Ingredient + Produce Features – Page 4 – Writing With My Mouth Full

Searching For a Good Taco: Staten Island

For non-New Yorkers, here’s a quick lesson about my city. New York City is made up of five boroughs: The Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan and Staten Island. In my quest to eat more often outside of Manhattan, Staten Island is the least represented on this site. Although it has the most suburban feel in all of the five, it has been experiencing a large growth of Mexican immigrants in the last 12 years.

The Mexican community–documented and undocumented–have contributed to the diversity of Staten Island, especially on the north shore. Staten Island has historically been known as the “whitest” borough in New York City, but now, almost 2% of its entire population is composed of Mexicans. According to the 2000 Census, Mexicans were the second largest foreign-born group in Staten Island. Besides more affordable housing, the mighty Verrazano-Narrows Bridge helps connect the borough to Brooklyn, Long Island and New Jersey, so a lot of contractors seek out workers there to fill jobs.

I visited to seek out the best taco. I started this food project last year and it’s gotten hot enough outside to warrant a continuation of my search, so I enlisted Staten Island locals Sean and Jane, and of course, Cameron’s stomach, to help me find the best tacos in the neighborhood. I had a few stores in mind from a few Google searches, but we let them walk us to the neighborhoods where the Mexicans live and hang out to find the more authentic tacos. When available, we always bought the chorizo because it was the easiest to compare. I’ve had so many chorizo tacos in the last year and a half that I think I know a good one when I taste one. When the offal kinds were on the menu, though, I gravitated towards them since I didn’t have a lot of them the last three times I went around Manhattan.

My favorites were the longaniza and chorizo from La Conchita, the suadero from Tacos La Abuelita and the cabeza from Tulci-Mex.

Here’s the complete rundown:

1. Taqueria El Gallo Azteca, 75 Victory Blvd., 718/273.6404

We were famished when we arrived in Staten Island via the free ferry ride from downtown Manhattan. We walked past the Taco Bell and made our first stop in St. George. (Who is by the way, not a real saint, but someone who was treated like one because he bought all the land the community at the time needed.) Even though we knew we had to make room for a lot of tacos, we still ordered one apiece from El Gallo. With the semi-chewy bistek, the spicy and salty al pastor and two of the lengua, or tongue, we were off to a very good start.

2. El Campesino, 718/447.1215

The cecina taco was the best. Cecina is a traditional cut of beef in Mexico, sliced thin, salted, and then laid out to dry under the sun. It’s like their version of jerky, really. We also had the lengua, the overdone bistek and of course, the chorizo. Everything was deliciously salty which is why I love simply-prepared tacos–they bring out the Filipino in me.

3. La Mixteca Poblana, 104 Victory Blvd.

They only had the al pastor kind here which is skewered in a vertical rotisserie. Like any gyro store, it slowly spins while cooking. The meat is seasoned with adobo and sometimes pineapple or avocado. What I liked was their brown tomato sauce. It added a toastier taste to the tacos.

4. Tulci-Mex, 108 Victory Blvd., 718/720.1221

They had the most offal selection here, but no one spoke English so it was hard to get a translation. I ended up ordering the only ones familiar to me. The cabeza was a favorite, or the head, because the gelatinuous stuff melted in our mouths. We had the orejas, or the ears, which had some crunch to them. Oh, those little earlobe bones!

5. Las Jarochitos, Port Richmond, 718/876.9090

Finally, a barbacoa kind, or goat! Like any goat stew I’ve had, this one was stringy and gamey. Unfortunately, tiny sharp bones were included. They are really difficult to separate when you’re stewing a goat for several hours and everything falls apart. The cecina and the chorizo were included in our order but they took a while. Thank goodness for cold Coronas.

6. La Conchita, 244 Port Richmond, 718/448.0154

In the Philippines, we use longaniza and chorizo interchangably, but both were available here. We didn’t really care which was which because both were the best we’ve had all day even though at first look, all you can see was cilantro. They were crunchy and the tips were a little burnt, which made a lovely snack when Mexico scored a third goal against Paraguay.

7. Tacos La Abuelita, 229 Port Richmond, 718/273.4648

The tacos here were a dollar each but they had the “especiales” for $2 and $3. We didn’t ask what made them special but the dollar ones tasted good enough. We ordered the buche, or the stomach, the cueritos, or pork skin, and the suadero, which is like stewed beef with all the fat included. The buche was a little unnerving to some of us because it obviously looked like chopped up intestine. The pork skin wasn’t as cripsy as I would have liked, but the suadero reminded me of lechon paksiw without the sour taste.

