Native Dish: Senegalese Poisson Yassa - NYC Immigrant Cuisine: Chef Ejhadji Cissé
One day in 1995, Dakar, Senegalese-native Ejhadji Cissé woke up from a dream of living in New York City. He took this as a sign, and with his cousin Cheihk, immediately headed West to pursue a career in the culinary arts. Upon arriving and getting his bearings in Harlem's "Little Senegal" community, Cissé quickly entered the restaurant business, serving as sous chef for star chefs Jean-Georges Vongerichten and Daniel Bouloud. As his talents started getting noticed, he found his way to the finals on the Food Network series "Chopped." He had dreams of opening his own Harlem restaurant, combining French-trained culinary excellence with authentic Senegalese recipes he grew up eating. Voila Ponty Bistro: a restaurant offering locals a taste of West Africa with a French twist. In this episode, Chef Cissé fries up Poisson Yassa, a favorite Sunday dish--one that families greet loved ones with: sea bass flavored with a familiar Yassa onion sauce of lemon, garlic, peppers, dijon mustard and olives.
Native Dish: Colombian Paisa Arepas - NYC Immigrant Cuisine: Esneider Arevalo
In the 1980s, many Colombians fled home due to the Cold War conflict, drug violence and a lack of opportunity. As a teenager then, Esneider Arevalo left the Paisa region and his dreams of being an olympic swimmer. He would eventually join his mom (the famed "Arepa Lady" in Jackson Heights, Queens) to help her to run her food cart and work in the restaurant business. After being in NYC awhile, he began to make a name of his own, leading a political punk rock band and managing restaurants. Today, he leads food tours through the immigrant communities of Jackson Heights, Corona and Elmhurst for the website, Culinary Backstreets, and gives visitors a taste of both Latin-American and Asian fare. When they want a taste of his native Medellín, he shares with them a family recipe for traditional golden Arepas, made from freshly-ground and soaked cracked hominy corn. In this episode, Esneider shows just how versatile this corn bread is--you can eat it anytime and top it with anything you can imagine: Hogao (Colombian sofrito), cheese, hot chocolate sauce, and more!
Native Dish: Bukharian Jewish Bakhsh Rice - NYC Immigrant Cuisine: Manashe Khaimov
Shortly before 9/11, 14-year-old Manashe Khaimov and family emigrated from Samarkand, Uzbekistan to Rego Park, Queens, joining other Bukharian Jewish families seeking prosperity, religious freedom and educational opportunities. Over time, as a New Yorker, Manashe grew stronger ties to his identity and traditions, eventually becoming an educator and organizer within his community. Today, Manashe, 31, leads the Jewish Silk Road Tours, offering a taste of his commuty and culture--and food--to all New Yorkers, including his family's recipe for Bakhsh, an ancient, parsley-infused rice dish using Uzbek pilaf, green tea, shoulder beef, salt and pepper, all boiled in a traditional cotton sack.
Native Dish: Bulgarian Tarator Soup - NYC Immigrant Cuisine: Alexandra Mladenova
Sofia, Bulgaria native and Brighton Beach resident Alexandra Mladenova came to New York City two years ago. She ordinarily helps New Yorkers meet their fiduciary obligations during tax season, helping all walks of life file with the IRS. But as a part-time chef with thorough knowledge of Bulgarian cuisine, she also electrifies patrons’ taste buds as a resident grandma “Nonna” chef at Staten Island’s Enoteca Maria restaurant, cooking up favorite homestyle classics like Banitsa feta cheese Pastry. When they need something more refreshing to cool off, Alexandra reaches for some world-famous thick Bulgarian yogurt and mixes it with cucumber cubes, dill, garlic, olive oil and trace amounts of hot pepper to create her version of Tarator, a cold soup that also doubles as a dip.
Native Dish: Nicaraguan Indio Viejo Stew, Chef Javier Álvarez
Ever since the tender age of 8, Brighton Beach resident and Estelí, Nicaraguan-native Javier Álvarez knew that cooking would be his destiny. Six years later, after coming to New York City, his dream would become reality as Chef de Cuisine at Tribeca's Graffiti Earth Restaurant, led by restaurateur Jehangir Metha (of TV Iron Chef fame). His mom, Mercedes Arroglia, came to the U.S. in 2004 to provide better opportunity for her children. On his days off, Javier gathers the family and cooks for them his grandma's recipe for El Indio Viejo--a savory cornmeal pozole stew containing tomatoes, beef ribs, mint and a hint of orange bitters. It's a legendary recipe that even ancient Conquistadors who ruled old Nicaragua would dare not eat!
