Nieve Making at Viva Puebla!

I don't think that I can write often enough about how obsessed I am with the nieves at Viva Puebla, which I wrote about here (as well as their chicharron preparado, which I wrote about here).

So far I've tried the guava (my favorite)


then watermelon and lime together -


And today, I got the melon (canteloupe)....


and a chance to watch the nieve being made!


A very slow process in which the sweetened fruit base is placed in a barrel full of ice, and spun round and round, with periodical scraping, until the liquid becomes a smooth, sometimes creamy, sometimes icy, snow.
Once the summer ends there will be no more homemade nieve. A relief for this man, perhaps, but a sad day for me.

Viva Puebla
89-16 Roosevelt Avenue, Jackson Heights

Chicharrón Preparado

Another post for Serious Eats NY that is perfect for Under the 7, while I play catch-up and get some more Roosevelt Ave eating in. I love chicharrón preparado. Here's a small explanation -

Chicharrón preparado is a unique street snack from Mexico that is often hard to find, but pops up every so often during the summertime here in Queens. One of the stands I wrote about last week, which sells homemade nieves, also offers chicharrón preparado as a summer special.

Generally, chicharrón means fried pork skin. In some Spanish-speaking countries it isn't just pork skin, but pork belly; in other countries it refers to any sort of meat, fried and crisp. In Mexico, there is real chicharrón, deep fried pork rinds, and then there is chicharrón de harina—deep fried snacks that are made from flour, not pork skin. They have a similar crunchy, bubbly texture, and are found in many shapes and sizes; pinwheels, small squiggly lines, small rectangles, and large rectangles.

Chicharrón preparado, or prepared chicharrónes, are made with the large rectangular fried chicharrón de harina, which is then topped with chopped cabbage, diced tomatoes, sour cream, cotija cheese, sliced avocados, cueritos (pickled pork rind slices), and hot sauce, usually Salsa Valentina.

Okay, so it sounds weird, especially if you've never heard of half of the ingredients—but trust me, it's delicious. So many amazing textures: the light crisp of the chicharrón, the fresh, crunchy cabbage. Then there's the softness and acidity from the tomatoes, smooth chunks of avocado, salt from the powdered cheese, chewy bits of pickled pork, vinegar and heat from the hot sauce, and then the cooling and tangy sour cream finish. It gives you much more than your average snack. This week I found four places that prepare chicharrón con todo, and they won't be around for long—so I tried them all.

Fruta Picada Cart

Underneath the 7 train at Junction Boulevard, there is a woman with an unamed cart who sells fresh chopped fruit (fruit picada) that she tops with chile, lime and salt. There is also a small sign on the side advertising chicharrón preparado. The first time I saw the sign, on a weekday afternoon, I orderd one, but she didn't have the ingredients yet. A few days later I went back, and she did, so I happily ate my chicharrón while waiting for the train.

It had its good and bad points. The chicharrón was freshly fried and crisp; the tomato slices were perfect—a really ripe, red, fresh summer tomato. The cueritos were soft and gelatinous, but there weren't many of them. The avocado was soft and smooth. But instead of cabbage was iceberg lettuce, which is crisp and fresh-tasting, but lacks that bite and crunch. The cheese sprinkled on top was Kraft parmesan from the green can. It had all the right textures, but everything was just slightly off.

Price: $4.00

Metal cart directly in front of 96-07 Roosevelt Avenue, Corona (map)

La Choza Dominican and Mexican Restaurant

As I was driving down 104th Street I thought I spied the words chicharrón preparado in front of the restaurant—and so my very helpful husband ran out and ordered one, brought it back to the car, and snapped a phone picture of it all in the space of five minutes. A few moments later I got to taste it. Unfortunately, it was the least well-prepared of them all, mostly due to lack of toppings.

The chicharrón was fresh and crisp, I'll give them that. But again, they used lettuce instead of cabbage, barely any avocado, and not many cueritos at all. If I hadn't had any great ones, I might not know any better, and it would be a good snack—but I was spoiled for lackluster topping techniques by the next two places.

Price: $4.00

38-12 104th Street, Corona (map)
(718) 507-8152

Viva Puebla

Viva Puebla's summer outdoor cart has much to offer, and the woman behind it is incredibly friendly. It took some time for my chicharrón to be prepared, since she threw old ones out and fried a new one just for my order. Soggy, chewy, stale chicharrónes are not appetizing, so I appreciated that—it was worth the long wait.

