In its native Guyana, the preparation of cassareep (Cazh-uh-rip) begins with the painstaking process of extracting juice from cassava roots. The juice, boiled until thick and brownish-black and seasoned with spices, hot pepper, and brown sugar, acquires a molasses-like consistency and bittersweet flavor. Here it's lacquered over chicken.
Hack's Halal Restaurant
107-25 Liberty Ave. (107th-108th Sts.), South Richmond Hill, Queens
718-674-6418
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Phagwah (Pog-wah), an Indo-Caribbean celebration of spring, is better known as Holi in India and among the country's worldwide Hindu diaspora. It's also known as the festival of colors, which are playfully applied, generally in powdered form, to friend and stranger alike. In the parade photos shown here, anything that might look like a puff of smoke is actually a cloud of powder, which may be directed with intent or simply tossed to the shifting winds. (First-time celebrant? Don't wear your best clothes.)
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A restaurant or bakery that prepares different items with a similar appearance often marks its wares with an in-house code, so counter staff and customers can look at the outside and tell what's inside. The crimped edges of empanadas and pastelitos, for example, can be notched and pierced in various patterns.
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How can you tell your bara from your pholourie? Both are fritters, made from ground chickpea flour. Bara are sometimes flattish and pan-fried, but often they are deep-fried just like pholourie, and the resulting golden orbs are almost identical in appearance. On the tabletop shown here, bags of both fritters shared the tray at front and center.
The difference between the two, said the lady of what seemed to be a husband-and-wife operation, is that pholourie consist only of fried spiced dough, while bara incorporate some sort of vegetable; these were threaded with spinach. While not a particularly rich source of greens, my bagful (five for $1) were appetizingly oily and springy. Appetizingly, literally — I was overdue for lunch.
Guyanese table
112th St. at the southwest corner with Liberty Ave., Richmond Hill, Queens
Weekends, morning till evening
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"We eat this one," the junior of the vendors told me, pointing to the paler sausage. Unlike a black pudding, a white pudding (small, $5) contains no blood. Often it's enriched by coconut milk instead, which complements rather than obscures seasonings such as basil, scallions, thyme, and garlic. Need I mention that this pudding is savory and not sweet?
And unlike the English and Irish varieties that are stiffened by oats and fried for a full breakfast, the gossamer casing of a Guyanese pudding is plumped with rice. When recently steamed or boiled, it's quite supple, suggestive of a good boudin — take up a single segment between thumb and fingers, hold it to your mouth, and squeeze.
Suggested pairing: freshly sliced chunks of pineapple (not shown; mine were courtesy of the senior vendor).
Guyanese street stall
114th St. at the northeast corner with Liberty Ave., Richmond Hill, Queens
Weekdays after 3:00; weekends from late morning
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Surviving gnomelike door-minder, looking downward at the entryway of 117-19 Jamaica Ave. (on the acute triangle formed with Myrtle Ave. and 117th St.), Richmond Hill, Queens
See also this menu from 1947, which includes turtle soup, broiled shad roe, calf's head a la vinaigrette, and hasenpfeffer.
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I'll admit to buying a tote bag that boasts the Tastykake rocker; any guilty pleasures that might have filled it will remain my secret. Also shown: the mural outside, two panels densely populated with brand mascots.
Tastykake Wonder Bakery Outlet
89-18 Atlantic Ave. (89th-92nd Sts.), Ozone Park, Queens
718-845-5138
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(This venue is closed.) The name is as compact as a txt msg. The hut itself, as you might expect, is none too large either, and takeout orders are the norm; a precious few sidewalk seats appear in the warmer seasons.
T&T, of course, stands for Trinidad and Tobago, a two-island nation just north of Venezuela, and the BBQ is Caribbean-style, no relation to low and slow. My lamb (large, solo — that is, no sides — $13) was sliced thin, grilled fast, and well-lacquered, bones and all. The sauce is the customer's choice from a palette of West Indian flavors; mine was guava.
Also shown: 7Up (12 fl. oz., $2), made in Mexico and so, typically, corn-syrup-free.
T&T BBQ Hut
122-09 Liberty Ave. (entrance on 122nd St.), Richmond Hill, Queens
718-848-2210
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(This venue is closed.) Even while they're green, much can be done with mangoes.
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Thank you!
