Hog Heaven with a Hint of Zen. - Fatty Cue, Williamsburg Brooklyn

I think that it is safe to say that most Memphians can be overly opinionated when it comes to their own personal definitions of what barbecue is and how it is to be done. And since I'm on a Barbecue team that competes in the World Championship of Barbecue every year in Memphis, I feel that I certainly have the credibility to determine what good swine should taste like. I should also point out for those who aren't familiar with Memphis barbecue that when we (Memphians) say "barbecue" or "bbq" that we are pretty much always referring to pork, whether it be slow smoked shoulder or ribs.

After I moved to the area I was fairly skeptical of the few barbecue joints I had been reading about in my neighborhood. I would say to my self "Barbecue in New York City? Screw that man, I'll stick to my own smoked meats..." Well like my Jamaican friend at work says "Never say never man."

Fatty Cue is a restaurant that serves a unique fusion of Deep Southern and Asian cuisine. Based on my friends' word, this place has been written up in publications such as the New York Times, New York Magazine, and Time Out New York. And there is good reason for that.

We got there for an early afternoon brunch after a long night of partying at my oldest friend's (Joe) good bye party. We maybe had 5 hours of sleep and I personally had a very foggy state of mind. Joe had been talking about going here for the last few days and we decided it would be a good place to enjoy a nice meal together before he moves off to Portland. The host took us to the back of the restaurant where we sat at a table that was pretty close to this windowed door that opened to a patio where I saw a large smoker and a gentleman moving around large shoulders and briskets of meat. For those who don't know me very well, I am a very sociable person who loves making small talk with randoms. I became very curious and approached the door, knocked and told the guy manning the meat my name, the spiel on this blog, and a brief snip-it about my barbecue team membership. With a smile he invited me back to the patio.

His name is Robbie and he is the Pit-Master at Fatty Cue. Here is his rotating smoker full of shoulders, briskets, and legs of lamb.

 

Tasty legs of lamb.

 

 Pit-Master Robbie showing off a brilliantly flavored leg of lamb. He said he mainly competes in the Kansas City Barbecue Circuit but that he competes in the World Championship of Barbecue in Memphis as well. I didn't get the name of his team, but we are going to meet up for sure come May.

He just tore off a piece and handed it to me. We were both very interested in eachother's smoking endeavors however Robbie could offer me samples of his feats first hand. He's going to have to wait until May before I can share with him the flavors of Memphis and Pig Diamonds (the barbecue team).

 Robbie takes great pride in the excellent quality of his meats. As he pointed out to me, the marbling on this shoulder is truly unbelievable.

 "You want meat? Yeah we got meat. Here's a ham."

 "You like bacon? Here's some bacon. We cure it right here." That is honestly the largest portion of pork belly I have ever seen in my entire life. 

 After Robbie showed me his meat lockers and all there was to show about his prized meats that people from all over New York come to indulge themselves in, I went back in as we had ordered our food before I began this crazy exploratory adventure. I was hungry and wanted to eat our Southern/Asian fused brunch goodies.

 

First things first. Had they not been out of orange juice, I wouldn't have taken a picture of my brunch-time screwdriver.  I asked them if they could substitute OJ with pineapple juice and they did. Not only did they make the substitute, they added a nice hunk of smoked pineapple on a cocktail spear to it. It really was one of the most refreshing hair-of-the-dog, brunch-time drinks I've ever had.

 Dude. These are the curried black-eyed peas covered in eggs cooked the way you want them (I got em' scramby) with a large halved slice of homemade Texas toast. Un-real.

 This dish is called "the Whole Pig". It consists of a mound of smoked pork covered in two eggs any style with three "bao". Bao are similar to the "char siu bao" at dim-sum however they aren't stuffed with meat. They still have that good fluffy texture and you can load em' with whatever you have.

Here's a side of bacon. Thick sliced and cooked to perfection. Not crispy, but hefty and juicy. Epic.

My buddy Aaron went for the pancakes and bacon. They were some of the best pancakes I've ever pout in my mouth, without question. Pancakes aren't usually that impressive to me, but Fatty Cue's are.

 "Heritage Pork Ribs" that are basted in "smoked palm syrup and Indonesian pepper." Fell apart and left a clean bone. The texture and flavor where on-point for sure.

 I stuffed this bao with some of the rib meat. Sooooo good.