The chicharrón was piled high with freshly chopped ingredients, and I know because I watched her chop it all. Lots of cabbage, tomatoes, a half of an avocado; cheese, cream, a good amount of chewy cueritos, and hot sauce. My only complaint is that the tomato was white and mealy, which, in the middle of August, is a shame. Otherwise, close to perfectly prepared.

Price: $5.00

89-16 Roosevelt Avenue, Jackson Heights (map)
718-947-2302

Tortas Neza

In front of this small restaurant, where I found the best gordita, is a stand that sells snacks, including chicharrón preparado. When I did the gordita search back in March, I noticed people eating chicharrónes, so they may be one of the few places that sells them year-round.

So much care put into the preparation of the chicharrón—and they really went crazy with the toppings. The crisp bottom layer was piled high with handfuls of cabbage, three heaping spoonfuls of pickled cueritos; some of the jalapeños and carrots from the pickling mixture got tossed in there as well, an added plus. Lots of cheese, lots of cream, beautifully ripe tomatoes, creamy avocados, and a liberal amount of hot sauce on top of the already full plate: I had more of a meal than a snack on my hands. There was so much stuff on the crispy chicharron that if I hadn't shared it, it would've gotten too soggy halfway through. Luckily I had help, so that wasn't a problem. It was great.

Price: $5.00

111-03 Roosevelt Avenue, Corona (map)

It's also something that you can make yourself, and I have. The hardest part is frying the chicharones, as they tend to curl up in the oil. Here is a great picture of some chicharron that my family and I put together at the park last year: from my old blog, and my brother David's version.

Raspados, Diablitos, Nieves y Más

I haven't been around much for the past few weeks, for sad reasons which I will get into in another post, which is why I haven't written in quite a while. But my post on shaved ice and other cold things, published on Serious Eats NY yesterday, works perfectly for the blog, since I found everything along the route. The link to the slideshow is here. This is a slightly different version.

Along Roosevelt Avenue in the summertime, raspado (hand-shaved ice) carts pop up everywhere—in front of delis and restaurants, on street corners below the 7 train, traveling vendors with grocery carts full of blocks of ice and syrup magically materialize in the afternoons. Aside from raspados, paletas, and ice cream, if you're lucky, you might stumble upon a place that make Mexican nieves (ices or sorbets) the old-fashioned way, which is really something special. Here's what I found.

The Raspado Lady: The raspado lady on the corner of Roosevelt and 80th Street has her ice shaving down to a science. She shaves the ice and creates a pyramid with a funnel so quickly, it's amazing. And she doesn't skimp on the syrup, either. A small raspado is $1.00.

Raspado Lady: 80-02 Roosevelt Avenue, Jackson Heights (map)

I got a mango and orange raspado from the lady.


Maracuya Raspado from El Bohio Grocery: There is always a line down the block at this grocery with a raspado window. This was a passionfruit syrup ice topped with condensed milk. I never understood the line, but now I do. Sometimes raspados quickly become a block of ice floating in syrup, and difficult to eat. The ice here was expertly shaved and remained flaky and crunchy, absorbing the flavor of the syrup. Small raspado, $1.00. El Bohio Grocery: Roosevelt and 99th Street (map)

Diablito, Cart under the 7 train, 90th Street and Roosevelt Avenue: Not your typical raspado, diablitos are doused with tamarind syrup and a spicy liquid chile mixture, then topped with a squirt of chamoy—a sour, salty, spicy and sweet fruit-based salsa. Small raspado, $1.00.

Raspado Cart: Corner of Roosevelt and Elmurst Avenues (map)

Nieve Mexicana at Viva Puebla: In front of the restaurant Viva Puebla is an outdoor counter where they sell snacks such as chopped fruit, elotes, chicharron preparado, and homemade nieves. These Mexican ices are somewhere between Italian ice and sorbet— creamier and smoother than the former, but icier than the latter. The process is long, and done by hand: paddling a metal bucket full of the liquid fruit base within a larger bucket filled with ice and salt until it reaches the perfect consistency. At Viva Puebla they only have one bucket, so they make the flavors one at a time.

Viva Puebla: 89-16 Roosevelt Avenue, Jackson Heights (map); 718-947-2302

Guava, watermelon, coconut, lime, and melon. I tried three of the five. I will definitely go back for the other two.
Nieves de Sandia y Limon. The sandia was like taking a sweet icy bite out of a watermelon, and the limon, with flecks of lime zest, was perfect slushy limeade. Cold, tart, and refreshing.

Nieve de Guayaba from Viva Puebla: Sweet but not too sweet, with a fresh guava flavor. Creamy and smooth, except for the occasional mouthful of seeds. I appreciated the seeds, though—it proved that the nieve was homemade using the whole fruit. Small cup, $2.00.

