Eating In Translation

Indonesian bazaar at Masjid al-Hikmah

"Black soup," the fellow called it. He and his friends were digging into bowls of nasi rawon, a beef soup bolstered by rice (nasi). The ingredient that lends this Javanese dish its dark color and richness is kluwak (also called kluwek and buah keluak), the fermented nuts of the kepayang tree. Together with numerous seasonings, the nuts are sauteed to form a thick black gravy (the rawon), which becomes the base for the soup.

Nasi rawon is eaten for breakfast as well as lunch, and typically sells out by early afternoon. (For that matter, many menu items at this periodic bazaar come and go at the discretion of the individual vendors. There's no telling what you might find on any given day.) Your best best of scoring a bowl is to arrive on the early side, say, around 11:00 — which also allows you to beat the heat, since the tented canopies, on the small parking lot behind the mosque, offer only just so much shelter. Look for nasi rawon on the shady side of the bazaar, simmering in an unlabeled pot at the back of a stall or, perhaps, cradled in the hand of one of the local cognoscenti.

Indonesian bazaar at Masjid al-Hikmah
48-01 31st Ave. (at 48th St.), Astoria, Queens
www.Facebook.com/Masjid-Al-Hikmah-New-York-Indonesian-Muslim-Community-inc-584554868585283
Periodically, on a weekend, during the warmer months
(The next bazaar will be held on Sunday, July 22)

Duzan

Deeper than it looks: The pool of mashed fava beans in my Jerusalem hummus extended nearly to the bottom of the bowl.

H/T Dan Pashman (via his podcast, The Sporkful) and Robert Lax

Duzan
2411 Steinway St. (Astoria Blvd.-25th Ave.), Astoria, Queens
718-204-7488
www.Facebook.com/Duzan.NYC

Noisette: An Iftar Grows in Astoria

(Note: In 2019 Noisette changed its name to Paris Oven.) "We'd passed Noisette many times in the (not quite) year that it had been open. But whenever we'd walked down those sometimes clamorous blocks of 30th Avenue in Astoria, Queens — not far from a bagel shop, a pizzeria, a comfort-food hotspot and a New Orleans-themed bar-restaurant, whose windows open wide toward the street during happy hour — we'd given little notice to the quiet bakery-café with the French name."

"That changed during one recent stroll, not long before dark, when a hand-drawn signboard beside the door wished us 'Ramadan Kareem' and beckoned us to come inside." Read more on Culinary Backstreets.

Boishakhi Restaurant

One whets the appetite, the other pacifies the palate: chicken tandoori and mishti doi, the sweetened yogurt that caps off many a Bangladeshi meal. For the full spread, see the EIT page on Facebook. Thanks to Joe DiStefano of the Queens Dinner Club for good food, good company, and a much-needed second mishti doi.

Boishakhi Restaurant
29-14 36th Ave. (29th-30th Sts.), Astoria, Queens
718-606-1242
www.BoishakhiRestaurant.com

New York Pão de Queijo

In the Portuguese language, the letter "X" is pronounced much like "cheese"; appended to a Brazilian menu item, it has that meaning. On a recent visit to New York Pão de Queijo, where the menu is littered with such markings, my finger landed on the X egg burger — in essence, a cheeseburger supplemented by a fried egg as well as corn, potato sticks, lettuce, tomato, and a piquant green mayonnaise. At the table, a squeeze bottle of the mayo was flanked by hot sauce and ketchup, but these went untouched; my burger wanted nothing more.

H/T Peter Cherches for the original insight. The counterwoman elaborated that, though the meaning of the letter is "cheese" and the Portuguese letter in isolation would be pronounced like "cheese," for the restaurant's menu items "we would say 'X'." This is a common but not universal practice in Brazil, too; perhaps the pronunciation in Astoria, home to many more potential customers who speak English but not Portuguese, takes on an American accent. The final photo, we might then say, depicts an ex-X egg burger.

New York Pão de Queijo
31-90 30th St. (Broadway-31st Ave.), Astoria, Queens
718-204-1979
www.NewYorkPaodeQueijo.com

Antojitos Ecuatorianos 2

Deconstructed: My caldo de bagre, catfish soup served at this "coffee shop & restaurant" on Saturday and Sunday only, featured a hefty fish steak, high but not dry. I gathered that the fish had been simmered in the soup, which, in addition to hunks of cassava and plantain, also concealed fragments of fish on the bone. The lunch set was filled out by a half-avocado, a bowl of steamed rice, and the indispensable sliced lime — in typical coffee-shop style, a raft of other condiments were already close at hand.

Antojitos Ecuatorianos 2
25-35 36th Ave. (at 28th St.), Astoria, Queens
(former location of the Brazilian restaurant Malagueta)
718-937-7344
Also at 3398 Fulton St. (at Autumn Ave.), Cypress Hills, Brooklyn
917-652-4209
www.Facebook.com/AntojitosEcuatorianos

St. Markella Greek Orthodox Church Street Festival

Greece's entry in the fried-dough food group, honey-glazed division: loukoumades (loo-koo-Mah-des, small, $5). Does anyone turn down the offer of powdered cinnamon?

St. Markella Greek Orthodox Church Street Festival
26th St. between 23rd Ave. and Ditmars Blvd., Astoria, Queens
www.Facebook.com/saintmarkella /posts/473691042986440
(The 2017 festival was held on September 14-17)

Skewered: A Survey of Astoria's Souvlaki Street Vendors

For a taste of lemon-and-salt simplicity on a stick, read my latest story on Culinary Backstreets.

Sami's Kabab House

Cabs parked outside speak well of the food served inside; you might almost look past the lamb to get at the raisin-plumped palaw. For photos, see the EIT page on Facebook.

Sami's Kabab House
35-57 Crescent St. (35th-36th Aves.), Astoria, Queens
917-832-7165
www.SamisKababHouse.com

Point Brazil: Bahía Comes to Astoria

"Have you been to Bahía, Donald?"

José Carioca, a dapper, green-and-gold, happy-go-lucky parrot, poses this question to Donald Duck in the (mostly) animated 1944 film The Three Caballeros. For its beauty and charm — and, oh, the food! — José insists that Bahía (buy-EE-ah), a coastal state in northeastern Brazil, has no rival. It's a full-throated endorsement, particularly from José: His surname, Carioca, identifies him as a native of Rio de Janeiro. Even for a parrot-about-town who has experienced the beauty of Rio’s beaches and the excitement of its nightlife, Bahía is a magical place.

That spirit has been transported to Astoria, Queens, not by magic, but by the devotion of Bahían sisters Elzi and Erli Botelho Ribeiro. Read more on Culinary Backstreets; for additional photos, see my album.