Brooklyn Is A Cultural Food Melting Pot
I grew up in Brooklyn and I got a huge amount of my food education from my childhood.
For a big city it had an old world mentality in how you lived and ate - shop at local specialty stores not the big supermarket. (I left there in the early 90s so things may be different now) Fish, butcher, fruit and veg, deli all in different shops. When you get to know the owner or people who work there, they greet you by name when you walk in and know your order Not only was it service oriented, but you got an education in the products you were buying. Most of these stores were walking distance from your home and often times people shopped every day to get the freshest ingredients. It became part of daily routine and part of many residents social lives. To this day, I remember going to the butcher with my mother and John would help us every time. He knew how thin we liked our chicken cutlets pounded and I can still hear the sound of him working away on our order. And we knew about his family and he about ours.
Then there were the restaurants. I grew up in a Jewish area and could walk down the street towards Brighton Beach and pop into the Jewish deli to get my beloved corned beef on rye with mustard, kosher hot dogs with sauerkraut and mustard (my last hot dog likely was from there) and of course a half sour pickle. Next stop would be to Mrs. Stahl’s knishes for a potato knish or kasha or if I wanted something sweet, cherry cheese. Bagel shops were everywhere and I would pop into my favorite for a salt bagel or often times whatever was warm at the moment. Sometimes butter, sometimes plain, but never with cream cheese- they always put way too much. We had a great pizza shop on the corner and I would get a slice of white pizza (because the ricotta cheese was so good), regular slice or the corner piece of the Sicilian pie when it was fresh. I think I need to get in my car right now to drive down there and fill my belly. I wonder if all of those places are still there. I know Mrs. Stahl’s closed a while ago. Nothing compares to the quality and freshness of food from a place that specializes in one kind of food and does it really well!
The inside of Mrs. Stahl’s- it never changed my entire childhood (photo: Brooklyn Bridge Magazine)
When we got into the car, we could access different neighborhoods and sample even more. A drive to Besonhurst, a primarily Italian neighborhood, had a plethora of pastry shops. Since my Dad worked at the HS in that area, he found “the best” one and we went there. Cannolis, cookies, the awesome layered Rainbow cookie and my favorite, the sfogliatelle. It is crunchy on the outside and sweet on the inside. It’s name means small thin leaf/layer as the outside of the pastry looks like stacked leaves. It’s filled with sweetened ricotta cheese and sometimes candied fruit. Stop in any pizza shop and the pizza is great. That is the thing about Brooklyn- I have never had a bad slice of pizza there. I wish the rest of the country would figure it out. When we drove around Bensonhurst we got the extra special welcome from ALL of my Dad’s students yelling “BASTA!” (my maiden name) at our car. At what age do you think that was no longer cool for me?!?
Sfogliatelle from Venieros in Manhattan. I was lucky to be there in August to get one!
There were so many other cultures represented in Brooklyn when I was growing up and today it’s even more. I will never forget the first time I walked into an Afghani restaurant and took in the aroma of the food cooking. It was unlike anything I had smelled before. And the flavor when we ate the food was incredible. It was the first time I had hummus and babaganoush (back when I could eat eggplant). Their hummus still rates as the best I have ever had.
A drive over the bridge took us to China Town to get authentic Chinese food. We ate elbow to elbow with other families in a small loud space just to have crabs doused in the most flavorful bean sauce. This was not the Chinese food I would eat with my Great Aunt Annie after school. There were no egg rolls and pork fried rice on the menu. Oftentimes we didn’t know what was on the menu and we would point at other tables.
What I love about all of these experiences is it was a window into the world outside of Brooklyn. I got a taste of food from other cultures without stepping on a plane. I had yet to travel internationally and it whet my appetite. I have a huge love of travel to experience the regions food and food culture and part of it comes from those early days of “traveling” around Brooklyn.
I would love to hear from you about how you grew up and the first time you tasted food that was out of the ordinary for you. Please send me an email to debbie@theeffortlesskitchen.com
See you in the kitchen!
Debbie