VittlesVamp

Queens Quicktake

How the hell had I never been to Astoria Seafood until recently? This place is a seafood lover's wet dream. Literally. The floors are pretty darn slippery.

It is a one-time fish market where you grab a plastic bag or two or three (or four) and fill them up with as much or a little of the incredible fish and crustaceans that they have on display...

At the front counter, they weigh your bags and ask you how you want the different selections cooked. Then you order up a salad, maybe a veg or two, some lemon potatoes, and wait for it come to the table...

Yaaaassss!

Oh, and did I mention that this place is BYOB?!?

What the heck took me so long to get there? Needless to say, I look forward to a return trip - many return trips. Just need to wear shoes with better grip.

Queens Culinary Crawl

I've been known to take a food tour or two when I travel. And, if a walking tour company called Culinary Backstreets is offering one wherever I am headed, it's a must-do. I've been lucky enough to take some of their tours in Lisbon, Porto and Athens. (Still dreaming of that food in Athens!)

For years I've been promising that I would check out one of their tours in my own backyard - Queens. This is the borough that the company has chosen to embrace in its New York food tour offerings. They have two Queens walking adventures. One dives into Flushing's Chinatown and the other starts in Corona and then hits Elmhurst and Jackson Heights. I adore all things Chinatown, but I had to go for the United Kitchens tour that would start me off in Corona Plaza.

Let me say this before I go any further: Sign up for this tour. It is fantabulous. Go hungry. Very hungry. You will surely not leave hungry. I can vouch for that!

Mexican pastries and freshly squeezed juice started us off as we ventured on a side street.

That kitchen above and the lovely lady doing her thing in the window? Looks pretty darn good, doesn't it? It was...

Hell to the yeah. This was a Quesadilla that had me transported far from Queens and straight to a table in Mexico.

Of course, eating that amazing Quesadilla made me hungry for a humongous sandwich...

That was quite the Cemita specimen. Napkins were deployed as we polished it off. Then, not the least bit peckish, we stopped for some Peruvian snacks. Then we headed to an Argentinian butcher for some seriously delicious Empanadas...

So good!

We kept walking, stopping into an Uruguayan bakery for a few sweets before we hit Jackson Heights.

Once we arrived, Asian food took centerstage. We quickly lined up at a food truck to get a platter of Nepalese dumplings called Momos...

We could hardly down more than one Momo each, when we asked for them to be wrapped to go. (Momo-to-go sounds like the next great fast food joint, am I wrong?)

A stop for Samosas was had before we had what we believed would be our last morsel of the tour. And, what a morsel...

These are the crowned jewels of Bangladeshi street food. Called Fuchka, they are deep-fried spheres of wafer-thin dough stuffed with spiced chickpeas and potato, garnished with chaat masala. We drizzled some tangy tamarind chutney atop and enjoyed - thoroughly.

But how could we finish the tour without something sweet to send us back home? Never fear. Our trusty guide knew exactly where to take us. We walked into a small Thai mom and pop grocery and were presented with icy cold pandan treats. We ate them so quickly that there is no photo to behold. Just the memories of a very full stomach.

By the way, if you think that I won't be signing up for Culinary Backstreets' tour of Flushing, you are mightily mistaken!

Holy Food

Had one of the most engaging chats of my culinary-centric life with Christina Ward, the exceptionally eloquent author of a book entitled "Holy Food: How Cults, Communes and Religious Movements Influenced What We Eat." The conversation was recorded for posterity as a podcast on New Books Network. Feel free to listen here.

Of course, her references to foodstuffs influenced by Jewish culture will likely hit different now. Even with hindsight, I am unable to say anything profound, tying those bits to the current horrors. I can offer nothing more than what was provided in the late September back-and-forth.

Still, tonight I am making Hummus and Jerusalem Grill for a friend. Not sure what it signifies beyond a deep attachment to my culture, my people -- and a desire to revel in the flavors that allow me to embrace that.

Christina Wards' book talks about how religion in many permutations can influence how we eat and how we restrict ourselves, the reasons that what's on the menu can play a key role in proselytizing and celebrating whatever spirituality speaks to you. It's a great read. It was a great conversation.

I am just going to leave it at that.