Eating In Translation

New York-area food events, March 21-28

A Woman's Place
Friday, March 22, 7:30-8:30
Books Are Magic, 225 Smith St. (at Butler St.), Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn
www.Facebook.com/events/897187260618154
Free admission

Dessert Goals
Friday through Sunday, March 22-24, various sessions
Sound River Studios, 4-40 44th Dr. (at the East River), Long Island City, Queens
www.DessertGoals.com
See website for ticket information

Indonesian bazaar at the St. James Parish Hall
Saturday, March 23, 11:00-5:00; repeats monthly, by and large
Parish hall of St. James Episcopal Church, 84-07 Broadway (St. James-Corona Aves.), Elmhurst, Queens
www.Facebook.com/events/602499460176596
Previously: www.Flickr.com/search/?user_id=61177627%40N00&sort=date-taken-desc&text=indonesian%20james&view_all=1
Free admission

Coffee & Tea Festival NYC
Saturday, March 23, noon-5:00; Sunday, noon-4:00
Brooklyn Expo Center, 72 Noble St. (Franklin-West Sts.), Brooklyn
www.CoffeeAndTeaFestival.com/nyc
See website for ticket details

The Brooklyn Chocolate Takedown
Sunday, March 24, 2:00-4:00
Lot 45, 411 Troutman St. (St. Nicholas-Wyckoff Aves.), Bushwick, Brooklyn
www.TheTakedowns.com/bkchocolatetakedown2019
Tickets: $25

Lithuanian Scouts St. Casimir Festival

Featured item illustrated here.

New York-area food events, March 14-21

Egg Cream Day Lab and Contest
Thursday, March 14, 6:00-7:30
Museum at Eldridge Street, 12 Eldridge St. (Canal-Division Sts.), Manhattan
www.EldridgeStreet.org/event/eggcreamlab
Tickets: adults, $10; students and seniors, $5

Tastings at the Tenement
Thursday, March 14, 6:30-8:00; repeats periodically
Event begins at 97 Orchard St. (Delancey-Broome Sts.), Manhattan
www.Tenement.org/tour/tastings-at-the-tenement/?tour_date=2019-03-14&altru_id=dee2ac70-1601-4f91-ab06-de7539265a21
Tickets: general admission, $40; students and seniors, $35

Smorgasburg x Vice Night Market
Friday, March 15, 6:00-midnight
The Villain, 50 North 3rd St. (Wythe-Kent Aves.), Williamsburg, Brooklyn
www.Eventbrite.com/e/smorgasburg-x-vice-night-market-2019-the-friday-before-st-patricks-tickets-54797827778
Free admission with online RSVP; after 8:00, ages 21 and over only

Midnight Market Jersey City
Friday, March 15, 6:30-midnight
Harborside Atrium, 210 Hudson St., Jersey City
www.Eventbrite.com/e/midnight-market-jersey-city-tickets-56262222823
Tickets: $5 and up; ages 21 and over only

St. Stanislaus Bishop & Martyr Church Flea Market
Saturday, March 16, noon-6:00; Sunday, 9:00-2:00
101 East 7th St. (Ave. A-First Ave.), Manhattan
www.StanislausChurch.com/images/Biuletyn/2019/2019-03-10-c.pdf
Previously: www.EatingInTranslation.com/2015/12/st-stanislaus-bishop-martyr-church-flea-market.html
Free admission

New York-area food events, March 7-14

Indonesian bazaar at the St. James Parish Hall
Saturday, March 9, 11:00-6:00; repeats monthly
Parish hall of St. James Episcopal Church, 84-07 Broadway (St. James-Corona Aves.), Elmhurst, Queens
www.Facebook.com/events/422111048559239
Previously: www.Flickr.com/search/?user_id=61177627%40N00&sort=date-taken-desc&text=indonesian%20james&view_all=1
Free admission

Hoboken Chili Cook-Off and Craft Beer Contest
Saturday, March 9, 2:00-6:00
Our Lady of Grace Gym, 400 Willow Ave. (4th-5th Sts.), Hoboken, New Jersey
www.Eventbrite.com/e/10th-annual-hoboken-chili-cook-off-tickets-52499200522
Tickets: $45; proceeds benefit True Mentors

Fare Plate: Irish Food and Drink Festival
Saturday, March 9, 2:00-6:00
The Ragtrader & Bo Peep Cocktail and Highball Store, 70 West 36th St. (Fifth-Sixth Aves.), Manhattan
www.Eventbrite.com/e/fareplate-irish-food-drink-festival-tickets-54857557431
Tickets: general admission, $50; ages 21 and over only

Pastryland Bake Sale
Saturday, March 9, various sessions
International Culinary Center, 28 Crosby St. (Grand-Broome Sts., 5th fl.), Manhattan
www.InternationalCulinaryCenter.com/pastry-plus/pastryland-tickets
Tickets: general admission, per session, $15; proceeds benefit Hot Bread Kitchen

Taste of the World International Food Festival
Sunday, March 10, 2:30-5:00
McLaughlin Hall, Our Lady Queen of Martyrs Parish, 72-55 Austin St. (72nd Rd.-Ascan Ave.), Forest Hills, Queens
www.OurLadyQueenOfMartyrs.org/taste-of-the-world-2019-foodfest
Tickets: $25 advance/$30 onsite; proceeds benefit the parish

New York-area food events, February 28-March 7

Jia! The Food of Swatow and the Teochew Diaspora
Thursday, February 28, 6:30-7:30
Museum of Chinese in America, 215 Centre St. (Grand-Howard Sts.), Manhattan
www.MOCANYC.org /visit/events /mocatalks_with_author_diana_zheng_jia_the_food_of_swatow_and_the_teochew_diaspora
Tickets: $15

Expanding the Fogo Island Food Circle: Food, Community, and Economic Development from a Small Island to a Large Planet
Friday, March 1, 6:00-8:00
The New School, University Center, 63 Fifth Ave. (at 13th St., room UL104), Manhattan
www.Events.NewSchool.edu/event/expanding_the_fogo_island_food_circle_food_community_and_economic_development_from_a_small_island_to_a_large_planet#.XHYa7lNKjBI
Tickets: $5

Food Book Fair
Saturday and Sunday, March 2-3, 11:00-5:00
Inside the winter Smorgasburg and Brooklyn Flea, Atlantic Center, 625 Atlantic Ave. (between Old Navy and Party City), Brooklyn
www.Eventbrite.com/e/food-book-fair-new-york-2019-march-2nd-3rd-tickets-55936468483?mc_eid=4f13ca49b5&mc_cid=ea51a12df9
Free admission; online registration requested

Lithuanian Scouts St. Casimir Festival
Sunday, March 3, 11:00-5:00 (though pickings might be slim by early afternoon)
Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Hall, 278 North 8th St. (Havemeyer St.-Meeker Ave.), Williamsburg, Brooklyn
www.Evensi.us/niujorko-skautu-kaziuko-muge-lady-mt-carmel-hall-278-north-8th-street-brooklyn-ny-11211/293070377
Previously: www.EatingInTranslation.com/2015/03/lithuanian-scouts-st-casimir-festival.html
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

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)

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)