Jason Perlow

I bought this yesterday in the Bronx ($16) at Mt. Carmel liquors. Its Dominican, 8 years old according to the label, and is produced by a distillery I am unfamiliar with. Anyone try this one yet? I'm cracking it open tonight.

Also, David Grecos mother Antoinette has a great little coffee/sandwich shop right across the street from the deli, but the name escapes me at the moment Its the Arthur Avenue Cafe & Focacciaria at 2329 Arthur Avenue , with a blue-green awning in front. When it had first opened, the espresso was inconsistent unless David himself made them when he got off work in the evening. By now, I think, the waitstaff should be trained pretty good but I havent been back in about a year, we didnt get a chance to go there yesterday because things died around the neighborhood at around 4pm. They do have really good desserts there and for the most part I prefer it to Enzo's, which is the cafe owned by the family that owns Dominicks.

Here's some new pictures I left out yesterday:

The Spanish tortilla has been the subject of a thread here in the Spain board. Click for link to the tortilla thread. Do you have any comments to add to the thread? To me this form of omelet defines the Pyrenees as a border. I rarely see it north of the Pyrenees. Thanks Maria for participating in the Q&A!

I dunno about Mt. Carmel's pricing. The guy gave me a sweet deal, $104 on a bottle of 1965 vintage Calvados, and $49 for a bottle of 1986 Villa Zarri Acquavite di Vino Trebbiano. Maybe people just dont buy that kind of brandy too much and he was looking to unload it, but thats not the kind of stuff you can buy at a typical wine/liquor store, even at those prices. Maybe its because I spoke to Ramon in Spanish and he took a liking to me, I dunno.

Cool, if I like the Zonchera (I only bought one bottle, I bought 2 Viettis) I'll see if I can pick it up cheaper elsewhere. I thought 40 bucks for a Barolo was decent, though.

The barolo has a DOCG seal on it. AAG 05874052, "BAROLO", Denominazione Di Origine Controllata E Garantita.

I did some wine and liquor shopping in the Bronx today at Mt. Carmel wines, a reputable wine shop in the Arthur Avenue section of the Bronx. As I am not that knowledgeable about Barolos and Barberas (two varieties of Italian wines I really like) I left myself in the hands of the store manager, who pointed me at two that he considered to be good values: Ceretto Barolo "Zonchera" de Alba, 1997, $39 Vietti Barbera D'Alba Tre Vigne, 1999, $19.99 any experiences with these two?

Yes, its real. They had bunnies like that too.

Besides the retail market, there are several other stores adjoining the complex that are quite interesting: This is Biancardi's, just up the block: and the fishmonger about two doors down from the market: and up the block across the street from Pasquale's, Calandra's, which is a superb cheese specialist. On nearby 187th street, is the famous Borgatti's pasta shop, which makes all kinds of fresh pastas. Here's one of their pasta machines in action, i think this one spins out egg noodles. I find their pasta to be a religious experience: And if praying to the tagliatelle doesnt strike your fancy, theres always this place right next door:

They were $14 a pound at Mike's if you wanted slices of it, the big ones were $40 each and the smaller ones which weigh 2lbs were $25. These things are LOADED to the hilt with prime quality salumi, btw.

There are several municipal parking lots in the area and two of the more popular restaurants, Pasquale's Rigoletto and Mario's, have their own lots nearby. Being that today was good friday, all of the municipals were packed and we had to search around for parking quite a bit. We ended up parking in Mario's lot, and got charged $10 for parking because we didnt get stamped by Mario's as we didn't eat there today. At the Municipal lots, there is usually a guy there looking over the meters and cars. Be sure to tip him nicely, as while the Arthur Avenue neighborhood is perhaps one of the safest neighborhoods in NYC, it is still Da Bronx. I usually hand someone a $5 bill and say "Have a nice evening" and give them a wink.

You are of course, referring to these: Yes, I agree, its an impressive display.

By the way, here is a closeup photo of an Easter Pie which I bought in the Bronx today:

Whole Foods carries Limonada and Aranciata. Do they have a Chicago location? BTW, there's a new flavor out, La Rossa (Blood Orange) This stuff is AMAZING. The picture here is a 1.5 liter bottle, which the other flavors come in as well. I found this in a deli on 187th Street in the Arthur Ave section of the Bronx today.

