw the items shown here in an unlabeled crate outside the grocery. The manager couldn't provide a name; he said that some customers liked them but he did not, and he handed me a couple, free of charge. Each was slightly smaller than a table-tennis ball and nearly as stiff-shelled; I spent around ten minutes peeling one, first with fingernails and then with teeth. The inside seemed almost woody, and I soon tossed it in the trash; its fellow became a paperweight on my writing table.

Multiple attempts to identify it were unavailing until Margret Hefner, author of Frutas y Verduras: A Fresh Food Lover's Guide to Mexico, came across better-looking specimens in a Mexico City tianguis, a small outdoor market. The vendor called the fruit "cocoyul"; from that I identified its parent, Acrocomia aculeata, whose common name "Macaw palm" suggests that only a powerful beak, or perhaps a hammer, can crack that inner shell for a taste of the coconut-like endosperm within.

In some quarters, the fruits are reportedly mashed into a paste and fermented into an alcoholic beverage; Ms. Hefner also observed that they can also be long-cooked, in syrup, as frutas en almíbar. Perhaps I'll just leave them to the parrots.

Los Poblanos Grocery
92-19 Roosevelt Ave. (at 92nd St.), Jackson Heights, Queens
929-208-1880

Allan's Bakery

When sold by the slice rather than by the stick, West Indian pastries are invariably cut on the bias to show off as much filling as possible. Allan's offered an additional enticement: Although we stopped by during the middle of a weekday afternoon, this coconut roll was still warm from the oven. My buddy's currant roll was even better.

Allan's Bakery
1109 Nostrand Ave. (Maple-Midwood Sts.), Prospect Lefferts Gardens, Brooklyn
718-774-7892
www.Facebook.com/AllansBakery

Sweet & Salzig

In this Swabian apple cake (shown above and in the first photo below), the flavor of the still-firm sliced fruit is teased out with raisins, almonds, and schmand. The last is a heavy, thick sour cream — smetana would be the equivalent in Eastern Europe — that you might also think of as dense, soured crème fraîche. A sugar bomb, it it not.

Previously: "Sweet" is only part of the story. In the Schwabenland (Swabia) of southwestern Germany, savory kuchen — that is, cakes, tarts, pies, and the like — are also highly esteemed, especially in the cooler months. The baker's sauerkrautkucha, sauerkraut cake impaled with slices of bratwurst, is much more minimal and compact than choucroute garnie, but it expresses kinship with that Alsatian dish through long-simmered flavor and love of sharp mustard. Plus, since it's a kucha, you also get a crust. Not shown, but equally enjoyed (and likewise compliments of the baker): zwiebelkucha, onion cake with Black Forest speck, and kartoffelkucha, potato cake with Alpine cheese.

Sweet & Salzig
Various pop-up locations
Baking at the Pilotworks Shared Kitchen, 630 Flushing Ave. (Marcy-Tompkins Aves.), Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn (open to the public only by appointment)
www.SweetAndSalzig.com
www.Facebook.com/SweetAndSalzig