itaunas's Profile
Ethnic and Cultural Festivals Summer/Fall 2012
Here is a link to the North End Feast and Procession schedule.
http://northendwaterfront.com/feasts/
The Boston Caribbean Festival in Franklin Park I believe will be on 8/25.
Ethnic and Cultural Festivals Summer/Fall 2012
Here is my first take on listing some of the area Portuguese festivals as well as two of the most popular South Coast events. At both the Woburn Portuguese Club and Imperio Mariense you can rent a spit with meat to roast over charcoal, so no need to go the Southcoast for that, but no barrel served madeira. There is also the Cambridge/Somerville Portugal Day Parade, but I have never encountered much Portuguese food around that (St Anthony's does usually have a banquet that weekend though.)
6/2/2012
Espirito Santo Feast
Taunton Eagles Soccer Club
(No information and their flash site is giving me problems, so please
call for info before going)
29 Oak Street
Taunton, MA
June -Portugal Day Activities
(I am having issues with the website, but usually there is a banquet
and a number of outdoor activities -- traditional horsemanship, whaling
boat race, but not particularly focused on chow)
http://www.bostonportuguesefestival.org/
6/30-7/2
Imperio Mariense of Saugus
Annual Feast
262 Lynn Fells Parkway
Saugus, MA
Please note they offer a number of traditional style dinners which are listed on their website (www.imperiodesaugus.org)
Portuguese American Civic League
Cambridge, MA
Festa do Espirito Santo
(do not have exact dates, but would guess 7/7-8 based on past info)
7/14-15
Stoughton
Holy Ghost Society of the Azores
369 Pearl St
Stoughton, MA 02072
(781) 341-8522
8/2-5
Feast of the Blessed Sacrament (Madeira Fest)
Madeira Field
New Bedford, MA
8/11/2012
Nossa Senhora do Monte
Woburn Portuguese Club
Route 28, Main Street
Woburn, MA (near Winchester line).
Woburn, MA
End of August
Feast of the Holy Ghost/Bode de Leite
Fall River
End of the Summer Azorean festival in Fall River
9/1-3 (not confirmed)
Ludlow, MA
Our Lady of Fatima
The Ludlow Portuguese festival is usually Labor Day weekend
Ethnic and Cultural Festivals Summer/Fall 2012
I don't know anything about this festival which already passed (5/5), but noticed a mention of Lowell Polish festival on the Catholic Archdiocese calendar and would be curious about it for next year. There also was a mention of a South Boston Polish (?) festival in past years, so would love to hear about that in advance.
http://www.bostoncatholic.org/Events-Calendar/Event-Detail.aspx?id=23630
Ethnic and Cultural Festivals Summer/Fall 2012
The Festas Juninas are organized around days for certain saints from the Catholic Chuch, drawing from traditions in Europe especially with the Festa Sao Joao (John). Because of the timing of the festivals (late autumn in Brazil) and the popularity of the festivals in the Northeast (where droughts are common and the tie to the religious aspect of the festivals is strongest), harvest foods play a large role in the celebrations, particularly food based around corn. Although the tradition is strongest in the Northeast, the festas and some of the cultural traditions are celebrated all over Brazil. In the Northeast there are huge festivals lasting weeks and drawing tourists, but also religious pilgrimages. In other parts of the Interior (such as Minas Gerais) they are celebrated on a town level and there especially festas juninas have stretched into festas julinas. And in many parts of Brazil schools teach the children some of the traditional dances and the schools hold their own festas juninas. Sao Joao is often thanked for a successful harvest, Sao Pedro asked for rain in the following year, and Santo Antonio in request for true love.
In Boston most of the Festas Juinas are organized around Brazilian parishes of the Catholic Church. Usually its individuals associated with the parish do the organizing (in some of the older parishes some members can be approaching 20 years in the community, but priests rotate). Whether the parish itself does the cooking can vary: most of the older ones do most of their cooking (Allston, Somerville, East Boston, etc), but some rent out spaces or have a mix of church food and vendors (Everett, Cambridge). There also are "festas caipiras" out of season (fora de epoca) and other arraiais (the arraial is the location of a festa juninas) including ones associated with local businesses, but year in and year out, its specific Brazilian parishes which carry on the traditions. In general these events do serve as fund raisers for the parish or possibly some cause associated with it, but are more of a community event than a religious event. In Framingham where there are the most Brazilian students the PTO of the Woodrow Wilson School organized an annual festa junina, much like schools in Brazil do, but since the Framingham church is holding one this year I do not know if they still will.