Native Dish: Fujianese Nian Gao Lunar New Year Cake, An Chen and Mei Zheng
Mei Zheng and her son, An Chen, came from a family of farmers, fishers and doctors in Fuzhou City, China. In 1996, they arrived in New York City in search of greater opportunity. Though their family has prospered in Chinatown's Little Fuzhou, Mei and An never forget their roots. They share how they celebrate Chinese New Year--one of the most important holidays in many Asian cultures--by steaming and frying Nian Gao, a traditional sticky rice cake dessert topped with boiled peanuts.
Happy Lunar New Year Greetings from An Chen and Mei Zheng!
Happy Lunar New Year!!!! Greetings from An Chen and Mei Zheng, the subjects of our newest episode featuring Fujianese Nian Gao rice cake--debuting Thursday at 9:56pm on NYClife Channel 25 and here on FB!
Native Dish: Mongolian Byaslag Cheese, Byambakhuu Darichuluun
Byambakhuu Darichuluun, a native of Central Mongolia, came to NYC in 2011 to study life in America. Today, he is educating traveling New Yorkers about his home country, and also shares an ancient home recipe for curdling Byaslag, a creamy Mongolian cheese, using everyday ingredients found in most American homes: Whole Milk and Plain Yogurt. Through his Mongol Heritage Foundation, he curates several events across the Tri-State area that offer a taste of Mongolian tradition and culture.
Native Dish: Fauzia Abdur-Rahman, Jamaican Fusion Jerk Chicken
Kingston-native Fauzia Abdur-Rahman has found a creative way to cook a famous Jamaican staple without the use of charcoal or hot grilles. That's because she and her family run a food cart, where she boils and braises her Jerk Chicken made of Halal boneless thighs. She's been doing it this way from the corner of Concourse Village West and East 161st Street for over 22 years, serving officers, judges and attorneys who work in South Bronx's courthouse area, and offering them a taste of her grandmother's recipes.
Native Dish: Garifuna Durudia Tortillas
An estimated 200,000 Garifuna people--Arawak Indian and West African descendants exiled from St. Vincent island to parts of Central America--call New York home today. Isha Sumner's mom, Sara Martinez, is one of them. The Honduran-native, now living in Woodside, Queens, came to America in the 1970's to provide for her family back home. In the mid-1980s, Isha joined her in NYC and eventually they started a catering business named "Weiga" ("Let's Eat" in Garifuna), cooking many Garifuna dishes, some of which have both Caribbean and Latin-American influence. In this episode, they offer a taste of their heritage by flavoring their tortilla mix with coconut milk and brown sugar, creating "Durudias."
Native Dish: Indonesian Beef Rendang Brisket - NYC Immigrant C...
Since 2004, Upi Yuliastuti has been serving New Yorkers--including the City's population of 8,000 Indonesian immigrants--authentic spicy flavors from her home city of Padang, West Sumatra. She combines familiar native ingredients like coconut milk, chili peppers and lemongrass to create her version of the celebrated "Rendang Padang" stir-fried beef brisket.
Native Dish: Nepalese Yak Momos - NYC Immigrant Cuisine: Himal...
In 2004, Jamyang (Jimmy) Gurung left the cold deserts of Mustang, Nepal to help his Uncle open a restaurant in the then-nascent Himalayan community of Jackson Heights, Queens. Several years later, Jimmy and other Himalayan colleagues keep tradition alive while reinterpreting the juicy taste of the authentic "Momo" Yak dumpling through American-grown ingredients. They're educating New Yorkers about the unique health benefits and taste of lean Yak meat.
Native Dish: Turkmen Manti Dumplings - NYC Immigrant Cuisine: ...
Native Dish: Estonian Kringel Bread - NYC Immigrant Cuisine: A...
There are 30,000 Estonian immigrants and Estonian-Americans living in America. Meet one of them, Aarne Läänemaa, a chef at New York Estonian House living in NYC's Astoria neighborhood. Taste his delightful recipe for braided cinnamon dessert bread known as Kringel, and get to know how he called New York home.
Native Dish: Lao Tam Mak Hoong Papaya Salad
Jeannie Ongkeo, a refugee from Laos, came to Elmhurst, Queens in the late 1970s to flee communism. As a retired chef, she participates in Tak Bat, the spiritual ritual of almsgiving at a local Thai temple, and feeds monks a familiar staple they've grown up eating: crunchy Tam Mak Hoong green papaya salad, drenched with savory anchovy sauce. Through the custom, the monks become the conduit to connecting her with her relatives in the afterlife.
Native Dish - :30 Promo
No Hosts or Foodie Stars. Just NYC Immigrants: Their Food. Their Culture. Their Words. Meet the faces and families behind New York's international cuisine, and take a bite of their tradition and culture on "Native Dish: United Flavors of NYC," NYC Media's new food TV series. Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0nMJ4Uk-7eqW7sVPpssmTw
Meet the faces and families behind New York's international cuisine on NYC Media's new TV series on immigrants, their foods and families.