Today, a group of us travelled to the Bronx to check out the insanity of Arthur Avenue on Good Friday, as many Italian-American families do their shopping for the Easter feast this weekend. As many of you in the New York area might know, and those of you in other parts of the country may have heard, Arthur Avenue is often referred to as "The Real Little Italy". A view down Arthur Avenue The totality of this trip will be covered in different posts, this one will cover the Arthur Avenue Retail Market, including Mike's Deli, Peter's Meats and several of the other included businesses in that property. the Good Friday crowd at the Arthur Avenue Retail Market Mike's Deli has been largely the same since at least 1951. Its filled to the rafters with various types of salumi, cheeses and other Italian delicacies, many kinds of which cannot be found in other parts of the country or even other parts of the New York metro area. Lots of meat! The current boss is Mike's oldest son, Dave Greco. Dave is the ultimate deli man and knows how to treat his customers right. Wanna taste something? No problem. How about some Prosciutto? While Mike's Deli is undeniably the best place to get salumi and Italian cheeses in NYC, a very underrated aspect of the operation are their array of Italian sandwiches. I walked up and asked Dave "What's the best Italian Sandwich you have?" He gave me a look, which at the time I thought was smug, but later found out was quite justified. "Oh, you want the Yankee Stadium." I submit for your approval, the crowning achievement of 2000 years of Italian sandwich evolution, the Yankee Stadium. Looks pretty simple, no? I mean, according to the description on the catering menu, its mortadella, ham, salami, cappicola, provolone, fresh mozzarella, lettuce, basil and sweet and hot peppers "Morante style". However, in this case, the sandwich really is more than the sum of its parts. The quality of the ingredients are, without exaggeration, astronomical. The bread is a snapshot of a moment in time, as it was baked that morning but was cooled sufficiently for a cold cut sandwich. The cold cuts are without a doubt his top shelf stuff, the lettuce and basil is perfect and the mozzarella could not be fresher. The peppers, which seem slightly pickled, give the sandwich a slighty acidic snap and cut through the fat of the salumi and cheese. To put things in perspective, the Yankee Stadium, at $7.50 for a hero, is the same price as the "Dry Filet Mignon Bracciole" sandwich. It could be the most expensive Italian sub you've ever had, but it's well worth it. **I'll note that while my allergy to dairy is quite severe, I didn't even blink about the prospect of having a huge heap of mozzarella on top of this thing. Rachel had a mozzarella sandwich on some kind of flatbread: Next door to Mike's is another adventurous destination which you could only find on Arthur Avenue -- Peter's Meat Market. Peter's: The Meating Place. You can get your meat at Pete's in a number of forms: Sausage!!! On the hoof... Or totally Offal. But the Retail Market isn't all about meat. Its also about crazy guys selling produce. You may not be able to tell, but this guy is crazy. Currently he is standing still--a rare occurance--only because he's singing along to a Lionel Ritchie song.. In addition to the businesses we've shown, there's a bakery, a cigar store with freshly rolled stogies, a housewares and kitchen appliance/gadgets store, several produce areas, and a pizzeria. By the way, if you really ARE in the market for offal, here's what's avaliable: Spleens anyone? Mmmmmmm yummy.

Here is a recipe for San Felese Easter Pie (Pizza Rustica).

Wow, from the holy ancient USENET pre-web achives too. I'll add this recipe to the eGRA.

Never seen it - but we live in Lombardia. I believe in the south of Italy there are some traditional Easter Monday type pizze. It is possible. In the NYC/New Jersey metro area, there is a type of pie -- which they call Pizza Rustica -- that is essentially a very thick quiche-like thing containing chopped up salumi, ricotta, eggs and other cheeses, with a pizza dough like crust. I am wondering if that thing is stictly Italian-American or if it is prepared somewhere in Italy. Perhaps Sicily or Naples.

The Pizza Rustica -- is that strictly an Italian-American thing to prepare during easter or is that a tradition in Italy as well?