Nance Paleta from Paleteria Fernandez, Cholula Bakery: Paleteria Fernandez is located in Port Chester, New York; I found the pops at Cholula Bakery on Roosevelt Avenue. Nance is a small yellow fruit, sometimes called a yellow cherry, which grows in Central Mexico and continues southward. It's an acquired taste, strong and musky. The paleta was full of chunks of the fruit, as well as a few inedible stems. Although the actual fruit is sour, the paleta was sweet and creamy with a strong aftertaste. Arroz Con Leche Paleta from Paleteria Fernandez found at Cholula Bakery: I love rice pudding, I love arroz con leche, so what could be bad about a frozen version? Well, the creamy, milky, Mexican cinnamon-tinged ice pop is good, but if you don't like chewy pieces of cooked rice in frozen form, it might not be the pop for you. Flavor wise, it's delicious, but the texture might be a turn-off for some. Paletas are $2/each
Cholula Bakery: 88-06 Roosevelt Avenue, Jackson Heights (map); (718) 533-1171

It is really exciting to have all of these icy, refreshing, and sweet snacks so close to home, but as quickly as they appear in the hot weather, the carts, stands and wandering vendors disappear just as fast, so I plan on eating as much ice as possible while I still can.

Tacos Mexico

I woke up craving chilaquiles, I think I must have had a dream about them, so I headed to Woodside in search of some. While I had originally planned on spending only two months in each neighborhood, I've been working on Woodside since March. Firstly, because there are just so many great places, and secondly because I haven't been able to write more than once a week lately. At this rate I'll never get to Flushing. But I'll keep trying.
So back to the chilaquiles. Chilaquiles are what you make when you have leftover stale tortillas, which most tortilla-eating households, and all Mexican restaurants, usually do. You fry the tortillas until crisp, break them up, add them to a pot full of sauce (red or green) with some epazote, and then eat the whole mess with sour cream, queso fresco, and chopped raw onion. Not a light meal, but so delicious, and made with leftovers from the day before.
Tacos Mexico was the next Mexican restaurant on the route, a few doors down from La Frontera, and it looked like the right kind of place for a late breakfast.
As soon as we sat down, we were handed a basket of chips and some salsa. It's interesting how some of the Mexican restaurants in Queens have adapted to this mainly American custom and some haven't. Tacos Mexico has, and the chips were fresh. The salsa was too.
I did not pore over the menu, I knew what I wanted, my only decision was if I wanted my chilaquiles red or green, plain, with fried eggs, cecina, or chicken. I always choose green, and as much as I love fried eggs and salty beef, I went with the chicken.

It was a good decision. Often, the thinly-sliced chicken breast that accompanies something like chilaquiles or rice and beans is tough and stringy. This chicken was moist, flavorful, borderline salty but not crossing into overly salted territory. And there was lots of it. The chilaquiles ($8.95) had everything I wanted. The salsa verde was spicy, the tortillas were soft but not mushy, there was a slight flavor of epazote but not overpowering, and it was topped with cream, cheese, chopped onions and cilantro. If I were to make chilaquiles at home, I would put more of everything. I like to make them soupy, swimming in sauce, and I go garnish crazy. But for a nice-looking restaurant kind of plate, these were just what I was looking for.

My dining companion José wanted something "saucy". He ordered costillas en salsa roja (pork ribs in red sauce, $9.95) and was happily surprised when it was exactly what he didn't even know he wanted as well. The pork meat was tender and slipped right off the bone. The salsa was spicy and smooth, the rice had a strong tomato flavor, the beans were creamy, it was all good. With lots of tortillas and some agua de jamaica, we had a meal that satisfied what we were both craving and more.

Tacos Mexico
64-09 Roosevelt Avenue
Woodside

2010 Roosevelt Avenue Street Crawl

We began at 74th Street and Roosevelt Avenue in Jackson Heights, and ended in William Moore (Spaghetti) Park in Corona. The 2010 crawl, organized by Jeffrey Orlick, brought at least 100 hungry people together to roam Roosevelt Avenue for the best street food on the last Sunday in June, with a great map and some key phrases for ordering from street carts.
It was hot, really hot, and my camera stopped taking pictures somewhere in the middle. I got it to work again but missed some good shots. Aside from the technical difficulties, I must say walking down my favorite avenue with a bunch of people and eating lots of food is really, really fun. I'm usually by myself when I do my Roos Ave adventuring, so it was a nice change. Our smaller group broke off from the crowds and took our time walking, making many stops for liquids and ices along the way.