As I mentioned food is only one aspect of the festa junina tradition. There is often a band, couples dance quadrilhas (Brazilian square dances, with a caller and the costumes), and usually a country wedding which can be humorous. I consider these festivals chowish because of the strong role of the food traditions and some dishes which are hard to try elsewhere. That said if you go only for the chow, there is a chance of being disappointed. And Somerville in particular, the block party aspect to it can completely overrun the chow/traditions. I don't believe any festas serve a Quentao anymore (and its out of season), a few offer beer which will either be macrobrews who helps with advertising (Bud/Coors) or perhaps sponsored by a Brazilian brew (schincariol/nova schin and brahma have in the past) . Allston is one I like to recommend because its got a strong parish behind it which makes their own foods, without the total craziness of Somerville, but I am not certain why they moved their date to August this year. In general Saturday night festas start between 5 and 7pm, closing somewhere from 11-midnight (sometimes 10 depending on local towns). Sunday festas start around 2-3pm and can go as late as 9. Everett, East Boston, and Cambridge are all popular festivals which are reasonably family oriented (Everett is probably the most crowded).
Not all the foods you will run into are specific to festas juninas, some are not even Brazilian but here are some common offerings.
Corn based offerings
Espiga de milho verde (corn on the cob)
canjicao (semi-sweet dish made with milk and hominy, with cinnamon)
canjica (stew of grits often served with ribs and collard greens)
pamonha (brazilian version of tamale, both sweet and savory versions exist)
mingau de milho verde (brazilian style corn pudding, also with cinnamon and of varying sweetness) called curau in the northeast
other brazilian dishes
acaraje (fritters made from ground black eyed peas, associated with baianas from Bahia traditionally fried in palm oil)
vatapa -- paste/soup made with dried shrimp, peanuts, palm oil, coconut milk (served most often with acaraje, but good versions are worth eating a bowl)
pimenta malageta (not a dish per-se, but request it to have your acaraje spicy)
churrasquinho (skewers, with beef, chicken, maybe sausage and hopefully cheese)
salgadinhos (savory treats, search on board for more descriptions) -- look for "pastel/pasteis" fried to order
Brazilian sweets
pe-de-moleque (a brazilian peanut sweet, sort of a mix between fudge and brittle)
cocada (fudge made with coconut and condensed milk, served as cubes)
doce de leite (just like dulce de leche)
Drinks
Quentao -- brazilian version of a hot toddy made with lime, cinnamon, cachaca, etc (used to be served at Allston and Somerville but pretty unlikely to find these days and out of season. Trina's in Cambridge was offering a "quentão de vinho" a wine based quentão in the Winter)
Also beer, guarana, brazilian juices, and sodas
Note the Stoughton church requested an all-alcohol license, so that might have a caipirinha or quentão, but no guarantees.
others
cachorro quente (hot dog, but distinctly brazilian with many toppings such as corn sticks sort of like x-tudo and usually cooked in a tomato broth)
pipoca (brazilians do have pride in their own popcorn and its traditional to festa juninas, but this will be made in the usual carnaval style poppers)
algodao doce (cotton candy)
Ethnic and Cultural Festivals Summer/Fall 2012
Here is a list of the 2012 Festas Juninas and Julinas. I was able to source the dates from the Brazilian Apostolate of the Catholic Church of Boston which has greatly eased the work involved in compiling this over the past. However, they do not include addresses and English information so outside of the dates this is original work. I am not in the Boston area and the addresses are compiled from past experience and searches, but because of church closings there are probably some changes particularly in smaller communities. I would appreciate any corrections. The phone numbers are provided by the Apostolate and are in some cases the parish secretary and in other cases the festival organizers -- all will speak Portuguese, English is not guaranteed. I will provide guidelines for the festival hours in a separate posting.
