Eating In Translation

New York-area food events, January 17-24

Valrhona Hot Chocolate Festival Kickoff Party
Thursday, January 17, 5:30-7:30
Ladurée New-York Soho, 76 Thompson St. (Spring-Broome Sts.), Manhattan
www.Eventbrite.com/e/valrhona-hot-chocolate-festival-kickoff-party-tickets-53738529388
Tickets: $40

The Serious Side of Food Reading: Diet for a Small Planet
Thursday, January 17, 5:30-7:00; continues monthly through March 2019
NYC Department of Records and Information Services, 31 Chambers St. (Elk-Lafayette Sts., in the Rebecca Rankin Reading Room), Manhattan
www.Eventbrite.com/e/the-serious-side-of-food-reading-series-w-jane-ziegelman-and-andrew-coe-tickets-49503054970
Free admission with online registration

Zlatne Uste Golden Festival
Friday, January 18, 7:30-12:30; Saturday, 6:00-2:00
Grand Prospect Hall, 263 Prospect Ave. (Fifth-Sixth Aves.), Park Slope, Brooklyn
www.GoldenFest.org
Complimentary Balkan and Middle Eastern snacks, cash bar
Tickets: adults $35 Friday/$55 Saturday; children ages 12 and under, free

New York-area food events, January 3-10

Indonesian Gastronomy Association bazaar
Sunday, January 6, 11:00-5:00; repeats periodically
Elmhurst Memorial League, 8824 43rd Ave. (near Whitney Ave.), Elmhurst, Queens
www.Facebook.com/events/1276361025836087
Free admission

Latvian Christmas Fair

Rosols (potato bolstered by ham and egg) and krabju nūjiņu salāti (rice with crab), two typically leafless, and very filling, Latvian salads. Not shown from the wood-paneled dining room, despite repeat visits to the buffet: blood sausages, cabbage and sausages, wonderful meatballs in white sauce, and a crackling fireplace.

H/T Charles Bibilos, United Nations of Food

Latvian Christmas Fair
Daugavas Vanagi Ņujorkā, 115 West 183rd St. (Loring Pl.-Sedgwick Ave.), University Heights, Bronx
www.Facebook.com/events/312339009352847
(The 2018 Christmas fair was held on December 15)

UNAMA Fundraising Buffet Luncheon

The United Nations African Mothers Association (UNAMA) has held this annual fundraiser since the mid-1980s. Proceeds "support programs for women and children in Africa."

The variety of food, prepared offsite by wives of U.N. delegates and served buffet-style, is overwhelming. At my first UNAMA event I noted the names of 16 African nations along the serving line, though many labels were handwritten, some of them on the spur of the moment; it's very possible that the true count was higher. Likewise, the buffet's identification of dishes was not rock-solid, and though some were close cousins to items I've come across in the five boroughs, others were less familiar. A working knowledge of culinary French and Portuguese would have clarified a few ingredients. To be sure, most everyone spoke English, too. The atmosphere was low-key, and the company, consistently welcoming and gracious.

Shown above: Morogo, contributed by the permanent mission of Botswana, was presented in a chafing dish also labeled "creamed spinach"; its partner, seswaa, consisted of pounded, shredded beef. Below: a contribution to the dessert table, from Cape Verde, was identified simply as "sweet rice." For many more photos from multiple fundraisers, see my album.

UNAMA Fundraising Buffet Luncheon
Consulate General of Nigeria, 825 Second Ave. (at 44th St.), Manhattan
www.Facebook.com/events/350596172378982
(The 2018 luncheon was held on December 7)

Cenkali Products

First you drink, then you feast: Cenkali's ponche Navideño, a traditional Mexican Christmas punch, is heavy with tejocote (Tay-ho-Co-tay). When simmered on the stovetop in the company of cane sugar, cinnamon, guava, apple, and prune, the speckled, crabapple-like fruits become infused with sugar and spice, and they soften to near-creaminess. Mind the little seeds, though.

Shown below, from a previous occasion: my tamal de rajas con hongos (cut open to expose vegetables and mushrooms) and a fellow diner's tamal de mole negro (featuring tofu). In recognition that many pre-Columbian indigenous peoples had little access to game animals, Cenkali maintains a vegan menu.

Cenkali Products
www.CenkaliProducts.com
Various pop-up locations, lately at the "Deck the Stalls" holiday market, Water St. at Fulton St., Manhattan
www.Facebook.com/events/794503614245996

New York-area food events, December 13-21

Please note: This is the final roundup of food events for the year. Any can't-miss events that come along before mid-January will be announced on the EIT page on Facebook.