The best part of this trip to Staten Island? Ralph’s ices after all those tacos!

FreshDirect Rosa Mexicano Microwavable Meals

Most of our group lunches at work are ordered via FreshDirect. Every New Yorker has also seen their delivery vans all over the city–albeit not in my part of Harlem–but I’ve never ordered from them until today. The New York Times announced this week that chef Roberto SantibaÃ±ez of Rosa Mexicano has collaborated with FreshDirect to offer Mexican microwavable meals to its customers. I’ve never been to “New York insitution” Rosa Mexicano because I try not to eat Mexican food from restaurants deemed “upscale and authentic.” I never buy TV dinners either but the spiel was that these Fresh Dining Meals contain no butter, very little cream and only vegetable-based oils are used in their sauces. The prospect of a healthy-sounding Mexican dish in “revolutionary microwavable containers” was intriguing.

I signed up on FreshDirect.com, ordered six of the Rosa Mexicano Fresh Dining Meals and had them delivered to work. An hour after the estimated delivery time and $78.93 later, four co-workers signed up to be my guinea pigs.

1. Beef Short Rib Enchiladas with Salsa Mestiza and Cactus, $9.99
I loved how spicy it was but I didn’t really taste the short ribs nor remember the cactus. I did appreciate the real parsley garnish. Cameron thought that the beef was a little bland. She agreed that it was spicy but she also thought that it just didn’t have a lot of flavor. The tortillas were falling apart which made them the “most Mexican.”

2. Chicken in Ancho Chili Adobo with Green Beans and Shiitakes, $8.99
Luc said the chicken was too hard. He felt that he was eating something very healthy, but later added that his comment meant that he was still hungry.

3. Halibut in Tomatillo Herb Mole with Red Bliss Potatoes and Asparagus, $13.99
I really liked the vegetables because the short ribs were too salty from the other dish that I took comfort in eating the zucchini from this. Cameron said the sauce tasted very fresh. She was really impressed with the softness of the fish because she expected less from a microwavable meal. She also said that there was a nice meat-to-sauce ratio although the vegetable choices–red potatoes, asparagus and zucchini–weren’t very Mexican. She thought the potatoes were too heavy with the fish and would have prefered rice or grilled scallions or piquillo peppers.

4. Shrimp in Red Bell Pepper and Chipotle Cream Sauce, $10.99
I was surprised that the shrimp was clear and wondered whether I did not microwave the dish long enough. I actually ended up liking this dish because of that fact. I usually do not order shrimps because most of the time, they are overcooked, tough and chewy. Cameron thought they were just undercooked. Aaron said he didn’t even notice because it was “yummy to my tummy.” Aaron liked the sauce that Cameron called “too creamy for Mexican food,” although she liked the spice. Out of the three things she tasted, she said that this is the one dish she will not order again. Aaron just felt bad.

5. Turbot in Veracruz Sauce over Achiote Rice with Asparagus and Chayote, $9.99
Taste was overall average for Ben. The fish was a little overcooked but “pretty good for a microwavable meal.” The asparagus was too soggy and the rice was too mushy, both of which he attributed to the sloppy sauce, which was just “okay.” He thought there wasn’t enough rice and he found himself looking for more as he ate the fish. He said he would put it slightly higher than Trader Joe’s microwavable meals, but at $10, he expected much more. He would not buy it again and will stay loyal to Trader Joe’s because they charge $5 for theirs.

6. Grilled Chicken in Tequila-Mushroom Cream Sauce with Snow Peas, $8.99
It was only after I tasted this dish that I understood Luc’s description of the chicken being too hard. This dish contained a huge breast of chicken, complete with grill marks, and I needed a real knife to properly slice through it. The snow peas were so crunchy, they may have been raw, which was not a problem to me. Like all the others, this was also smothered in sauce. The combination of tequila and mushrooms made the sauce taste a little nutty that at first taste, I thought there was some peanut butter in it. I added my own rice to this and I enjoyed it more because it kept the saltiness at bay.

As for the packaging, the containers looked snazzier than the ones I can buy from regular grocery stores. After heating up, though, the tab was very difficult to pull back. We all ended up poking them with our plastic forks–not provided by FreshDirect–to open. It only took four minutes to heat up each container and I thought that was so convenient.

We work downtown in New York City and we’re all used to paying at least $8 for lunch, but we wanted more. An hour later, I was snacking on Ritz crackers.

I also had to order at least $60 worth of items to qualify for FreshDirect delivery. The delivery fee was a steep $14.99 but they did come in the next day, twenty-four hours after I ordered online.