http://apostoladobrasileiro.com/ma/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1276:festas-juninas-2012&catid=139:comunicacao&Itemid=643
Everett "Arraiá do Tonhão"
St Anthony's
Igreja Santo Antônio
38 Oakes St
5-11pm (confirmed)
Saturday 6/2/2012
Phone: (617) 387-1393
Rockland
Sunday: 6/3/2012
Igreja Sagrada Família
403 Union St
Note: have not checked address in several years
Phone: (781) 871-5754
Lowell
Paróquia Sagrada Família
75 Chamberlain St.
Saturday 6/3/2012
Phone: (978) 934-0622
Framingham
(Note traditionally the Woodrow Wilson School has done this
during the school year and the Brazilian church didn't hold
one, so I believe this is a fairly new event although they
have had out of season "Festa Caipira" events before.)
Igreja de São Tarcísio - 562 Waverly St
Framingham, MA
Saturday: 6/16/2012
Phone: (508) 875-6347
Stoughton
Saturday and Sunday 6/16-17/2012
Igreja Imaculada Conceição
122 Canton St
Phone: (781) 975-1620
Plymouth
Paróquia de Santa Maria
313 Court St (not confirmed)
Plymouth, MA
Sunday 6/17/2012
Somerville
Saturday 6/23/2012
Igreja Santo Antônio
480 Somerville Avenue
Phone: (617) 625-4530
Cambridge
St Anthony's/Igreja Santo Antônio
400 Cardinal Medeiros Ave, corner of Cambridge St
Festa held on patio behind the Church
Saturday 6/30/2012
Phone: (617) 229-9372
Maynard
Igreja de Santa Brígida
1 Percival St (not confirmed)
Maynard, MA - 01754
Saturday 6/30/2012
Phone: (857) 888-6234
East Boston
Saturday 6/7/2012
Santuário Madonna Queen
150 Orient Ave
Phone: (617) 569-9791
Allston
Igreja Santo Antônio
43 Holton Street
Allston, MA - 02134
Saturday 8/4/2012
Phone: (617) 783-2121
Ethnic and Cultural Festivals Summer/Fall 2012
This collection of metro-Boston dates is condensed from information provided on the site Greekboston.com. It is included to help hounds schedule things and collect suggestions or critiques of the foods available, but there is additional information on that site (which should be credited for the work) as well as listings of other festivals in Greater New England.
http://www.greekboston.com/greekfestivals/
June 1 - 3, 2012
Saint Athanasius Greek Orthodox Church, Arlington, MA
Friday 11am - 10pm
Saturday 11am - 10pm
Sunday 11am - 8pm
4 Appleton Street
Arlington, MA
781.646.0705
arlingtonfestival.com
June 8 - 10, 2012
Annunciation of the Virgin Mary Greek Orthodox Church, Woburn, MA
11am - 11pm
70 Montvale Ave
Woburn, MA 01801
781.935.2424
June 22 - 24, 2012
Taxiarchae-Archangels Greek Orthodox Church, Watertown, MA
Friday 11am - 11pm
Saturday 11am - 11pm
Sunday 12pm - 10pm
Hellenic Cultural Center
25 Bigelow Avenue
Watertown, MA 02472
617.924.8182
June 30, 2012
Transfiguration Greek Orthodox Church, Lowell, MA
Saturday 11am - 11pm
25 Fr. John Sarantos Way (Clark St.)
Lowell, MA 01854
978-458-4321
transchurch.org
The Greekboston site doesn't list the Somerville greek festival usually held just after Labor day in Somerville at the Dormition Church.
Ethnic and Cultural Festivals Summer/Fall 2012
Its ethnic and summer festival times, one of my favorite food attractions of summer along with farmers markets and grilling in the open air on the Harbor Islands. Unfortunately I am not in the area this summer, but I wanted to open a topic to share dates and food recommendations. This coming weekend is the Arlington Greek festival (6/1-3) which is very popular with hounds because it offers several spit roasted animals (lamb, pork), as well as pastries, sweets, and other attractions. Its also the date of the first Brazilian "Festa Junina" which are traditional festivals scheduled around days for Catholic saints which often celebrate rural traditions and as such feature harvest foods -- in Brazil today these are largely held by schools, but in Boston the various Brazilian Catholic churches host them some of them for 15+ years now. The first one is in Everett which is a strong Brazilian Catholic community and a strong food focus.
