Eating In Translation

Persian Day Parade and Festival

(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 previous years.)

An ice cream sandwich, flavored with saffron, rose water, and pistachio, from a past year's festival. For a few more photos of food and drink and many of colorful parade participants, see my collection on Flickr.

Persian Day Parade and Festival
The parade proceeds from 38th St. south on Madison Ave. to the festival site, in the vicinity of Madison Square Park, Manhattan
www.PersianParade.com
(The 2020 celebration has been cancelled)

Sikh Day Parade and Festival

The first time I attended this April celebration of the Sikh religion — adherents trace their roots to the Punjab, in what's now Pakistan and northern India — midafternoon was the earliest I could manage. The parade, which had kicked off at Times Square around 1:00, had already wound down, and the crowd alongside Madison Square Park was nearly impenetrable, yet somehow folks continued to emerge with overflowing platefuls of food. After walking a wide circle past a temporarily closed Shake Shack, I found a roundabout passage to the serving tables, where mango juice, a banana, and my own plateful of food were soon offered, and accepted.

Lahori Kabab

"No political discussion"

"No religious talk"

—Signs posted at this Pakistani restaurant (on the site of the former Kokum), where nonetheless a spirited point-and-counterpoint held forth on the Urdu-language news webcast.

Never had lentils with my lamb; good eats.

Lahori Kabab
106 Lexington Ave. (27th-28th Sts.), Manhattan
646-620-3183
www.Facebook.com/Lahori-Kabab-1563556847278295

The Long Hall

Full Irish breakfast, enjoyed during a midday match in the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship (Wexford 0-17 Galway 1-23). At full-time, my plate was clear, but hurling was a mystery still.

The Long Hall
58 East 34th St. (Park-Madison Aves.), Manhattan
646-455-0777
www.TheLongHallNYC.com

Estonian Christmas Bazaar

If rosolje (row-Sole-yeh) doesn't include meat or fish, it's just beet salad, many Estonians will tell you. The nature of beets is to stain all they touch, so the ingredients are difficult to distinguish by sight, but take my word: This rendition included herring a-plenty. For full meaty measure I also ordered a buttress of sült, or pork in aspic.

Shown below are a plate featuring verivorst, blood sausage bulked up with barley and onion, and a glazed, sugar-sprinkled, prune-jam-seamed gingerbread cake. Its delightful name: piparkoogi kook.

Estonian Christmas Bazaar
New York Estonian House, 243 East 34th St. (Second-Third Aves.), Manhattan
www.EstonianHouseNewYork.com/eng_events.html
(The 2016 bazaar was held on December 3. Limited amounts of some items are available, in the dining room and for takeaway, through Christmas; see the website for details.)

Dhaulagiri Kitchen

(This venue is closed.) Namaste, Manhattan. Dhaulagiri Kitchen — whose original, tiny Jackson Heights location could have accommodated you and, if your timing were good, a handful of your closest friends — now has a dining room in Curry Hill. Shown here is my Sunday afternoon nosh, sandheko Wai Wai, a spicy salad (sandheko) featuring crumbled instant noodles (Wai Wai brand) plus ample onion, garlic, and chile pepper. It's good on cucumber, great on daikon.

Previously, from the original, tiny Jackson Heights kitchen: Samae baji, a Nepali variety plate featuring beaten rice. The baji itself, made by flattening uncooked, soaked rice with a mallet, can be incorporated into cooked dishes or, as at Dhaulagiri, offered as a textural counterpoint to other items. Below, baji is surrounded by spicy chicken, potato curry, crunchy fried soybeans, and pickled daikon. The accompanying sel roti (not shown), a ring-shaped rice flour fritter, has a faint sweetness that plays well against the spicier dishes.

H/T Jeff Orlick

Dhaulagiri Kitchen
124 Lexington Ave. (28th-29th-Sts.), Manhattan
917-675-7679

Auntie Guan's Kitchen

Liaoning, said the waitress who speaks English best, translating for the owner. That Chinese province — you'd pass through it on the halting daylong train ride from Beijing to Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea — was the first home of this restaurant's chef. In emphasis, the owner brought a magazine clipping to my table about her original restaurant, in Flushing: Golden Palace.

The Ainsworth

My taste includes mac and cheese, and my taste includes burgers, but never before together. And yet ... Mac and cheese burger ($17).

The Ainsworth
45 East 33rd St. (Madison-Park Aves.), Manhattan
(one of several locations)
212-201-1228
www.TheAinsworth.com/midtown

Lamazou

(This venue is closed.)The crust of ciabatta, and the crunch of cornichons within my Caprice de Lamazou ($12), contrasted splendidly with smoked salmon; lemon sauce, onion, and capers added their spritely touches, too. At this well-provisioned shop that proffers "cheeses and delicacies from around the world" (but particularly from around the Mediterranean), the possible sandwich permutations can seem overwhelming. Even after I settled on one of a score of named combos, I might have chosen a baguette rather than ciabatta or swapped in any number of dressings, garnishes, and other items. When in doubt, let your counterman guide the way.

Below, from an earlier visit: the Lamoretti (currently $10.75), which sported roast beef, cheddar, cornichons, and, at my request, horseradish, on ciabatta.

Lamazou
370 Third Ave. (26th-27th Sts.), Manhattan
212-532-2009
www.LamazouCheese.com
Closed Sunday

The Kunjip

Seven panchan, six of them vegetarian. Can you spot the odd one out?