 This was called the noodle bowl. It was a basic Asian flavored noodle bowl with a side of siracha sauce. It was good to add pieces of pork and some of the other dishes with it.

I can honestly say that today I experienced my first "courtesy-of-the-chef" moment. So mid-way through the meal, Robbie comes out with this plate. On it are a few slices of truly succulent pork belly and some extra bao for stuffing. As my old neighbor Dewey used to say: "You can't chew something that melts in your mouth."

This picture doesn't really do it justice, but this was another gift from the Pit Master. It's a Cauliflower-Au Gratin smothered in a mound of pulled pork shoulder and then given the final topping of a white-wine vinegar based sauce that gave it this amazing sweet and sour flavor. I mixed this with some of the noodles from the noodle bowl making it the most flavor popping item on the table.  I think this was my favorite item out of everything. One of the expediters had never seen it before and asked how we got it. I guess it pays off to be sociable and curious.

 Here's our spread. While everyone ordered their own thing, it turned into this huge sharing festival where everyone tried everything. I guess they take encourage the "sharing is caring" concept at Fatty Cue. Doing this allows for everyone to try and combine different things. I can honestly say that this was one of the most pleasurable brunch experiences I've had to date.

For those of you who live in New York and haven't made it to Fatty Cue yet, I would say it's about time that you made the trek on over there. And for those of you who don't live in New York and might make your way at some point then you should definitely make this a "Must-Go-To" when you do come and visit. The food here is sure to soothe the soul.

- Boatner

Curry me....right now. - Ali's Roti Shop, Crown Heights Brooklyn.

Roti. Pronounced ro-tee, is definitely something I first learned about in Barbados. After my trip down there I thought the curry filled delight was a Bajan dish. When I moved to Brooklyn I was oblivious to the fact that there is a very large West-Indian (Caribbean) presence here. I had never seen another roti after my trip to Barbados until one day I noticed one of my co-workers snackin' on one. When I saw her eating it I said "Hey! What is that you have there?!" Krissy seemed startled and said "Whaat? It's just roti." I started freaking out and getting real excited like I normally do about yummy fun foods. My other co-worker and friend (Mustaafa) was there and he is from Trinidad. He said "Roti isn't a Barbadian thing, but a Trinidadian specialty." It should also be noted that all of my other co-workers from some of the other West-Indies (Jamaica, Guyana, St. Vincent, and Grenada) will tell you that no-one can do roti like the Trinidadians.

Where is Trinidad ?
Trinidad & Tobago are located at the very south end of the Lesser Antilles and are situated right north of Venezuela, South America.

I then asked Mustaafa "So where's the best roti shop in town?" and he said "Ali's. It's the best hands down." Of course I knew where my next food excursion was going to be after that. I began researching the different Ali's roti shops in Brooklyn and found two that were somewhat close to me. One of the locations near me is in Bedford-Stuyvesant (aka Bed-Stuy) Brooklyn which is only four stops down on the G train, and the other one is in Crown Heights which is about a 30 minute bus ride on the B46 bus (which starts its route on Broadway at Marcy Avenue for all you Williamsburgers) and takes you directly to Ali's on Utica off near Eastern Parkway.

I opted for the Crown Heights location as the reviews I read on it had better things to say. However, after I started my internship at a nursing home in Bed-Stuy last September (2010), I realized the location there is only a 10 minute walk from the nursing home. In turn I started eating there recently and more frequently out of convenience. Because I've tried both locations, I will say that the Crown Heights shop serves better and fresher quality Trini cuisine. Also the one in Bed-Stuy has a big bullet-proof glass surrounding the counter area which makes it much less inviting.

There she goes. If you notice that bus on the right; that is a Williamsburg bound B46 bus that stops DIRECTLY in front of the store. So when you're done gorging and if you're headed to Billyburg you can just waddle out the door and walk 15 measly feet to the bus stop...pretty sweet.

These are my two favorite counter attendants at Ali's. We've never formally introduced ourselves, but they always recognize me and since they hadn't seen me since June last year, they made me feel really welcome when I made the trip today (1.25.2010).