Many of the festivals in Lowell (Folk Fest 7/27-29, Southeastern Asian Water Festival 8/18) have food booths which are popular with hounds, and festivals in Cambridge (Cambridge banks of Boston Dragon Boat Festival 6/10, Riverfest 6/2, Carnival 9/9) also feature a variety of food boths. There are hounds which travel to the Southcoast for the extremely popular Feast of the Blessed Sacrament (Madeira Feast) August 2-5 one of many in the New Bedford/Fall River area, but most of the local Portugese Social Clubs have annual events which are simply published via word of mouth.
From other hounds I learned about Serbfest in Cambridge (early September) featuring some spit roasted meats and sausage, as well as Burmese and other unusual festivals. The North End Feasts and Processions are very popular as a tourist attraction, but if you keep your eye out there is decent fried calamari, shucked bivalves, and other delicacies hidden between the fried dough stands! Boston itself hosts not just a number of ethnic parades, some of which offer traditional foods, but also its own West Indian Carnival (in September) at Franklin park.
Nucleo Sportinguista - Somerville
Matt H -- sorry I think you asked about this before. I haven't been in 5+ years at this point, but at the time it was the best of the Somerville/Cambridge social clubs although at Benfica I have only had snacks (and there is one on those side streets sciarappa/7th, etc which I haven't eaten). The chef at the time was very good, but they do move around. The club president who had just been promoted from secretary was big on food, so if he is still around I suspect the quality is still high. When you sit down there was a handwritten list of roughly 10-12 daily specials, with appetizers/sopas, clams on the half shell. The meals are a mix of sautes, grilled items, and carnes ensopadas with portuguese greatest hits and basic items (grilled chicken breast, probably a burger) basically homestyle cooking. Many of the main dishes are meant to be shared, although I think there maybe some smaller servings (lunch?). I thought they had better papo secos than the other restaurants around (apparently delivered by one of the members and they were proud of this) as well as portuguese country bread and I wasn't ever charged a couvert. I really liked their bife a portuguesa at the time which had a hint of spice, the "cabrito" (bit older than the european definition) was a good stewed dish, rabbit a cacadora was decent but not my favorite dish, and bacalhau a lagareiro was good. I had planned to go their annual bash which was a steup up from most area Portuguese banquets where it had the usuals (carne a alentejana) and a buffet, along with a leitoa and a few other things (presunto, etc) but had to skip it for family reasons. They have sagres including the ponies, superbock, but a lot of folks drink Heineken, and portuguese wines by the glass/carafe/bottle (they were mostly bottled, not garrafao wines at the time, but assume they are using Bib now). Generally the mods aren't big on posting places where not everyone can eat -- its a private club, its clientele is primarily male and membership completely, and its not family friendly -- so I haven't posted before (and tend to shy away from some of the banquets in the area because they are for fundraising which generally is discouraged although we post festivals and other fundraising events which aren't quite as overtly such). Check tended to be a couple bucks less per-plate than restaurants. There are some social clubs which are a bit easier to get in to, and have a more equal chromosome balance, but I have never had any issues. I thought their food overall was better than JJ's, but that is a much easier rec on Chowhound because its a public restaurant and very family friendly. I also do like the bacalhau a largeiro better at JJ's, although the Sportinguista version was good (and I love my moelas/gizzards & grao/chickpeas to start). Its also pretty pan-Portugal as opposed to regional cooking and simpler food well executed as opposed to "haute cuisine" which is fine. More food as opposed to bar snacks (or what Americans would call drunk food), not where you would go for "petiscos," and no chourico a bombiero. :-) The folks there are Portuguese (leadership), Azorean, Portuguese American, Cape Verdean, Brazilian and others. The waitresses were largely Portuguese American (as opposed to Brazilian) and similar to any number of old school Italian places. I've been planning to check it out again at lunch with a few hounds, but the date has been canceled a couple of times and it looks like I am going to be mostly out of the area at least until July. I think they have upgraded the TVs since my time, so I can't think of any reason why it wouldn't make it to your list of place to watch.