Armenian Church of the Holy Martyrs Christmas Food Fair
Saturday, December 15, 10:00-3:00; Sunday, noonish-5:00
Armenian Church of the Holy Martyrs, 209-15 Horace Harding Expy. (at Oceania St.), Bayside, Queens
www.Facebook.com/ArmenianChurchHolyMartyrs/photos/rpp.435219413196138/2138095169575212
Free admission

Latvian Christmas Fair
Saturday, December 15, noon-6:00; hot lunch, 1:00-4:00
Daugavas Vanagi Ņujorkā, 115 West 183rd St. (Loring Pl.-Sedgwick Ave.), University Heights, Bronx
www.Facebook.com/events/312339009352847
Admission: $1
H/T United Nations of Food

New York State Coquito Masters Final
Saturday, December 15, 6:30-9:00
Bronx Museum of the Arts, 1040 Grand Concourse (165th-166th Sts.,), Bronx
www.Eventbrite.com/e/2018-nys-coquito-masters-finals-to-crown-the-nys-coquito-master-tickets-52949465276
Previously: www.Flickr.com/search/?user_id=61177627%40N00&text=%22coquito%20masters%22
Tickets: $10

New York-area food events, December 6-13

How Has Social Media Changed the Food Industry?
Thursday, December 6, 6:00-8:00
NYC Municipal Archives, 31 Chambers St. (Elk-Lafayette Sts., in the Rebecca Rankin Reading Room), Manhattan
www.Eventbrite.com/e/panel-discussion-how-has-social-media-changed-the-food-industry-tickets-50790153717
Free admission with online registration

Food of the Diaspora: The Unfolding of African Foodways
Thursday, December 6, 6:30-8:00
Essex Street Market, 120 Essex St. (Delancey-Rivington Sts.), Manhattan
www.Eventbrite.com/e/food-of-the-diaspora-the-unfolding-of-african-foodways-tickets-52729687916
Free admission with online registration

United Nations African Mothers Association Buffet Luncheon
Friday, December 7, 11:00-3:00
Permanent Mission  of Nigeria to the United Nations, 825 Second Ave. (at 44th St.), Manhattan
www.UNUNAMA.com/events
Previously: www.EatingInTranslation.com/2015/12/unama-fundraising-buffet-luncheon.html
"The food of the fundraising luncheon is prepared by ambassador's spouses and our members representing all countries and regional cuisines of Africa."
Donation: $40, cash or check only; RSVP required to ununama.contact@gmail.com; proceeds support programs for "women and children in Africa"

Finnish Christmas Bazaar
Saturday, December 8, 11:00-4:00
St. John's Lutheran Church, 83 Christopher St. (Bleecker St.-Seventh Ave.), Manhattan
www.Facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=2502163079801341&id=166069470077392
Previously: www.EatingInTranslation.com/2013/12/finnish-christm.html
Free admission

Eat Pie and Shop

Oatmeal pecan black bottom (above, at the fore) and maple cream (below), two of the dozens of pies on display, and for sale by the slice, at this tenth annual school fundraiser. More pie here.

Eat Pie and Shop
P.S. 29, 425 Henry St. (Warren-Congress Sts.), Cobble Hill, Brooklyn
www.EatPieAndShop.org
(The 2018 event was held on December 2)

New York-area food events, November 29-December 6

Urban Food Policy Forum: Food Policy and the 2020 Elections
Thursday, November 29, 9:00 a.m.-10:30 a.m.
CUNY School of Public Health, 55 West 125th St. (Fifth-Sixth-Aves., 7th fl.), Manhattan
www.Eventbrite.com/e/urban-food-policy-forum-food-policy-and-the-2020-elections-tickets-52274091214
Free admission with online registration

Lebanese Bake Sale and Bazaar
Saturday and Sunday, December 1 and 2, 10:00-4:00
Our Lady of Lebanon Maronite Catholic Cathedral, 109 Remsen St. (Henry-Clinton Sts., lower hall), Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn
www.Facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=2068262996762442&id=1598271980428215
Free admission

Indonesian bazaar at St. James Episcopal Church
Saturday, December 1, 11:00-7:00; repeats monthly
Parish hall of St. James Episcopal Church, 84-07 Broadway (St. James-Corona Aves.), Elmhurst, Queens
www.Facebook.com/events/204510520440702
Previously: www.Flickr.com/search/?user_id=61177627%40N00&sort=date-taken-desc&text=indonesian%20james&view_all=1
Free admission

Ukrainian Museum Christmas Bazaar
Saturday, December 1, 11:00-5:00; Sunday, 11:00-4:00
The Ukrainian Museum, 222 East 6th St. (Second-Third Aves.), Manhattan
www.Facebook.com/events/296294001183619
Previously: www.EatingInTranslation.com/2016/12/ukrainian-museum-christmas-bazaar.html
Free admission

Kahtein celebration of the Asoka Mission Society

My unexpected encounter with a previous Kahtein celebration provided word of this second Burmese gathering not long after. On this occasion the featured dish was biryani; I took mine with beef. Also shown below are two of perhaps a dozen desserts, as well as a pot of htamane, a snack that's generally more savory than sweet. A conversational companion recalled to me that htamane requires the energies of several people to prepare; literally and symbolically it's a unifying dish. Thank you, Howard, for the insight!

Kahtein celebration of the Asoka Mission Society
Parish hall of St. James Episcopal Church, 84-07 Broadway (St. James-Corona Aves.), Elmhurst, Queens
(The 2018 celebration was held on November 11)