San Felese Easter Pie (Pizza Rustica) Serves 12 as Main Dish. Mike's Deli Pizza Rustica pictured above. (click for link) Reprinted with Permission from the USENET archives CONTRIBUTOR Joe Petolino Chronon Computer Co., Mountain View CA Date: 27 Mar 87 04:28:14 GMT Sender: recipes@decwrl.DEC.COM Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, New Jersey, USA This dish is traditional in my family at Easter time. I don't know how to spell the Italian name of this pie, but it sounds something like "Pizza Gain"-my father translates it as "full pie'' This recipe originated in the town of San Fele, east of Naples. CHEESE FILLING 2 lb ricotta cheese 3 large eggs 1/4 lb mozzarella cheese, shredded or chopped 6 T romano cheese, grated 6 T fresh parsley, chopped 1-1/2 T dried mint leaves (do not use peppermint) 1/2 tsp black pepper salt to taste-depends on salt content of cheeses. MEAT FILLING 1 lb Italian sausage ("mild" or ``sweet'') 2 oz Italian dry salami, thinly sliced 2 oz prosciutto, thinly sliced (or any other ham) PIZZA 1-1/2 lb pizza dough (if you make your own dough, use about 3 cups of flour) flour 1 egg, separated (1) Put ricotta and eggs into a large bowl and stir until well mixed. Blend in all other ingredients. (2) Slice the sausage into rounds about 3/8 inch thick. Brown in a little oil until cooked through. Drain, and discard grease. Cut the salami and ham slices into strips about 1x 1/4 inches (3) Make or thaw or unwrap the pizza dough. (4) Mix the meats into the cheese filling. Roll the dough into two disks, one large enough to line a 10-inch round cake pan, the other large enough to cover it. Put the larger piece into the lightly-floured cake pan, molding it so that it completely lines the pan, with at least 1/2 inch hanging over the edge. Fill with the cheese-meat mixture. To allow for expansion, fill to about 1/2 inch below the top of the pan. Wet the exposed dough edge with egg white, place the other piece of dough on top, and pinch the two pieces together. Trim neatly to make a seal. Brush egg yolk over the top of the pie (this will brown during baking). Puncture the top of pie in several places with a knife (make sure the holes are large enough not to close up during baking). Bake at 350 deg. F for about an hour, until the top is browned but not burned. Remove from pan and cool on a wire rack. Serve at room temperature. NOTES This recipe makes a very large pie. I couldn't find a big enough cake pan, so I used a cast-iron frying pan. You might try using half the quantity of ingredients in a 7-inch pan (make a little extra dough). If possible, grate your own romano cheese. Some of the romano sold pre-grated in cardboard cylinders looks and tastes more like sawdust than cheese. "Romano" and `parme-san'' are American names; the main difference is that romano is sharper. The mint you want to use is spearmint. It is sold as just plain "mint" in the spice section of supermarkets. Peppermint is entirely the wrong flavor. Italian sausage is a 'fresh' sausage, i.e. uncured and uncooked. It must be cooked before eating. Depending upon where you live, the less-spicy version of it is called either "sweet" or ``mild''. When I'm really ambitious I make my own (that doesn't happen often!). The only ingredients are pork (about 20% fat), fennel seeds, salt, and a small amount of red pepper flakes, all coarsely ground and stuffed into natural hog casings. If you can't find Italian sausage, you might try a mixture of ground pork with the above seasonings, rolled into little patties. To adjust seasonings, just pan-fry a little bit of the mixture and taste. The cheese filling given above (without the meats) is my standard filling for lasagna, manicotti, ravioli, etc. This same recipe can be used to make calzone. Roll out a small disk of pizza dough, put a blob of cheese/meat mixture in the middle, fold it over, seal, and bake. This is a good way to use up any filling that doesn't fit into the pie. Keywords: Italian, Cheese, Pork, Pie ( RG353 )

It has always been my general understanding that Easter is the most serious food holiday for Italians and Italian-Americans, even more than Christmas. I plan on going to the Bronx tomorrow to see if there's anything special in the offering. What kinds of things should I be looking for, and what are the special dishes prepared during Easter?

Or lots of mint iced tea, which is what we did.

Actually Jon, it grew in our garden like a weed last summer. Its probably a pain in the ass to grow indoors though. Actually, it didn't. Like others mentioned above, it goes to seed very quickly if you don't aggressively harvest. What grew like a weed was mint. I could swear we grew a ton of it once, maybe that was the previous summer?

Actually Jon, it grew in our garden like a weed last summer. Its probably a pain in the ass to grow indoors though.