Magical Culinary Tour: Astoria

Here we go again, on another trip to an exotic destination. This time, it's Astoria, Queens. :))

Let's face it, these trips are just as much for me as they are for you. I have lived in New York since I was six years old, but have not even scratched the surface when it comes to seeing all that New York has to offer. Astoria is no different. It is known for its Greek neighborhoods, and of course, its Greek food.

I was in search of one thing: halloumi! Halloumi is not impossible to find in Manhattan, but all the small blocks I have seen have been around the $7 mark. It's almost an insult to this New Yorker to go with the first price I see and not search for something better. And after shelling out close to $7 for the crapgonzola the other day, I cannot spend so much on cheese I am not entirely sure I would even like. Halloumi is described as squeaky, salty, styrofoamy... Mmmm, ok. Well it's just cheese for pete's sake; so why am I getting panic attacks about it??? Speaking of cheese, I am really happy I'm not a cheese-o-phile. I do love my parmesan (and I'm not talking poorman'sgrana) but I could see if I was obsessed with it how it would become a very expensive thang to be hung up on.

So back to the tour. I had do some recon before heading out. Ah, the wonders of a T1 connection at work ('bout time!) and free paper and printer ink at my disposal.



Plus, all photojournalists, such as myself (wink, wink) have a trusty MTA map on their office walls as well.

We don't want to get lost in the land of souvlaki and tzatziki. Opa! (By the way, Russians say that too!)

Back to the matter at hand, shortly after finishing up work I headed north and then east to Astoria. According to my 'Astoria File', Steinway Street was supposed to be a good starting point as it is known as "The World's Longest Department Store". I wouldn't say it was a department store, as such, it just seemed to be a long, very long, stretch with horrible Eurotrashy boutiques, blech. I went to Astoria to do some Greek-spotting, but wasn't seeing any. I finally turned on 30th Avenue and things started changing. There were some hip restaurants on the corners, and greek grocery stores cropped up here and there.

My first stop was Elliniki Gona ("Greek Corner"). What bullcrap. It was just a typical grocery store, and the only thing 'Greek' about it were the packages of feta that were found in the refrigerated section -- packages of feta, mind you, that anyone can find in any grocery store here.

I didn't let that distract me from my goal: cheap halloumi! Then I happened to see Cyprus Deli. Well, halloumi is from Cyprus, score! The store was cute and did offer halloumi at the cheapest I have seen. A package roughly double of what I have seen in Manhattan only cost me $5.19. The price for a pound was $7.99. Excellent, so I bought it, of course. I even managed a pic of the store, though I looked like a complete weirdo for taking a picture of cheese! Ah, all for my readers.


Then, I stopped off at a bigger store, Mediterranean Foods, with a huge deli counter. There, the halloumi was $5.99 a pound! What??!! Well I'm not all for returning cheese, so I lowered my head and declared myself un-victorious. Next time, next time. But here are some pics, and I got some fab kalamata olives and Greek yogurt. Though, of course, in Astoria, they just call it yogurt. ;)

Mediterranean Foods had Greek flags everywhere and was chock-full of products imported from the Motherland. I was really impressed; this must be a Greek New Yorker's idea of heaven.

Now that I had my halloumi plus other things, I decided to walk around and in and out of shops to see what else Greek Astoria had to offer. I went into a bakery...

... and had an interesting conversation with the young woman who worked there.

Me: Do you have Greek bread?

She: (Showing me a rustic-looking loaf of white bread) Here is a loaf of white bread.

Me: OK, but do you have Greek bread, maybe something smaller.

She: Well this is smaller, it's just white bread.

Me: Erm, ok, but is it Greek?

She: It's white bread.

LOL. Well I guess we've removed any doubts at all that it was white bread. I bought the yummy looking loaf, still not knowing if it is Greek. Hmmmn, no matter.

I set my sights on walkng a bit further to the supposed Greek superstore, Titan. I passed a window with a wide selection of olive oil on the way... (Man, these Greeks really love their flags, don't they?)

and a couple of more places where the names of the stores made me chuckle.

I shortly reached the mecca of all things Greek, Titan!