Now there are a lot of different culinary influences in West-Indian cuisine and especially Trinidadian cuisine. Because the country is a former British colony, there were many slaves and indentured servants brought from Africa and India to all of the Caribbean colonies. The indentured servants from India brought the curry dishes and the actual "roti" to the area. The roti you will find at an East-Indian restaurant will usually be significantly different that what you get at a West-Indian joint. And even the West-Indian spots have there own spin on the skin.

This is Alex's roti. A roti consists of a large circular "skin" or bread that is infused with a dried and crushed channa (chick-pea) mixture making it a "dhal phouri" roti skin. You can have it filled with your choice of curried chicken, beef, vegetables, shrimp, conch, goat or duck. This roti in particular is filled with a mixture of curried beef, potatoes, channa and a green pepper sauce.


I know this pic might not seem like the most appealing thing, but you'll love it if you're a curry fan. The skin is very large and folded several times over curried beef. The beef roti is my all-time favorite. Normally you wont find beef at an East-Indian joint because they tend to hold the "cow is sacred" belief. For some reason many West-Indian restaurants don't subscribe to that.

This time I got something I have had before but at my job and not at Ali's. It's called "Buss-Up-Shot". The term "buss-up" means that when they are making the skin on a large skillet, they take these two big wooden poles and literally "bust-it-up". Search the term "buss-up shot" on Youtube.com if you're curious, there are some cool videos of it being made. Anyway, when you order the buss-up shot, they essentially serve you the innards of a roti in a separate foil pan and then you have to place the mixture of curried goodies on top of the busted up roti skin.

Here is the skin of the buss-up shot. The only difference between this skin here and the folded up roti dish is that this skin isn't dhal phourie. It is only made of flour with no chick pea infusion.

A foil pan with all of the curried shrimp, channa, potatoes, and green pepper hot sauce. Originally I wanted to get a conch buss-up, but they only serve that on the weekends so I went with the tasty curried shrimp instead.


This is the actual buss up shot. It's busted up roti skin covered in an amazing combination of curried goodness. I'm not necessarily sure if you are supposed to cover the buss up roti with the curry concoction, but that's just how I roll. Regardless, it explodes with incredible flavors...so do yourself a favor and go try an order.

While roti and buss-up shot are the main specialties of Trinidad, there are several other goodies that I've explored and even learned about a new one on this trip. Among the other specialties are: doubles, aloo pie, pholourie and a homemade drink called sorrel.

The infamous double. These things are out-of-control good. A double consists of an amazing curried chick-pea mixture with a yellow hot pepper sauce sandwiched between two thick pieces of bread similar to that of a roti skin, but much thicker and fried. Not only are they super good, but they only set you back $1.50. You could get by on two if you're hurtin' and hungry.


Aloo pie.

Aloo pie is a crispy fried dough stuffed with an very well seasoned potato mixture and a green pepper sauce. Really incredible. These are also only a $1.50, which is damn good for NYC.


Alex liked the first one so much he went for another. When he was ordering, the lady at the counter said "You know you can get another fillin. How about squash?" He agreed. I had never had this one but I am going to say that the seasoned potato, squash, pepper sauce delight was out-of-this WORLD. So so so good.


These are the pholourie (pronounced pa-loor-ee). They were introduced to me by a former co-worker of mine from Guyana. Pholourie are deep-fried balls of dough, kind of like doughnut holes. They are meant to be dipped in the tamarind sauce on the side which is most awesome.
They are labeled as appetizers but I treat them as dessert. Also, these puppies are only $1.00!!!


I really enjoy completing my roti experience by drinking an ice cold glass of Ali's homemade sorrel with dessert. It is most refreshing after a large, hot and spicy curry meal.
Sorrel was introduced to me by another co-worker of mine from Guyana. It is a very, very sweet drink and I think it tastes like Christmas/Holiday times. I say that because of the the cinnamon and ginger flavor combination picked up in this fragrant and fruity drink.

Well that about sums up the epic curried food festival at Ali's in Brooklyn. Check em' out if you're ever in the borough. The one in Crown Heights can be found at 337 Utica. The Bed-Stuy location is at the intersection of Nostrand and Fulton Street. And there is a third location on Flatbush Avenue near the Atlantic Avenue Mall which is 2nd best out of the three in my opinion. So there are your options. Go forth and experience the goodness of the curry.

You can thank me later.

