Friday, March 6, 2009
Birds Stealing Ice Cream
Heatwrenching.
http://jet-point.com/2009/02/24/birds-stealing-ice-cream/
[via SeriousEats]
Read more...
Monday, March 2, 2009
On Bubbies and Babka
Despite living in New York for nearly five years, I for some reason had never been to Zabar's until recently. Zabar's is something of an institution here, billed as "New York City's Gourmet Epicurean Empire!" It's been around since 1934, and currently takes up almost an entire city block on the Upper West Side. It's known for selling gourmet coffees and cheeses, plus smoked fish and other Jewish-style appetizings. And since the Upper West Side is populated almost exclusively by old Jews, I felt completely at home when I paid a visit.Look, here we are at the Strudel and Knish Corner! YAY! They sell strudel at by the foot here. I ate six inches of cheese-filled before heading to the fish counter.
Where this guy grudgingly gave me many, many samples of lox (or, as my great grandmother Bibby used to say, "novie."). I also tried some pickled herring. I smelled great!
This woman cut me in line for the novie. Look at the indignant expression on her face! I almost slapped her. But then I was soothed by a sample of some chocolate babka.
Overall, a worthwhile adventure. As an added bonus, Zabar's in conveniently located next to H & H Bagels, which may very well be the finest bagel producer in the city. I concluded my visit by sloppily arranging a half pound of sable on a fresh onion bagel on the streetcorner. It wasn't the prettiest scene, and I reeked for the whole subway ride downtown, but there's nothing I love more than getting in touch with my cultural roots...by jostling with 50 other crotchety grandparents for a slice of smoked fish.
Overall, a worthwhile adventure. As an added bonus, Zabar's in conveniently located next to H & H Bagels, which may very well be the finest bagel producer in the city. I concluded my visit by sloppily arranging a half pound of sable on a fresh onion bagel on the streetcorner. It wasn't the prettiest scene, and I reeked for the whole subway ride downtown, but there's nothing I love more than getting in touch with my cultural roots...by jostling with 50 other crotchety grandparents for a slice of smoked fish.
Read more...
Labels:
Adventures,
Jewish,
NYC
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Treasure Trove: Jackon Heights Edition
The 7 train is probably the best subway line in New York, as far as eating adventures go. It cuts diagonally across some of Queens' most interesting ethnic neighborhoods: Sunnsyide (Latin America), Flushing ("The Real Chinatown"), and my personal favorite, Jackson Heights. JH was traditionally an Indian/South Asian stronghld, though in recent years a profliferation of taco trucks and Peruvian restaurants have started springing up along Roosevelt Ave. Still, the 74 St/ Broadway stop is rife with regional Indian delicacies, and with most things packed together tight in a 5-10 block radius, the JH Indian sector is a colorful, easy-to-navigate chunk of fun. Below, some of my favorite finds from Patel Brothers, an Indian grocery store on 37th Ave.
DeDe "Basil Seed Drink with Honey." Look at those crazy basil seeds floating around in there! It's like bubble tea but better. The seeds just kind of hang there, suspended in the liquid, perhaps indefinitely. Although the instructions read "Shake Well," I'm not sure why exactly this step is necessary.
100% pure cow ghee, by the gallon. Like many things, ghee is not very exciting to look at until you see it packaged in huge quantities. There's like 1 million calories in there. Cool!
Kawan brand Jalapeno & Cheese Naan. I just sense that somewhere, some preciousIndian grandma is cringing at the sight of this "traditional leavened bread" being bastardized with the unofficial flavoring pairing of 7-11s everywhere.
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Labels:
Adventures,
Indian,
NYC
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Breakfast of Champions
Brunch, as the last stop for the week's goods, is a time of great creativity in kitchens. Unexpected treats oftentimes crop up on brunch menus, and it's also one of the few acceptable times to drink before noon.
I am firmly in the pro-brunch camp, as evidenced by the photo above.
This particular plate was a special at Lodge, one of my most frequent brunch haunts in south Williamsburg. It's a pile of cheddar grits, pulled BBQ pork, and poached eggs.
Look at this monster! Oh, it was a glorious conquest.