Not many things take my breath away. But walking into Titan, I was impressed!

I think it had to do with the entire fridge of Greek yogurt. You don't know what a big deal that is to me. And it's the cheapest I have ever seen it, I think, but I need to consult with my sources on that.

There were huge deli counters and endless vats of olives. A fabulous bakery, where I got my bro-in-law his favorite kourampiedes. They are powdered little cookies. That's the best way I could describe them.

The whole time I was at Titan I kept thinking how I wish I had a shopping list so I could really make the most of my trip there. I was completely unprepared!! I need to go back, just so that I could stock up on yogurt and olives.

So, all in all, the trip up there was definitely worth it. I got lots of goodies (pic to come), and even found a cute Italian deli where La Bella San Marzano tomatoes were to be found at the cheapest I have seen, just $1 a can. Astoria is a foodie's dream, not to mention the chic restaurant scene. Yes, yes I must go back!

When I got back home, I made good use of some of the stuff I bought... Coming soon!

Magical Culinary Tour: 'Ani Hozer Habayta'

If you're wondering where on earth the next Magical Culinary Tour has taken me and you, I'll save you the suspense. The above phrase, 'Ani Hozer Habayta' is the title of a very popular Israeli song from many years ago. It means, 'I'm returning home.' One of those nostalgic, tug-at-your-heartstrings, love-my-country type of songs. Israelis are extremely patriotic; so much so that they will bitch about Israel when they live there, but if they ever emigrate or go work in another country, they will miss their country so much it will tear them up inside. I don't know what it is about Israel - if I did I could tell you the reason I feel the same pang every time I remember my childhood and summers there.

Not many people know, but I was born in Israel. A true Sabra - the plant that has thorns on the outside, like a cactus, but is sweet on the inside. I was there from age 0 to 6 - and in that short time my entire being was cemented. I am lucky enough that many Israelis moved to Brooklyn and thus set up Israeli grocery stores - or rather, the foundation of a happy Israeli family - the 'makolet'.

A makolet is so many things in one tiny space - essentially it means 'grocery store'. I have lived most of my life in Brooklyn, and just plain grocery stores still have not moved me to emotion like the memories I have of Israeli makolets.

They are old-fashioned, horribly disorganized. As soon as you come in you smelled zaatar and cumin, marinading olives in vats; the makolets were dark inside, because the sun outside was so strong, coming into the makolet would be a welcome relief. I remember walking to one in the middle of the day. The sun was the hottest in the middle of the day, especially in the summer months. There wouldn't be a soul around me, and all I would hear would be the sound of my flip-flops scraping across the cement. Brave men and women would go out at this time of day. I seem to remember little kids like me making these trips, for one or two items to bring back home for lunch or dinner that night. They were usually short walks, often just downstairs as many makolets were inside small apartment buildings. The best part of the makolet for me was the fridge there. Strange as it seems, I will never forget the memory of walking into a cool and dark store, going to the back, opening up a fridge and getting out a bag of milk or chocolate milk. I've always thought dairy products in bags were the coolest things in the world - and the one thing I miss most in the world is lying back and drinking a bag of Shoko - Israel's chocolate milk, the best chocolate milk in the world, in my opinion. The fridges and freezers in those stores were old - they were the type that the handle had to be pushed down to open, not like the ones here that open like a door or that would slide.

I needed some ingredients to make some CL recipes, so I knew that today would be the perfect day to make the trip down. All I needed to do was follow Avenue U and a few minutes later I reached the Israeli neighborhood with its many stores. This one is my favorite.
Holon, if you're curious, is a small-ish town near Tel Aviv, though Israel is so tiny most cities are described as small-ish towns close to Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, or Haifa!

There is another 'Holon' store also not too far from this one - I'm not sure if it is the same owner but they essentially have the same products and most importantly, the good pita!

Now, is there good pita and bad pita?? The answer: Yes! If I had a true addiction to pita, and my thighs thank me that I don't, then I don't think I could live anywhere in the world except for Brooklyn and Israel. Brooklyn is the only place, outside of Israel natch, that has the most authentic pita in the world. It is meaty, it is soft, it is bread! It is not the thin pathetic packaged pita breads that supermarkets sell. In case you're wondering, yes, I'm a true pita snob.