- Boatner

'Dim-Sum and Then Some' Part One: Jade Asian Restaurant, Flushing Queens

Who remembers the first time they ever heard of dim-sum? I don't remember the exact age but I remember it was around the 4th-5th grade period. My old-friend Chris "Santi" (short for his full last-name which is long and Thai) introduced it to me when I would sleep over at his house for the weekend when we were kids. Chris's father used to love to take him for dim-sum to one of three Chinese restaurants in Memphis that would serve up the special lunch-time meal. Thank God I got to tag along for those trips...

In Memphis, the few Chinese restaurants that do serve dim-sum only serve it on the weekends and they never advertise the fact that it is available there. One of the places (New Nam King) is an all-you-can-eat buffet and on Saturdays if you go in for dim-sum, you will notice how the restaurant is segregated between large, obese individuals and large (in number) Chinese families enjoying their dim-sum. I never noticed the segregation until late high-school when my good friend Noah and I began our weekly dim-sum visits. We would usually meet after I got out of an AM Mass on Sunday and then gorge on all of the yummy dumpling goodness. One summer, Noah took off to China for a month and came back with all sorts of good dim-sum dishes to introduce me to.

I can honestly say that everything I know about dim-sum is from personal experience. I have never really researched or studied it. I think that the term 'dim-sum' translates into something like "short-lunch" or "small-meal"...at least that's what I remember hearing once. For those of you who don't know much about dim-sum, I'll have you know that it is NOT just a set of 6 steamed dumplings that you get as an appetizer at your local Chinese restaurant. It is however a sort of brunch that consists of many, many different types of small plates each with it's own delectable item(s). And yes, many of the items are steamed dumplings, but there is a great variety such as: pork, shrimp, vegetable etc, and they each have a different dough and type of filling. If you have never had dim-sum at a restaurant then there's only one way to get a good description, and that's to go and experience it on your own (and preferably with someone who knows what to order).

When I first moved to New York, of course I was on the prowl for the bomb-diggity dim-sum and I knew there were other places besides the 'Chinatown' in Manhattan that had the dim-sum I was in search of. It so happened that the weekend I moved up to Brooklyn, all of my best friends from around this great nation convened in New York City to have a good ol' fashioned "Stag-Do" for our good ol' friend Webb (whom I hope everyone has the privilege of meeting at some point or another).

Where am I going with this? Well a three-day "Stag-Do" means early trips to bars...which means I run into a Chinese bar-owner in Williamsburg who is covering for the no-show, deadbeat hipster bartender at 11AM. After our first pitcher (which was $2 for a recession special) and after he disclosed his Chinese background I asked him where I could get the best and freshest dim-sum in the city...he said "Go anywhere in Flushing". He also said "Don't go to anywhere in Manhattan because all of their meat is old and not fresh like it is in Flushing."

I had no idea, but Flushing has a large and rocking Chinese community.

When I told Noah (who had also recently moved to New York) about the Flushing potential, we hesitated not and immediately made our initial dim-sum mission to Flushing. We walked around searching for a good amount of time....and the streets started to look the same after a while. But soon enough, the most amazing restaurant would reveal itself to us...

The name says it all. It's pretty damn serious.

After we saw this place, I think one of us said "Man, this place has to have dim-sum...let's go check it out." And so it was. It was checked out and we decided "Yes. Let us eat your succulent lunch-time fare."

The Flying Saucer style columns are sweet and you know it.

Now I've been to my fair share of dim-sum joints, but this place takes the cake in my opinion. There is hardly ever a wait, the atmosphere is fantastic, the servers are friendly (and funny), and the food is F-R-E-S-H. So good. Don't know how else to describe it. My old-friend and roommate Joe says he's had fresher in San Francisco, and I'll bet that's valid. But for me, Jade is certainly numero uno.

Within 5 minutes of sitting, this is how our table looked. Record timing- period.
They do it fast AND fresh.


First things first: the classic dim-sum dish known as siu-mai (and pronounced 'shoe-my') consists of a juicy-pork ball wrapped in a dumpling dough and is then steamed.

Truly succulent.

I know not everyone cares for it, but it's one of my favs: beef tripe. I think it's a "texture thing" for most who don't care for it, but I love it and the flavor is usually really good in my opinion. But hey, I'm not mad at ya' if cow-stomach ain't your jam!

