Mitsuwa Marketplace

28. January 2008 Ingredient + Produce Features 1
I’ve been wanting to return to Mitsuwa Marketplace in Edgewater, New Jersey, since the Dr. and I first visited after watching the Romeo and Juliet opera in HD. I’ve also hassled all my friends who have cars to drive me there ever since Anthony Bourdain featured the area in his Food Network show a few ...

Nyanya Chungu, African Eggplant

20. August 2007 Ingredient + Produce Features 5
I was in my neighborhood African store ordering my usual halal lamb meat when these tomato-looking things caught my eye. I asked the lady if they were tomatoes. We call them chungu, she said, but couldn’t help me with its American name. Do they taste like tomatoes? She couldn’t answer that either, so she got ...

Salt-Encrusted White Croaker

13. August 2007 Fish, Ingredient + Produce Features 2
I received a packet of flor de sal, or flower salt, and a packet of sea salt from Terras de Sal in Portugal last week. What good timing, too, because I ran out sea salt and have been using the grocery store type the last two nights. The Terras de Sal sea salt looks and ...

Mamoncillo, Quenepa, Ginep

Cameron calls the fruit guy on the corner of Spring and Sixth Avenue our porno fruit guy. He has signs that have adjectives on them like “extra big size cherries”, “beautiful nectarines”, “sweet beautiful pineapple” and my favorite, “all kind sweet apple”. I’ve bought cherries and bananas from him before. Today I walked by and ...