Eating In Translation

Nuccio's Bakery

Complement to morning coffee, with overtones of clove: ossi di morti, Sicilian "bones of the dead" ($2.25 for five, at $9 per pound). Like the Mexican pan de muerto and the Ecuadorian guagua de pan, these cookies are prepared for the Day of the Dead, which is celebrated throughout Italy on November 2. Thanks to their biscotti-like texture, a few days later don't matter, as long as you dunk them first.

Nuccio's Bakery
261 Ave. U (Lake-Van Sicklen Sts.), Gravesend, Brooklyn
718-449-3035
www.Facebook.com/Nuccios-Bakery-284947597231

Chiffon Kosher Cake Center

"Kichlach" is Yiddish for "cookies," an umbrella term that applies to savories as well as sweets. These onion and poppy seed kichlach ($6.99 per pound, for about 20) are a sturdy sort that travel well — just keep your hands out of the cookie bag.

Also shown, from more recent, more overcast visits: a poppy-seed hamentash ($1.75); cinnamon-raisin rugelach (about $5 per half-pound, for eight).

Chiffon Kosher Cake Center
430 Ave. P (East 2nd-East 3rd Sts.), Midwood, Brooklyn
718-258-8822
www.ShopChiffons.com
Closed Saturday

Shun Deck

In southern China and throughout the Cantonese-speaking diaspora, the Chinese New Year is often welcomed with yu sheng. Literally a "raw fish" salad, its name is a homophone for "abundance of wealth and long life." Each of its many ingredients, and even the ritual communal tossing of the salad, connotes prosperity and health.

Our party, which featured only a few middling speakers of Mandarin but none of Cantonese, couldn't pin down the identity of the fish itself. It may well have been Cirrhinus molitorella, which has the unfortunate vernacular name of mud carp. In Hong Kong it is also known as dace, which appears on Shun Deck's regular menu; we observed an attractive stuffed specimen elsewhere in the dining room. Unstuffed, and apart from all the trimmings of the plated salad shown here, the flavor was actually quite clean.

Also on our table: fried and baked fish pieces, a fish-skin salad, and fish congee, all of which may have incorporated leftover bits from our yu sheng fish (language barriers made confirmation problematic); a "phoenix lover's wrap" that included, I believe, both shrimp and clam; home-style fish cakes; and two styles of milk pudding. For photos, see the EIT page on Facebook.

Shun Deck
2332 86th St. (Bay 34th-Bay 35th Sts.), Gravesend, Brooklyn
917-933-9779

Chinese restaurant's heat-activated air freshener

Bensonhurst, Brooklyn

Holon Middle East Groceries

Look past the visual clutter outside this Israeli-American kosher market. Beside one doorway, the cellotape residue of previous flyers throws shade, literally, on a current special.

My dining buddy and I took note, and made haste; a few minutes later we pulled over to a quiet patch of sidewalk a half-block from Holon. Our plastic spoons were next to worthless for photo styling, so there's little to see here, apart from a pistachio garnish, of the orange blossom and mastika ice cream by Joy Betesh (pint, $4, unlabeled and very possibly underpriced by the cashier). So take my word: The orange is wonderful. We made a good dent in this pint before packing it up; my buddy doubled back for another, to hold in reserve.

Holon Middle East Groceries
527 Kings Hwy. (East 3rd-East 4th Sts.), Gravesend, Brooklyn
718-336-7758
Also at 809 Ave. U (East 8th-East 9th Sts.), Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn
718-627-5878
Closed Saturday
www.HolonFoods.com

San Yang

(This venue is closed.) Steamed dishes await you, say those large golden Chinese characters. Two dozen varieties of rice in lotus leaf include a house special that boasts Chinese sausage and bacon, shrimp, frog, a minced-pork patty, bok choy, and a ration of fragrant rice moist with juices set free during cooking. The small order shown here ($8.50) is more than ample for a solo diner. For larger parties, the Guangdong-born chef also prepares elaborate seafood spreads that cook at the table — steam, eat, repeat.

San Yang
2478 86th St. (Bay 38th St.-25th Ave.), Gravesend, Brooklyn
718-449-9938

Joe's of Avenue U

Here's an underappreciated hallmark of the sandwich maker's craft: a hollowed-out loaf. For some sandwiches, the crumb is carved away as a matter of course; for others, your counterman (rarely, counterwoman) might do this on request. In the case of my caponata ($6.50), hollowing out the roll not only raised the ratio of filling to bread, it also cradled a messy Sicilian eggplant salad in the equivalent of a crusty, sesame-seeded bread bowl.

Previously: Pasta con sarde sports a thick sauce flavored by fennel, pine nuts, and sardines (for this rendition, possibly both fresh sardines and salted anchovies) and, traditionally, a dressing of finely ground, toasted breadcrumbs. Suggested beverage pairing: Manhattan Special espresso coffee soda. At bottom, the photo of the restaurant was taken on the afternoon of my pasta lunch, a number of years ago; both Joe's and the nearby Harold's Pharmacy have since freshened their signage.

Joe's of Avenue U
287 Avenue U (McDonald Ave.-Lake St.), Gravesend, Brooklyn
718-449-9285
www.Facebook.com/Joes-Of-Avenue-U-115168725182994

Our Lady of Grace Parish Christmas Fair

Sure, meatballs would have been the easy choice with baked ziti, but a moist slab of meatloaf looked (and tasted) great. The homemade cheesecake that followed was so creamy I almost traded in my fork for a spoon ($8 total).

Our Lady of Grace Parish Christmas Fair
Inside Fr. Cutrone Gym, Ave. W at East 2nd St., Gravesend, Brooklyn
www.OLoGChurch.com
(The 2015 fair was held on November 20-22)

Tatuka

Even the logo looks bubbly.

"Public grocery"

When I first spotted the curious label "public grocery," my mind ran to the sort of public market where shoppers once purchased fresh foodstuffs from multiple pushcart vendors. Nowadays, in New York, the indoor Essex Street Market and the outdoor Greenmarkets continue to fill the bill. The term "public market" itself, which until recent years was on the verge of becoming quaint, has been rehabilitated as a hallmark of civic virtue, in contrast to the (perceived) narrow self-interest of private parties.

The corner establishment shown here is, of course, a privately owned, for-profit enterprise (and all power to them; margins are low). I've stopped by, during the summer, for a cold can of soda, but on a more recent, winter, visit I couldn't bring myself to venture a cup of hotplate coffee. The current signage was installed at some indeterminate time after Mom & Sons got out of the restaurant business, decades ago, perhaps by the owners of Peace World Newsstand — a name long since effaced from the awning.

Current management isn't chatty. If there's a story behind "public grocery," perhaps the way to tease it out is to spend a few minutes by the counter while warming my hands on a cup of that coffee. I can take small sips.

"Public grocery"
399 Kings Hwy (at West 2nd St.), Gravesend, Brooklyn