Another dim-sum classic: Char-Siu-Bao; also known as "steamed-bun". It's filled with a delicious barbecue style pork. Nothing like Memphis barbecue, but tasty nonetheless.

This was one of the items introduced to me by Noah after he returned from his trip to China. I don't know the formal name for them, but wherever I go they have always been labeled as "tarot-puffs". They are are basically mashed and fried tarot (purple yams) filled with apork/chicken/shrimp mixture in a garlic/onion/soy sauce. Seriously epic.

I order these every time I go out for dim-sum and I swear I'm the only one at the table that eats em'. They are pork spare-ribs (bone-in) cooked in a blackeyed pea sauce. Chris's dad would order these for us when we were kids, so I've always had a soft-spot for the lil' riblets. They are kind of a pain-in-the-a to eat if you're not into chewing around a bone, but I dig em'!



Lo-mai-gai, or "sticky-rice" was another item introduced to me by Noah upon his return from Asia. I always wanted to know what was inside of these steamed leaves.


Lo and behold the great sticky rice! A ball of rice filled with a pork sausage and chicken mixture and then steamed inside of the lotus-leaf to give it that amazing sweet, sticky texture.
Truly amazing flavor as well.

The seemingly typical egg-roll is filled with a unique beef flavored purée. I liked it.


Seriously. Shrimp dumplings are another one of my favorites, and Jade does them absolutely flawlessly. These dumplings have portions of shrimp that are so large you can clearly define the filling as shrimp when you bite into these perfect balls of goodness. Dip em' in a pepper/soy sauce combo and then tell me what you think goodness is supposed to taste like.


The Shrimp Cheung-Fun roll!!! Another original from the days of Chris "Santi" and family. This long dumpling is a steamed /slimy textured/ flattened rice-dough filled with whole shrimp and then covered in a sweet, plum sauce. Yuuuuuuuh-me.

Now these guys are fairly new to me and were first introduced at my most recent dim-sum outing prior to Jade. On that occasion, I went to another favorite NYC dim-sum spot in Manhattan with my good friend, fellow foodie, and favorite former flame. She swiped a plate of those deep-fried shrimp that were fried so crispy that you could eat-em' whole! And that got me hooked. I will say that Jade did not meet the crispy expectation I developed after my initial meeting with the seasoned and fried crustaceans. Either the shrimp at Jade had too much "armor" to eat through or they just weren't fried enough. This dilemma was remedied by using the tried and true "peel-em-and-eat-em" technique. With that aside, "crispy shrimp" will always have the potential to be an amazing item during any dim-sum outing for this guy!

For me, it is after an epic dim-sum experience with good company (from oldies to newbies) that I really get that warm and fuzzy "feel-good" feeling....and then I just want to curl up in my down bed and sleep for hours, which usually ends up happening.

So if you're in NYC, hit up Jade Asian Restaurant in Flushing Queens. You won't regret it.

- Boatner

From Oistins to Brooklyn, Bajans sure know how to cook up de pot! - Culpepper's Restaurant, Crown Heights Brooklyn

Barbados is probably one of the coolest countries I've had the privilege of visiting. I first learned about the island from my friend Tim, who was a former History professor at the University of Memphis while I was there in 2002 . He used to go there on mission trips with a local Episcopalian parish to rebuild churches and houses, and would always tell me stories, show me pictures and feed me Mount Gay rum while rockin' out to some Eddy Grant (80's pop star from Barbados). When I moved 2,400 miles northwest of Memphis to Montana, he made me a few Eddy Grant/Gregory Isaacs (of Jamaica) mixes to help get me through the cold Montana winters....all they did was to get my travel anxious mind ready for a trip to the Caribbean, which was somewhere I had never been at that point.

I moved to MT during the summer of 2003 and by February of every following winter I would always say "Man, I really wish I was in Barbados right now..." Well during the 2006/2007 school year, my little brother (Kyle G) in the fraternity and another brother (Cason) in his pledge-class decided they would step it on up to the plate, and join Big Brother Boatner on the trip of a life-time to Barbados....which it truly was.

At any rate, I learned a lot about Caribbean culture and food while I was down there, including all the goodies from flyin' fish to roti. I never really thought I would be able to find a restaurant in the US that serves Barbadian cuisine after that trip...that is until I moved to New York, where you can find ANYTHING (e.g. food, service, marketable good) you could possibly ever want; seriously, ain't no lie about that one son.

