Author: cia
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I live across the hall from a Pakistani family I’ve grown to know since I moved in the building 3 years ago. I know the wife stays at home because I always see some piece of furniture keeping their main door open whenever I leave or return home. It’s to keep the smell from staying…
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To the people of Mesoamerica, corn was a very sacred plant and this pre-Columbian Mexican soup was only consumed during special occasions. Ancient Mexicans believed that the combination of corn and meat was a religious communion of their sacred plant and humans: prisoners were killed in religious sacrifices and served as meat for the whole…
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As a Harlem resident for the last 10 years, I’m all for new bars and restaurants in the area. The neighborhood has definitely changed. You see more new faces walking around, cafés and boutiques, but its growth is still slower than Brooklyn’s. Maison Harlem tries hard. A well-dressed gentleman–and may I say good-looking too–approached our…
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Vietnamese grilled pork, or thit heo nuong (insert Vietnamese characters in there), remains to be one of my favorite Vietnamese dishes. I still remember when my parents and I would eat in Chinatown’s Nha Trang restaurant every week. The dish did not cost much and it always came with a lot of rice; to my…
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61 Delancey Street between Allen and Eldrige $30 each for 3 people, with tip 212/925.5220 ♥ ♥ The temperature dropped and all we wanted was soup. Lisa and I would have gone to one of our usual haunts, but when Christian posted a photo of his soba bowl on Instagram over the weekend, I marked…
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Chigae, or more appropriately jjigae, is a Korean stew made of a variety of vegetables and meat cooked in a broth seasoned with kochujang, or red chili paste. It’s more of a soup to me, really, but I’m not about to correct whatever the Koreans say. Recipes online ask for pork tenderloin, but I find…
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When I traveled to Colombia a few years ago, I learned that it was soup country. Everywhere we ate, there was always ajiaco or sancocho on the menu, the two soups that easily became my favorites. When I first made my own version of ajiaco, I mistakenly added plantains because I remembered liking them from…
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I tried this four-chile chili over the weekend when almost everyone I know was either watching sports on TV or playing poker online because of the blustery weather outside. This dish was the right one to coddle and sit on the couch with under a soft throw with the TV on. My sports fan guest…
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This recipe came from Sam Sifton in the New York Times. It’s almost the perfect recipe for such an affordable piece of lamb. Even at Whole Foods, 2 racks at about 3 pounds cost $12, probably the least expensive big-ticket item I’ve ever bought there. As usual, I adjusted the recipe to work for me.…
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451 Carroll Street, Gowanus Canal, Brooklyn $45 each for 3 people, with 2 beers, with tip 718/852.7800 ♥ ♥ We needed to eat before the We Were Promised Jetpacks concert at the Bell House but Littleneck was closed and the first thing that came up on my phone that did not sound like a sticky-floor…
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3183 Broadway between Tiemann Place and 125th Street $20 each for 4 people, with drinks, with tip 646/559.2862 ♥ ♥ Ramen in Harlem? This is seriously the best thing that has happened in my neighborhood in the 7+ years I’ve lived there. Notable: 1. Happy hour $10 Sapporo pitchers after 10pm when I visited on…
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41-16 Queens Boulevard, Sunnyside, Queens $40 each for 4 people, with drinks, with tip 718/433.3702 ♥ ♥ Taking advantage of Queens while one of my favorite eating partners is in town from Chicago, we visited Salt & Fat with her brother to check out the scene in what is a very unfamiliar part of the…