The Mija Chronicles

Mexican food and culture, on both sides of the border

Archives for September 2013

Being home in New York City, redux

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The Viva la Comida street food festival in Queens, held Sept. 20, 2013, not too far from my house.

The Viva la Comida street food festival, held in my Queens neighborhood on Sept. 20.



Remember when I posted in June about not feeling like I was home?

That’s changing. More and more, I’m feeling like I belong here, no doubt because I’ve spent my first solid 30 days in New York without jetting off to somewhere else. (I had to double-check that on my calendar — had I really not spent a straight month in New York since January? Yes, it’s true.)

In the past month, I have…

1. Gotten off the subway, and a growing number of times recognized east from west. A few days ago I even corrected Crayton: “Are you sure Ninth Avenue is this way?”

2. Got a haircut I liked.

3. Ran into a Queens friend randomly at a restaurant in the East Village.

4. Gotten over my longing to take cabs and walked the streets on purpose, because the city is stunning on summer nights when there’s a breeze. You can look up at the fire escapes criss-crossing the buildings and the skyscrapers all lit up and glowing, and not have to worry about bumping into anyone.

5. Distinguished the sounds of the local and express trains at my subway stop, which in turn determines whether I need to run as I’m approaching the turnstile.

6. Relished how fast New Yorkers walk, and the fact that you can say “Excuse me!” to someone in your way in a loud and urgent tone, and generally no one takes offense. (Or at least I don’t think they do — I’ve been “excuse me”-ed often, so I’m guessing it’s a normal thing.)

7. Had my first Queens Chinese breakfast. Yeah, zhaliang!

8. Decorated our apartment walls, installed a stainless steel worktable in our kitchen, and bought fresh flowers for all the sunny rooms in the house.

9. Attended the Viva La Comida street food festival in our neighborhood, which made me realize all over again why we picked Queens. Thanks for organizing, Jeff.

10. Ate a lovely dinner on a friend’s rooftop in Hell’s Kitchen.

Dining on the roof in Hell's Kitchen, courtesy of my friend Shaw.

Dining on the roof in Hell’s Kitchen, courtesy of my friend Shaw.



I’m excited to be here, and excited about the opportunities ahead. Thanks again for sticking with me.

Roberto Santibañez’s sweet-and-crunchy grape guacamole

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Grape guacamole

I’m generally an guacamole purist. Or really, an avocado purist: pass me a few slices of ripe avocado, a sprinkle of salt and a crispy tortilla, and I am perfectly happy. But when Roberto Santibañez’s PR team passed me a recipe for grape guac a few weeks ago — smooth and crunchy, it promised; spicy and cool at the same time — I thought, oh hell, why not.

The thing is, this summer was hot in New York. Like sweaty Texas hot. Sit-on-the-air-conditioner hot. Now the temps have cooled off, but when it was hot, all I could think about was cold things. Like grapes straight from the refrigerator.

The grapes in this dish, thankfully, don’t overshadow the avocado at all. They actually add a light fruitiness and a toothsome texture that I didn’t know could exist in guacamole. You really get all the flavors in one here: sweet, salty, acidic, spicy.

I baked up some corn tortilla chips (my usual way is to cut tortillas into triangles with kitchen shears, then bake them at around 400F until golden brown) and munched happily through the afternoon.

Recipe below, while you can still find grapes at the stores. Also, if anyone’s wondering, I’ve found fantastic Mexican avocados at bodegas in Queens.

Grape Guacamole
Adapted slightly from Roberto Santibañez’s recipe
Serves at least four as an appetizer

Note: I’ve listed two types of grapes here because that’s what the original recipe called for, but I don’t see any particular reason to use two. You’d still get the sweetness and texture with just one variety. The original recipe also called for 3 avocados, but since I was only feeding Crayton and me, I scaled down.

I also made this in the molcajete, which allows you to create a paste out of the onion/chile mixture. Sort of like this:

Jalapeño and onion paste in the molcajete

If you plan to mix yours with a good old-fashioned bowl and spoon, I’d make sure to finely chop the onion and jalapeño, so you don’t have any big onion or chile parts sticking out.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons chopped white onion
1/3 of a large jalapeño, with seeds, chopped roughly (you can also use serrano)
2 ripe HaasHass avocados
10 large red grapes, cut into quarters
1/3 cup small green grapes
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus a smidge more (if using table salt, start with less)
juice of 1/2 large lime (or to taste)

Directions

In a molcajete, if you’re using one, add the chopped onion, jalapeño, and just a pinch or two of salt. Grind into a paste. (Alternately, you can mix the items in a regular mixing bowl.)

Cut the avocados in half, remove the pit, then cut each half into cubes. Add to chile-onion paste and mix. You can use the back of a spoon or the pestle (tejolete) from your molcajete to crush some of the cubes a bit, just so it doesn’t look so uniform and perfect. Stir in the grapes, reserving some for the garnish if you like. Taste and add lime juice, and more salt as needed. Serve with chips, tortillas, or whatever you want.