So after moving here, of course I was bored on one of my days off and Googled 'Bajan restaurants in Brooklyn'. (It should be noted that the term Bajan and Barbadian can be used interchangeably; the term Bajan refers to a native of Barbados.) I ended up coming across three Bajan spots, one of which had closed and another had bad reviews online, so I went with Culpeppers. My good friend and fellow foodie companion (Noah) accompanied me on a journey to experience the savory flavors of Culpepper's by Wynston(owner). What we had was on point, and encouraged me to return several times until the end of that winter (2009/2010).

For some reason or another my frequents to Culpepper's subsided until last month when Noah and my old friend and new room-mate Alex appeared. Alas, the Culpepper's fire was re-kindled...and then our new neighborhood friend (Adam) was added to the group for a Bajan visit. We made it to Culpepper's a little after night fall....so the street view was limited.

The restaurant is painted the colors of the Bajan Flag: Blue-Yellow-Blue;
for the sea, the land, and the sky. The broken-trident in the middle signifies the declaration of the island's independence from Great Britian in 1966.

Culpepper's can serve as both a sit-in restaurant or carry-out joint. It is certainly worth mentioning that the meals are two-four dollars cheaper if you order carry-out and either sit on a window side bar stool (usually taken) or walk three blocks west to Prospect park. Otherwise, you should just pay premium and sit in a room that no-one else occupies which makes for a unique experience in itself.

All the Bajan goodies.

Usually they give you actual plates and silverware, however we ordered for the barstool area and the super sweet lady allowed us to sit in the solo dining area. This was our setup from bottom left around clock-work style: flying-fish dinner, jerk chicken dinners (on the top), fried fish cakes, and konkies (in bottom-center).


From the steamed veggies-clockwise: Awesome seasoned cabbage/broccoli/carrot mixture, macaroni pie (mac and cheese), pan-fried sweet plantains, and battered and fried fillets of flying fish! First things first: Flying fish is the national dish of Barbados. It has the structure and texture of mackerel, but not the taste. It isn't nearly as salty, however it is a great tasting fish and when doused in the island's special pepper sauce, it is absolutely phenomenal. All of the previous items are pleasantly placed across a well-mixed bed of black eyed peas and rice. The first time I had this meal was at the Oistins fish fry in the St. Lawrence Gap area of the island.
Culpepper's does a really good rendition of this succulent national dish.


Now everything in this dish is the same except for the fact that instead of flying-fish fillets there is a jerked half-chicken. Now "jerk" is a specialty of Jamaica, however some other west-indians have their own spin on it including the Bajans...and to be honest, theirs' isn't that far off, at least compared to what I've had.

Oh boy...fish cakes. It is like some genius combined minced fish in with a hush-puppie. I'm sure there is some correlation between both items, but a Louisianan hush puppy holds nothing against a Bajan fish cake dipped in the hot-yellow-mustard-pepper sauce that is out-of-this-world.

Finally, we ordered an item that was suggested to us by the customer that was in front of me in the line...his name was Nigel. He said he we had to have 'konkies'...and that they originally found their way to Barbados by way of Ghana. We didn't know what to expect, but what we saw...and what I saw was an item wrapped in a leaf that looked like the lotus leaf wrapping for sticky-rice at dim-sum...so I knew it had to be good.

Alright. So here's the deal: these things are wholesome, simple and good. When I un-wrapped the leaf, it was certainly reminiscent of one of my favorite dim-sum pastimes, however the aromas were nothing like the sticky-rice treat. The koknkie smelled like ginger and Christmas and Holiday times. Which is what a konkie is loaded with (holiday time stuff): a sweet-potato, ginger, pumpkin, raisin, spice filled mixture and is then steamed in a banana leaf. Extraordinary.

Here you will see the inside of a konkie. Adam, Alex, and I kept talking about how there wasn't anything really all that special about them, but they just tasted good. Somehow we kept grazing our respective konkies without leaving a crumb on our leaves. I have come to the conclusion that a konkie is the tastiest-healthy desert. So there.

West-Indian cuisine is full of incredible spices, flavors, and goodness. The Bajans do really well with that. I would strongly encourage anyone to make a visit to Barbados and/or a trip to Culpepper's in Brooklyn. You will certainly get authentic dishes at either location.

-Boatner