First stop: El Guayaquileño. I didn't get anything there, I was holding out for tacos. But I took some pictures of my fellow crawlers' food. The Mexico vs. Argentina game was playing on the flat screen tv, so I watched while they ate.


I didn't eat, and I didn't order, so I don't want to mislabel anything. But that salad topping the fish looks delicious.


Stopped for raspados on 80th Street. The first of many breaks for a little something cold.

Mango (I think?)

Coco and Piña.

Next stop was Mexico Lindo.
Perhaps a bad choice, since it seemed like everyone else on the tour stopped here too at the exact same time. There was a very long line and lots of confusion. But we got our order in the end. Four of us split three items: Tacos de lengua (tongue), tacos de cecina (dried, salted beef) and sopes de chorizo. It isn't easy to split a taco four ways, but somehow we managed.

Cutting up a taco on a mail box...

on the trunk of a car (thanks, Stella), and even with kitchen shears (courtesy of Judy).

This was the lengua, after a slice had been taken out. The tongue was crisp on the outside, beefy and soft on the inside.

Moving right along, we stopped at another Mexican cart, a few blocks down and across the street. The sign says Gorditas, so that's what we got, along with a tlacoyo.

The gordita de chicharron was not the most flavorful I'd ever tried, but then again, we split it between four people, and there might have been better bites than the one I tasted.
The tlacoyo was good. Corn masa stuffed with a bean mixture, then topped with lettuce, cream, and cheese. The beans were smooth and creamy, with a distinct flavor of epazote, which was a nice surprise.

Another stop for shaved ice, this time at a Chinese/Colombian bakery selling Hawaiian shave ice called Vanilla Cafe. Sort of cheating by going inside a bakery, but have I mentioned that it was hot?
Mango and passionfruit. Just like Maui! Icy and sweet.


Tia Julia's. This is where my camera stopped working for a bit, I almost gave up and went home to charge it for a while. We ordered here: tacos de barbacoa (goat meat) and tacos de carnitas (pork). The goat was chewy, as goat usually is, and not too gamey. I honestly don't remember if I even tried the carnitas, I was sort of stuck on my camera. I do remember that I ordered an agua de jamaica (hibiscus) and that they gave me a whole quart container full of the dark red liquid.

By the time we made it to Warren Street with its variety of Ecuadorian delights, we were already full and tired. Crawls are all about pacing, and we did not pace well.

We did manage to get more liquids in though.

Orange Drink.
Fruit cocktail drink. The juice was refreshing, and filled with chopped fruit. The bananas were my favorite part.

We walked and walked, but after the food and all of the drinks, didn't make any more stops on Roosevelt. Once we hit 104th street, we turned off, and headed to Timmy O's for some frozen custard.

Banana custard, chocolate custard, marshmallow sauce and some whipped cream. The banana really tasted like banana.

The last stop was the Lemon Ice King of Corona. I was still eating my custard, so I sat in Spaghetti Park and waited.

The Crawl was great. I drank more than I ate, and had more sweets than savory. But it's ok. I live here, I eat here, I crawl down Roosevelt Avenue every day. The best part was crawling with others.

Mini Picanteria El Guayaquileño
80th Street and Roosevelt Avenue, Jackson Heights

Raspado Lady
In front of 80-02 Roosevelt Avenue, Jackson Heights

Mexico Lindo Cart
Corner of Gleane Street and Roosevelt Avenue, Elmhurst

Gordita Cart
85th Street and Roosevelt Avenue, Elmhurst

Vanilla Cafe
8701 Roosevelt Avenue, Elmhurst

Tia Julia Taco Truck
Benham Street & Roosevelt Ave, Elmhurst

Picaditas La Cacerita Cuenca Ecuador
Corner of Warren Street and Roosevelt Avenue, Corona

Timmy O's Frozen Custard
49-07 104th Street, Corona

Lemon Ice King of Corona
52-02 108th Street, Corona

William Moore Park
108th Street, 51st Avenue, Corona

Lunch at La Frontera

In honor of the Battle of Puebla, I went to La Frontera in Woodside. There are three Mexican restaurants on the same block, and I picked La Frontera for no particular reason, but it turned out well. I got sopes. It seemed like the right thing to do.
The rounds of masa were crisp on the bottom and soft in the middle. Topped with beans and meat, these sopes were very patriotic with their red radish, white cream, and green lettuce garnish. Viva Mexico! There were three to the order, and I got chicken, beef, and al pastor (pork). The chicken was my favorite, it was the most flavorful and tender of the meats. The green salsa was thick and bright, but not spicy at all, unfortunately. The whole plate cost $7.50, and they gave me chips and salsa to snack on. The place was empty, but I got caught up in the novela playing overhead, and it was so nice out today, and the door was wide open, so I just sat for a while. It was a nice, relaxing lunch for one. Not the same experience I might have at a Mexican place in Manhattan tonight. Luckily, at these little places on Roosevelt, no one much cares about 5 de Mayo.

