In this mango-flavored Pakistani dessert, the gelatinized skin and a fragment of cake rusk add two distinct textures, so you're not just eating pudding, pudding, pudding.
Hadi
683 Coney Island Ave. (Cortelyou Rd.-Slocum Pl.), Kensington, Brooklyn
347-240-1175
The day after Thanksgiving, I had no luck finding leftover-turkey tamales. How about cumin chicken? Look for this Poblana vendor under her blue canopy every afternoon and evening (weather permitting). Tamales, $2; tacos, a princely $2.50.
H/T Pete Wells
Elva Meneses food stand
On the plaza outside the Parkside Avenue Station, Parkside Ave. at Ocean Ave., near the southeast corner of Prospect Park, Brooklyn
Daily, 4-10, except in heavy precipitation or freezing weather
Meat-free South Asian lunch (clockwise from top): spinach; okra; a vegetable medley,as the counterman called it; and what surprised me as my favorite, zucchini.
H/T (some years back) Paula Block
Madina Restaurant
563 Coney Island Ave. (at Beverley Rd.), Flatbush, Brooklyn
718-469-3535
www.Facebook.com/Madina.in.Brooklyn.NY
Although tempted by a tray of raspberry "rugulah," I carried off a dessert that seemed closer to the baker's heart: sweet potato pudding. This version of the Jamaican favorite was much darker than most, and firmer, too, even if you grant that the name "pudding" is being employed in the general sense of "dessert." For that matter, "sweet" was a stretch as well, raisins notwithstanding.
Jamaican Pride Bakery
731 Flatbush Ave. (Clarkson-Parkside Aves.), Flatbush, Brooklyn
Banner outside Holy Cross Roman Catholic Church
2530 Church Ave. (Veronica Pl.-Woods Pl.), Flatbush, Brooklyn
718-469-5900
www.HolyCrossRCChurch.org
Guatemalan hilachas (ee-Lah-chahs), "loose threads" or "rags" of beef in a tomato-and-tomatillo sauce, resemble ropa vieja. Hilachas are more piquant than those Cuban "old clothes," however, and in my slender experience usually soupier, too. Also shown: the dish as presented, with lemon and chopped onion; contents of the beaded tortilla bag.
H/T Jared Cohee, Eat the World NYC
Ix (Eesh) Restaurant
43 Lincoln Rd. (Flatbush-Ocean Aves.), Prospect Lefferts Gardens, Brooklyn
347-533-6920
www.IxRestaurantNY.com
Tulum (Two-lum), Trinidadian molasses-ginger candy, from the point-of-purchase display. Other flavors on offer in snack-sized four-packs: tambran (tamarind), green papaya, and benne (sesame).
Jen's Roti Shop
838 Flatbush Ave. (at Linden Blvd.), Flatbush, Brooklyn
718-975-7313
www.Facebook.com/JensRotiShop1
In the Yoruba language of Nigeria, "efo riro" can be understood as "vegetable stew" (more literally, "mixed leafy vegetables"). West African recipes for this dish often call for plants in the amaranth family; North American renditions commonly substitute spinach. As you can see from the color, however, eating efo riro is not simply a matter of getting your greens. Typical recipes include palm oil; onion; habanero or Scotch bonnet pepper; and, individually or in combination, salt fish, dried fish, or stockfish. Perhaps the most contentious choice is whether or not to splash on a tomato sauce, as shown here.
My bowl of efo riro was bulked up with "mixed meat" — in this case, goat, cow foot, and cow tripe — and accompanied by a wad of amala prepared from yam flour.
Rantab Restaurant & Sports Bar
2602 Church Ave. (at Veronica Pl.), Flatbush, Brooklyn
718-728-0751
www.RantabRestaurant.com
Mango ice with condensed milk — layered, as you'd expect. Coarse flakes thwarted a plastic straw but not my trusty titanium spork.
Trinidad and Tobago-flagged snowcone cart
Near the beauty salon at the intersection of Flatbush Ave. and Winthrop St., Flatbush, Brooklyn
Generally weekends only
(Many of the fairs, festivals, and other wonderful food events that usually fill my calendar each spring have been postponed or cancelled. This post is based on celebrations in past years.)
It's an easy-going affair: Even during the half-hour parade, Toussaint L'Ouverture Blvd. — the informal name for this stretch of Nostrand Ave., after the 18th-century Haitian revolutionary leader — was subject to friendly incursions by pedestrians, cyclists, and even some skateboarders. At the southern end of the event, between the bouncy castles and the petting zoo (llamas sure have short legs), most of the food vendors set out hearty fare that would be at home on nearby steam tables.
But at one long tented stand, I came across a curious and humble item with the incongruous name "royal" (roy-AL). This broad cassava cracker, wiped with runny peanut butter and topped with the spicy cabbage-and-carrot slaw called piklis, is a common festival food in Haiti, according to the lady who prepared mine; I'd never seen it, not even at the West Indian Day Parade.
One gentleman customer had his royal cut in two and doubled over; I stuck with the standard, open-faced, presentation. That choice also gave me a look at the small oily pools that formed on the surface of the cracker; I'm unsure whether they came from the piklis or the peanut butter, which may have been spicy itself. (Which reminds me: Does anyone know of a New York source for Compa Direct Mamba?) Good stuff, especially when ice cream is the next course.
Haitian Day Parade and Festival
The parade proceeds south on Nostrand Ave. from Empire Blvd. to the festival grounds near Foster Ave., Flatbush, Brooklyn
(In recent years the celebration has been much diminished, except for amplified music; none has been publicly announced for 2020)
Thank you!
