I have a weakness for cream-filled wafer cookies. Late last year, after an exploratory walk in the Bronx that led me from Mott Haven, via Melrose, Morrisania, Foxhurst, Soundview, and Westchester Square, to Pelham Bay, this box of Mont Blanc hazelnut wafers climbed into my hands with little effort. At the time I observed that the wafers had been made, not in Albania, but in the neighboring Republic of Macedonia. Thanks to a photo of the back of the box (not fit for publication, but useful for reference; I highly recommend such "photo notes"), I now count ingredient labeling in eight languages, Macedonian and Albanian among them. In part such a label would be designed to meet export requirements, but it also might help to improve domestic sales — about one in four Macedonian nationals claims Albanian heritage.
In New York, I've met many Albanian-Americans who identify themselves first by their heritage and second by their nationality, for example, "Albanian from Kosovo." (The shopkeeper and I spoke only briefly, about this and that; I won't guess as to her background.) Quite apart from Mont Blanc itself (it straddles the border between France and Italy), this package of wafer cookies offers ample food for thought about the personal significance of national boundaries and cultural connections.
I don't have a worthy photo of the shop itself; in its stead, please accept a faded advertisement, visible from the front door, for the Knickerbocker Federal Savings and Loan Association (1936-1982). The principle text: "Every New Yorker is a Knickerbocker and there's one place to do your banking".
Albanian Market
3043 Buhre Ave. (Hobart-Jarvis Aves.), Pelham Bay, Bronx
347-657-0105