The overall taste verdict? FreshDirect Rosa Mexicano Fresh Dining Meals are a little over-salted and saucy, but not so bad in taste in terms of microwavable food. In terms of Mexican food, however, all of us say, “so-so.”

Minamoto Kitchoan

608 Fifth Avenue at 49th Street
212/489.3747
from $2.50 to $11 each

Wagashi, or Japanese pastry, is served in traditional tea ceremonies. They are usually made of Azuki, kidney or soy beans combined with mochi-rice or wheat. The most common types are the jelly and rice cakes which come in different fruit flavors and colors. Minamoto Kitchoan is not a restaurant, but stopping by the store on Christmas day, I couldn’t help but be tickled by the beautifully packaged pastries. You can pick and buy whatever you want or else one of the Japanese clerks will follow you around with a tray so they can handle the delicate goods themselves. The ones pre-packaged start at $2.50 each but there were some expensive kinds inside the glass cabinets. They’re all perishable of course, so they must be eaten within a two-week timeframe. Every $5 you spend will earn you a stamp on a card and you can get a small discount when you’ve spent at least $100. And at Minamoto Kitchoan, it’s easy to do just that. Pretty store, pretty little things.

Bordeaux versus Burgundy

The Dr. and I stopped by the Union Square Wines & Spirits store before we viewed the amazing Ron Mueck sculptures in the Brooklyn Museum on Saturday. They were having a free tasting of several Bordeaux and Burgundy wines from France with Marcus Lartigau, a French wine guru. We stayed for about an hour and we learned a lot of things during the tasting. I took notes and I’ll try to list them here from my indecipherable handwriting to share with you.

If you look at a map of France, you’ll see that Bordeaux is on the lower west side of the country, closer to Spain, while Burgundy is to the east. Red wine from Bordeaux is made from Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon with small quantities of Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot for blending. White Bordeaux is mostly made of Semillon but also with a blend of Sauvignon Blanc, Muscadelle and Ugni Blanc. Red Burgundy is made exclusively of the Pinot Noir grape while white Burgundy is all Chardonnay. Most of the wines from Bordeaux follow a classification that’s why a lot of people think they are more “intellectual” than Burgundy because of the rules they follow. A lot of vineyards in the Burgundy region have multiple owners so a lot of the wines come with several names on the labels. But the most obvious thing that a lot of people don’t know about the two wines is the bottle shape. Bordeaux bottles have high shoulders while Burgundy bottles slope.

The following list consists of the wines we tasted. My personal favorite was the red Bordeaux from Chateau du Tertre at around $35 a bottle:

1. Domain Michel Niellon 2004 Chassagne-Montrachet Blanc – Burgundy — a little anemic
2. Chateau Carbonnieux 2004 Pessac Leognan Graves Grand Cru – Bordeaux — grapefruit, very clean
3. Domain Ramonet 2004 Chassagne-Montrachet Rouge – Burgundy — tangy in the beginning but very good in the end
4. Chateau Grand-Puy-Lacoste 2001 Pauillac Grand Cru – Bordeaux — some raisin, a little bit of spice
5. Chateau du Tertre 2002 Margaux Grand Cru – Bordeaux — bolder and fuller, more spice
6. Chateau Gruaud Larose 2003 Saint-Julien – Bordeaux — a little bit more alcohol and drier

Chinese Tea Eggs

Right outside our Chinatown office, a line forms late in the afternoon in front of a Chinese man’s supermarket cart loaded with a huge pail of black liquid. I took a peek once and realized that hard-boiled eggs were floating in it. I’ve heard of tea eggs before but I’ve never had them, so the last time I walked by the cart, I bought six tea eggs for a dollar.

My Chinese friend Shao told me she grew up eating them whenever her parents would make them at home. I’ve read that they are traditionally a Chinese New Year snack, but nowadays people line up for them whenever they feel like eating eggs.

Back at home, I took the eggs out of the plastic bag, put them in a bowl and disposed the liquid. I noticed that the shells were a little bit cracked. When I took the shells off, the cracked shell made a pretty pattern on the egg. I did some research and found out that the marinade has soy sauce, star anise and cinnamon sticks together with the brewed black tea. The hard-boiled eggs are tapped gently in order for the shells to crack a little bit and then simmered in the marinade for an hour or two so that the black color stains the shell and the cooked egg inside, leaving that ornate pattern.

Eating hard-boiled eggs past noon might be weird to some people, but I had one while I was making dinner and I thought it was a lovely treat to keep the hunger pangs from gnawing.