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Monday, November 10, 2008
Tuna Takeover 2000
I think my love of the absurd reached its zenith last weekend, when B and I crossed state lines to attend Mitsuwa Marketplace's "Fresh Giant Bluefin Tune Cut Performance" in Edgewater, New Jersey. The event is fairly self-explanatory, but in a nutshell, a team of Japanese master chefs reduced a 400-lb bluefin tuna to sashimi before a thong of adoring fans. It was a beautiful display of knifemanship, slightly morbid, and totally ridiculous.Check out a video (not mine), here.
Mitsuwa is one of the largest Japanese supermarkets in America (other Mitsuwa stores are located in Chicago and California), featuring a vast array of imported produce and meats, a foodcourt, a bookstore and more. Families can often be found carrying empty suitcases or coolers into the store and stocking up Japanese provisions.
All that was left of the tuna after about 4 hours of slicing and dicing.
This was by far one of our more epic food adventures. B and I have literally waited hours for ramen and gone to the depths of Queens for curry chicken, but rarely do our meals involve taking a shuttle bus from Port Authority. This one did, and was entirely worth it. My next post will review some of our non-tuna purchases, like Japanese pancake mix and, of course, candy.Read more...
Labels:
absurd,
Adventures,
fish,
New Jersey
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Weird Science
Cheddar Cauliflower, xoxo
I used to be a straight-up cauliflower hater. Why? Because the typical white, limp cauliflower is nothing but a useless filler on vegetable platters around the world. I pride myself on my ability to avoid cauliflower in any incarnation.
But last week at the market, I was, perhaps unsurprisingly, drawn to a booth with a little hotplate setup that was handing out samples of something smelling lovely. Without even thinking, I plopped a toothpick into the bowl and pronounced the fluffy orange stuff in it delicious. Lo and behold, I was informed that I had consumed cauliflower.
After panicking for a moment, I calmed down. Turns out I had eaten some cheddar cauliflower, which is really pretty and contains 25x more beta carotene than lamewad white cauliflower. So I bought a head, which is delicious when sauteed with a nothing more than garlic, salt and pepper.

Mathematician's Delight
And then D, who is a lover of all things fractal , came home with another crazy cauliflower, the Romanesco variety. It was was even cooler-looking than the cheddar, though I cannot yet vouch for its flavor.
The moral of the story: Try new things. Cauliflower can be good. Nature is cool.
I used to be a straight-up cauliflower hater. Why? Because the typical white, limp cauliflower is nothing but a useless filler on vegetable platters around the world. I pride myself on my ability to avoid cauliflower in any incarnation.
But last week at the market, I was, perhaps unsurprisingly, drawn to a booth with a little hotplate setup that was handing out samples of something smelling lovely. Without even thinking, I plopped a toothpick into the bowl and pronounced the fluffy orange stuff in it delicious. Lo and behold, I was informed that I had consumed cauliflower.
After panicking for a moment, I calmed down. Turns out I had eaten some cheddar cauliflower, which is really pretty and contains 25x more beta carotene than lamewad white cauliflower. So I bought a head, which is delicious when sauteed with a nothing more than garlic, salt and pepper.
Mathematician's Delight
And then D, who is a lover of all things fractal , came home with another crazy cauliflower, the Romanesco variety. It was was even cooler-looking than the cheddar, though I cannot yet vouch for its flavor.
The moral of the story: Try new things. Cauliflower can be good. Nature is cool.
Read more...
Labels:
cauliflower,
Greenmarket,
weird
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Fall Market Report
It's fall! It's fall! It's fall and the Greenmarket is overflowing! Oh, I do love summer, with its tank tops, berries, and sun, but nothing beats the produce of fall, when apples and pumpkins and squashes of all colors take center stage. It's all awful pretty. Below, a sampling of some offerings at the Union Square Greenmarket this past Monday:Non-edible dried wheat. Roommate B will kill me if I bring home more decorative plants, but damn if these didn't tempt me.
Amazing technicolor squashes. Cornucopia much?
Apples! Yes, apples are available year-round, but they're at their crisp, juicy peak now.
Heh.
Read more...
Labels:
fall,
Greenmarket,
NYC,
produce
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