La Frontera
64-03 Roosevelt Ave
Woodside

Mexican Spaghetti!

The day after I wrote my Chickenjoy!!! post, and promised to write about Mexican spaghetti the next time I had some, I went to visit my sisters-in-law, and guess what we had for dinner? Spaghetti! It was meant to be.
In the Gonzalez family, spaghetti is made very differently than American-style red sauce and parm. Not to give away any secrets, but a half an onion is added to the pasta as it boils. Tomatoes, onions, and garlic are pureed, then added to a pot with butter. The cooked pasta is then added to the sauce and cooked even further until the pasta becomes red and the sauce is mostly absorbed.At the table each person adds as much sour cream and queso fresco as they so desire. I always get excited when it's spaghetti time at home. So good.
The spaghetti topped with cream and cheese.

All mixed together. Yum. I am always looking for how other cultures take spaghetti and make it their own. If anyone has family recipes, please share!

Como La Flor

It was the first Spring-like day of the year, so somewhat apropos to lunch at a place called La Flor. I've read about this cafe for years, and it took me that long to finally make it there. Kara, with whom I've been having eating adventures since elementary school, met me at 52nd Street. The only word we could use to describe the place, as soon as we saw it, was "cute". Such a cute little cafe, such cute marble-topped tables, such cute tiled mosaics. We sat at a table by the window, the sunlight filtering in. Cute, charming, cozy, quaint. "La Flor Bakery and Cafe in Woodside serves a delightful menu of Mexican specialties with a good selection of French and fusion dishes, plus great desserts and baked goods." That is how about.com described it in 2006, and I can't do much better than that. We decided to try one Mexican dish, one French-ish dish, and supplement with sides and desserts. Unfortunately we got there too late for the bread basket. They still had some muffins, but the waitress apologized, saying that without their scones it wasn't much of a basket. Next time.
Drinks to start us off:
Mexican hot chocolate for me. I do enjoy a good Mexican hot chocolate, and this one was made with milk, nice and frothy.

Kara got a Mexican Coke. She can't get them in her neighborhood. Ah Mexican Coke. You are made with cane sugar and we love you.

This was our appetizer, in two parts-

Melt-y brie and red wine poached pears covered in balsamic, with a mango salad. Makes no sense but delicious nonetheless. Or as Kara put it, "hits the spot". She said I could quote her on that. The mangoes were ripe and sweet, the red onions sharp, there were julienned carrots and cucumbers (or zucchini) for crunch, and baby greens tossed in. Refreshing. Served with toasted bread on the side. It worked.

Next up, corn salad. Grilled corn with bits of red pepper and scallions. I could be wrong, but I think I tasted soy sauce. An Asian inspired corn salad, perhaps? It was good, but nothing compared to the quesadilla.

Two thick, handmade tortillas sandwiching an obscene amount of vegetables and cheese. Grilled and smoky green and yellow squash, mushrooms, oaxaca cheese, and the best part - mashed potatoes. Mashed potatoes and melted cheese together! The two sauces were spicy and colorful, and the already large serving was generously dusted with cotija cheese. Much thought and care was put into this dish, and it showed.

We were already stuffed, but went for the banana bread pudding for dessert. More like french toast, this bread pudding was sliced from a large loaf, topped with creme anglaise and fresh strawberries and some chunks of peaches (I think). I also found half of a blueberry on my side. As full as we were, we somehow found the strength to finish the whole thing.

Lots has been said about this place. Some people love it, some people complain about it. Same as everywhere. It is definitely not the cheapest lunch I have had. We ended up spending around $40 after tax and tip. Yes, that's high for the neighborhood, but who really cares? There isn't any place like it in the neighborhood either. It was comfortable and welcoming, the food was unique, the menu was vast, and everything was fresh. I felt that I could have been anywhere, sipping from my white china cup, chatting with Kara, sharing plate after plate, oblivious to time and place. But the occasional rumble of the train above was a gentle reminder that we weren't just anywhere. We were under the 7, a great place to be.

La Flor Bakery and Cafe
5301 Roosevelt Ave
Woodside