Holon and the stores surrounding it have the pita. I don't know how it's possible that it tastes exactly like the pita in Israel and is baked in Brooklyn, but there ya have it. Deliveries come in every morning except for Saturdays when these stores are closed. The only mornings I'm free are Sundays, so between 10 and 11am, as was the case today, I would make the trip to get the freshest pita around.

Here are some of the other things good makolets are known for:

Huge vats of olives and other pickled items.

They love their olives and pickles! Mmmmm!

And their dried fruit and spices!

Israel is big on dairy - most breakfasts consist of cut cucumbers and tomatoes spread out, and plates of cottage cheese, cheeses, spreads... breakfast al fresco.

I ended up buying some goodies - things for some of the recipes I will be making, and things also for nostalgia's sake.

The big bottle at the back is Petel. Petel literally means 'raspberry' but is the generic term referring to all these syrupy cordials, no matter the flavor, though raspberry is everyone's favorite, including mine. A few drops into a glass and then topped up with cold water, still or fizzy, mmmmmm! Bamba is dangerous! Yummy puff-snack flavored with peanut butter. This is what kids take on school trips along with pita filled inside with chocolate spread -- better than nutella! And speaking of pita - I wasn't joking about how fresh it is. Check out the steam still inside the bag - it was baked just this morning. The huge bag of zaatar was only $3. I smelled it all the way home!

So that was more of less my culinary adventure. Its purpose really was to get some ingredients for tomorrow's dinner, but a lot of it had to do with the fact that I miss home and this, in a way, is getting it back.

Magical Culinary Tour: Little India

After work on Friday, I met up with my good friend, Rosie, to take a small excursion to a very unique part of New York, Little India. So we met on the F train platform at 57th street, and headed to Jackson Heights, Queens, home to fabulous Indian supermarkets, sari shops, and the best Indian food in New York.

The beautiful colors of the sari shops on 74th street, Jackson Heights.

I wanted to head to Jackson Heights after work because I needed last minute goodies for the curry banquet that night. We headed straight to Patel Brothers, which is an Indian grocery super-store. It has literally everything you could ever imagine you'd need for curry night!

whole wall full of dhal (lentils)

and rice!

I picked up some paneer, poppadums, naan (packaged) for impromptu curry nights, and a couple of condiment bowls for the chutney!

On the way to get some fresh naan and samosas, we did some more window shopping. Check out the bling, Bollywood-style.


We finally got to a nearby restaurant to get some takeout naan and samosas for our dinner.

The lovely man at the restaurant let me take a shot of him. Here is retrieving some naan from the tandoori. The procedure, I observed, was to take that dough to his left, dimple it a bit, put it on that white spongy thing in front of him, and use it as a sort of mit to stick it into the oven. Then he would retrieve the cooked naan with that stick. The result is a lovely, fluffy, and warm piece of perfection!

We got back on the F with bags in tow to get home and start cooking!

Magical Culinary Tour: Avenue U

First stop on Magical Culinary Tour: Avenue U, home to the smallest Chinatown in NYC!

I had a bit of time today after breakfast to run some errands so I thought I'd take a walk in my neighborhood, Avenue U, to source some ingredients for tonight's dinner.

south side of the street - Chinese pharmacies, florist, and super stores

I needed some tofu and other ingredients, so I headed straight for the chinese superstore I always go to for Asian ingredients and meat, fish, and poultry. I knew about the place even before I moved here, as my parents go there all the time. They actually prefer the fish here to the big super shops on Brighton Beach, Brooklyn's Little Odessa. I didn't even know the name of the store until I saw it on my credit card statement shortly after I moved here.

Here's the store.

Bok choi, among other things.. Not sure what they all are as all the signs are in Chinese, LOL.

Which tofu?? Silken? Firm? I ended up choosing Regular.

Well thanks for coming on this Magical Culinary Tour. Watch this space tomorrow for a report of tonight's Asian-inspired dinner!