Comestible

Ruben’s empanadas, located on 1st Avenue between E 7th Street and St Marks Place, has empanada specials.  Today I had special #1, rice and beans and one empanada (ham & cheese, pictured below).

These are baked empanadas, not fried.

They also have other locations of Ruben’s Empanadas. (Fulton Street, Pearl Street, Nassau Street, Church Street, Broome Street, and First Avenue).

When I was a child living in the Dominican Republic, we sometimes had a dish called "tipile". This is dish made with wheat, onions, parsley, pepper, cilantro, tomatoes, lime, salt, olive oil and vinegar.

Many years later, while living in New York, I learned of a dish called "tabbouleh" that had similar appearance and taste. Considering that the names and dishes are so similar, I assumed they have the same origin.

I have since learned that the tabbouleh/tipile dish comes originally from Lebanon. I am guessing that the name comes from the Arabic language.

Recently I saw a web ad for a Spring Tabbouleh recipe, and it brought fond memories of my childhood, and sparked a discussion about foods from different cultures.

If you are interested, you can view the Spring Tabbouleh recipe that I am writing about.

Arepa La Sureña,

at Caracas Arepa Bar, in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

This Williamsburg location opened in December of 2008, from what we learned. The menu is the same, the space is bigger, and it has the same feel. The restaurant would seem out of place in Williamsburg ten or even five years ago, (not to mention our memories of the Souths from the 80s Williamsburg).

The arepas are as delicious as at the Manhattan location. Pictured above is one of my favorites, La Sureña. It has avocados, chorizos, chicken and chimichurri sauce.

¡Salud!

Mangú & Huevos Revueltos,

prepared at home in Da Bronx.

On the subject of consuming exotic substances, I have to admit that I have consumed performance enhancing mangú & huevos revueltos.

No humans were harmed in the making of these plantains. A few chicken embryos (read: eggs) were sacrificed.

This is a traditional Dominican dish: peel and boil green (or ripe) plantains, then add some butter (and maybe some milk) and mash them into a purée. Usually goes very well with scrambled eggs, some olive oil and some cebollitas (onions).

¡Ya me está dando hambre otra vez!

Chilaquiles Rojos,
from a Mexican restaurant called Estrellita Poblana,
located on Westchester Av near Castle Hill, in Da Bronx.

I have mentioned before that this is a new favorite restaurant for me. In that previous entry I mentioned the green chilaquiles. This past weekend I had the opportunity to try their red chilaquiles.

The chilaquiles rojos were not as good as the green. I did not have it with eggs or beef (or chicken, which is another option), but just plain. They were a bit, well, plain: the spices overwhelmed the tortillas, but I suspect that if accompanied by eggs and/or beef/chicken, it would be just as delicious as the other. It may also have been this, or my impression, but it seemed a little spicier- which normally I don't have a problem with, but this time it seemed like too much food. I had to carry a baggie home.

I also discovered that there is another one of these restaurants on Eastchester Road, around Westchester Square. It's called La Estrellita Poblana IV, which seems to indicate that there are at least three other restaurants out there of this kind.

It shall be my mission to find these.