(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 a past celebration.)
To latecomers, the leavings.
Continue reading "Khmer New Year celebration at Watt Samakki Dhammikaram" »
I confess: I didn't come here for the pupusas, the food most identified with Salvadoran cuisine, and still haven't tried them. Atol de piña was the attraction. Atoles are a class of hot sweetened drinks usually made with a cornmeal base; they're widely available in New York, but only in a few common flavors. I don't know anywhere else in the city that serves the invigorating variety prepared with pineapple (shown above.)
Also shown: a lightly fried tamal de elote con crema; pan relleno con gallina, a two-hander, served only on Sunday, also called "bread filled with hen"; and (in biteaway view) an empanada de leche.
H/T Ellie Plass, Bklyner
Mirna's Pupuseria
1350 Flatbush Ave. (at East 26th St.), Flatbush, Brooklyn
347-730-9001
www.Facebook.com/Mirnas-Pupuseria-1800441120176957
Closed Monday
(This venue is closed.) Of course this flavor exists. How have I never come across douce au corosol, Haitian soursop fudge? The shop owner also treated me to a sample of her visually identical douce grenadia, displayed under its own plastic wrap in the tray to the right. She proffered it in a separate bag, too, to sequester the pungent aroma of passion fruit.
The New Ultimate Bakery Shop
1248 Flatbush Ave. (Ditmas-Newkirk Aves.), Flatbush, Brooklyn
718-693-4128
www.Instagram.com/TheUltimateBakeryShop
(This venue is closed.) Prompted by the hand-chalked window menu: a pair of heavily-laden tacos de panza blanca, or goat stomach. You'll find good AC in the dining area, once you duck beneath the stairway to the apartments above.
Deli El Bigotes ("whiskers," in Spanish; all are welcome)
3 East 31st St. (Church-Snyder Aves.), East Flatbush, Brooklyn
718-282-2001
On the Caribbean island of St. Vincent, the first home of this bakery's owners, rock cake would have arrived during two centuries of British colonial rule. This small fruitcake is named for its craggy contours, not its texture; under the surface my rock cake was rather yielding. I can't imagine that one would ever be regifted. Also shown: a slice of carrot cake that rivaled pound cake for richness.
H/T Colin, a fellow food lover encountered at the most recent GIPSVG Annual Culture Pot
David's Bakery
4918 Ave. H (Utica Ave.-East 49th St.), East Flatbush, Brooklyn
917-601-7790
Closed Sunday
(This venue is closed.) Just like the fudge you might buy at the Jersey Shore, most such Haitian confections are prepared as a sheet, then cut into rectangles or diamonds. That was true for the piece of dous manba, translated in the bakery display as "peanut fudge," that was crowded out of my first photo. I'm guessing that the dous lait, or "milk fudge," was shaped like a teardrop purely for reasons of style.
Previously: An outside confectioner supplies the bakery with multilayered slices of douce Macos. Spellings vary widely: The first part, often rendered "dous," signifies "sweet"; the second, sometimes given as Makos, Marcos, and Macoss, names a family with roots in Petit-Goâve, Haiti. Milk, condensed milk, and sugar account for the calories; some versions (though not this one) also include butter. Cinnamon, chocolate, strawberry, and vanilla are the target flavors, achieved in part through the addition of brown and pink cake icing. Though not as creamy as its American counterpart, essentially this is rainbow Haitian fudge. Best sliced thin.
Baker's Treats (aka ABC Bakery, Au Beurre Chaud)
1621 Nostrand Ave. (Tilden Ave.-Beverly Rd.), Flatbush, Brooklyn
718-826-2253
Five large squeeze bottles, each with a different sauce, sat at the pickup station. The counterman recited their virtues (the labels seemed to have fallen off long ago), but none were needed — not on the skin, not on the meat underneath. Late afternoon tide-me-over: jerk quarter-chicken.
H/T (from years back) Katie R
Exquisite Express
2847 Church Ave. (Nostrand-Rogers Aves.), East Flatbush, Brooklyn
718-693-4643
Moist and meaty, the exceptional peleau — more commonly spelled pelau, and pronounced pay-Lao — is available Saturdays only, alas, but speaks well for the rest of the menu. There's room to sit, though not for a crowd; SVG is small, like its namesake, St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
SVG Caribbean Bakery & Restaurant
1621 Nostrand Ave. (Tilden Ave.-Beverly Rd.), East Flatbush, Brooklyn
718-693-1926
www.SVGCaribbeanBakery.com
Underappreciated: a hefty slab of bluefish, with whiting and fries. If you'd rather, the steamed baskets look great, too.
Longwood Fish Market
838 Westchester Ave. (at Longwood Ave.), Woodstock, Bronx
718-620-8850
Also, as Longwood Fish Corp., at 9615 Church Ave. (East 96th St.-Rockaway Pkwy.), East Flatbush, Brooklyn
Shortbread crust, savory custardy filling, post-Thanksgiving portion: Guyanese cheese pie ($1.50).
East Coast Restaurant
658 Rogers Ave. (Clarkson-Parkside Aves.), Prospect Lefferts Gardens, Brooklyn
718-450-8393
Thank you!
