The 5th Annual Taste of Long Island City

The 5th Annual Taste of Long Island City will take place next Tuesday evening at Gantry Plaza State Park. Aside from enjoying perhaps the best view of Manhattan's skyline, attendees will have the opportunity to sample Long Island City’s burgeoning culinary scene.

Tickets to enter begin at $50 per person, and all proceeds go to The Chocolate Factory Theater, a center that provides year-round theater, dance, music and visual arts programming.

While Long Island City food has a long way to go to catch up with its Astoria and Brooklyn counterparts, there are a few stars worth noting. Tuk Tuk (an inexpensive and creative Thai restaurant), Communitea (which offers some of the best herbal tea combinations) and Blend (a funky and tasty Cuban restaurant) are participating and should be sampled while there.

To purchase tickets for Taste of Long Island City, click here.

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A Tour of How The Whole Roasted Pig Is Served Around the World

The whole roasted pig is a favorite among many, and, for most cultures, is usually served during big celebrations. Some pigs are small enough to be prepared in an oven (suckling pigs are usually slaughtered when they’re 2-6 weeks old), but you’ll receive the best result cooking it in an open fire or pit. And while I find it hard to pick my favorite part to eat, the rear and the crunchy skin are must haves.

Here’s a quick round up of my thoughts on pig worth trying:

Testaccio Ristorante in Long Island City, New York serves all-you-can-eat roast suckling pig—or Porchetta Arrosto—every Thursday. The Roman restaurant displays the whole pig on a table, and Executive Chef Ivan Beacco carves the pieces for you himself. It’s served with a variety of side dishes including lima beans, spinach and potatoes. While they compliment the pig just fine, I suggest you skip them, save yourself some room and focus on the main attraction.

Roast pig prepared for a Hawaiian luau is perhaps the most exciting process to watch. Here, the pig is covered with banana leaves and steamed in an underground pit—or imu—for hours. Digging up the pig usually requires a team of people, but the result is some of the tenderest pork you will ever have. It is rare for someone outside of Hawaii to attempt to cook pig this way. This isn’t surprising, since volcanic stones, guava wood, and banana leaves can be difficult to find if you’re not living on a tropical island.

Travel to Spain and order ochinillo asado (roast suckling pig) at the world’s oldest restaurant, Restaurante Botín. This dish has been the restaurant’s specialty since 1725. The pig is served simply; it’s dressed in its own juices and accompanied with two small pieces of potatoes. Wash down the food with the restaurant’s full and tangy red sangria.

But my favorite is the Filipino’s style of roasted pig or, as we call it, Lechón. Lechón is usually served during all major holidays and festivities. Usually, the pig is dipped in a thick, liver based sauce, which is appropriately called lechón sauce. I’ve lived in New York for almost nine years, and I still haven’t found a place that serves good, Filipino lechón. If you know of any, please let me know. I’ll be sure to try it out.

Porchetta Arrosto at Testaccio Ristorante

Ochinillo Asado at Restaurante Botín

Lechón

More links:

Lechón Baboy

The Foodista on Testaccio Ristorante

Essortment: How to Roast a Pig (for a Hawaiian luau)

Best Madrid Restaurants (Restaurante Botin)

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El Mercado de San Miguel

If you’re ever wandering through the narrow streets of Madrid and stumble upon a structure with glass walls and an iron and wood roof, you’ve come across el Mercado de San Miguel. The marketplace, originally built in the early 1900’s, was reopened in May 2009 after private investors decided to return the building to its glory. The result? A bustling venue that houses the best Spanish food and ingredients.

During the day, its vendors sell their most beautiful produce, jamon (ham), cheese and pastries. But I liked to go during the evenings, when I could grab a glass of Rioja wine and wander from one stall to another, ordering tapas made from the freshest ingredients.

When you do make your way to Madrid and el Mercado de San Miguel, have a plate of Iberico ham, a glass of champagne with raw oysters, bacalao on bread or gambas al ajillo (shrimp with garlic).

Whatever you choose to eat, give yourself a few hours to spend at el Mercado de San Miguel. You will not be disappointed.

Queso (Spanish cheese)

Gambas al ajillo (garlic shrimp)

Jamón ibérico (Iberico ham)

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Making My Best Beef

I recently attended Chef Sabrina Sexton’s “Best of Beef” course at the Institute of Culinary Education. I am shamelessly carnivorous, and cooking quality pieces of steak is something that I have wanted to learn for a long time.

The recipe I took home from the class is the filet of beef with shallots and ruby port wine. I recreated the meal at home, and found the dish to be shockingly simple to make. The number of ingredients used is minimal. I only needed ruby port wine, olive oil, rosemary, shallots, veal stock and butter.

My main takeaway from this experience? Don’t be afraid to splurge on a good bottle of ruby port wine. It makes the sauce so much richer and sweeter.

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