Yakitori Zai
I know Boston tried at one point to limit sleeping out to get tickets for concert events (which sox fans and black friday yahoos obviously do), but I wonder what the South End residents association might think about hounds sleeping out to be the first in line at Yakitori Zai. :-)
Butcher
Mayflower will debone if you order in advance, I don't believe there is a minimum order. There are also a mixture of people and businesses in the Brazilian community who do it (usually provided seasoned/stuffed), but they come and go and communication is harder. Cake and Cia in Everett does offer this with catering service, but dunno if they'll just do one. I debone at home (you can learn from Marcella Hazan, its not too hard the first time, and after 2-3 times trying it its pretty easy).
brine and spice for Jewish style corned beef
msmouser you can purchase cure #1 in the amount you want at Christina's in Inman Square and online (delivered right to Lexington). There have been an number of threads on the Boston board. I included the latest below and "chow" autolinks a number of the previous ones in the sidebar if you want to do more research.
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/841592
manioc root from Brazil
irishlady2 what you are looking for is an artisan product that is not available all over Brazil and expecting to find it in that exact form in the US (where shelf-stable Brazilian supermarket products which are USDA approved are sold) is a little exacting. :-) There are some industrial products for making tapioca and I have seen vacuum packed bags of goma blocks in the supermarket, but those are niche products which I don't think would be exported.
I split my time between Northeast Espirito Santo and Boston. I can tell you how to make goma de tapioca starch from scratch, I can tell you how to hydrate the starch (polvilho doce) for tapioca (pancakes), but aside from mailing you some (here its sold in small packets) and hoping it passes through customs I can't get you what you want. USDA certification is a tad expensive for the people who sell it at the local "feirinha." BTW, the majority of Brazilians in the US are from the Southeast, "centro-oeste," and south of Brazil with some recent additions from the Northeast and Rondonia so Northeastern specialties are not that common. BTW Paraiba is considered the Northeast, not the North of Brazil.
The traditional methods of making the goma fresca and polvilho doce are exactly the same thing. You smash or grate the mandioca root -- for the farinha its traditionally done in large mortar and pestle setups, but easily done in the food processor or on a box grater for the starch. You then wrap it in a towel and expunge the liquid. In making the starch the liquid is what you save, after 4 hours to overnight, the liquid which rises is decanted (in Amazonia this is reserved to make Tucupi -- although traditionally made with "mandioca brava" instead of the "mandioca doce" you would use for farinha/goma and buy in the supermarket). If you are just making goma and not tucupi or even farinha, I would suggest "washing" the grated mandioca a couple of times to make sure you get the best yield. To make "goma" for tapioca you need to partially dry the starch which sinks to the bottom of the bowl (towels can be used for this) and it will clump into blocks, which is why its passed through a coarse sieve to make tapioca. Polvilho doce is made by completely drying the starch usually in the sun and then it would be passed through a fine sieve. Polvilho azedo (sour) is fermented in the liquid before being processed. The "flour" farinha is cooked, the starch isn't. There are corn dishes like "curau de milho" which are made using a similar process and I make a savory "mingau" using similar methods (in these you don't settle the starch out).
Industrial methods are similar, although they utilize the fiborous parts for farinha and make polvillho both at the same time (less common I believe for artisan production). In any case, polvilho doce can be used to make tapiocas or beijus. Here in the northeast of Espirito Santo and in the South of Bahia there are whole towns which basically plant mandioca and use a shared facility to make farinha. This kind of "cooperative" is the main economic engine for those small towns.
Yakitori Zai
Can anyone who has seen them test grilling actually confirm they got approval to use charcoal? That hasn't been reported and while Coppa's wood oven gives me hope, solid fuels in Boston are very rare. While you are at it Nab, instead of importing why don't they raise the birds and make their own charcoal... right in the South End. :-)
I do think there is a balance between assuming they will grill chicken breast on a stick and super-high chowhound expectations of focusing on the most obscure of chicken bits. While they aren't necessarily "chewy," some of the other bits take a fair amount of skill and good product to do right particularly if you are only using dry heat and knife skills (eg MC Slim JB's gizzards weren't likely done over charcoal, nor are Chinatown chicken feet). I hope they start off with what they do well and sell enough to keep locals coming back, while doing other bits and doing them well for us food geeks.
Update: And please stay open late!
May 2012 Openings and Closings
The owners are Brazilian and "Brunello Bistro" is odd as it is (why not "Osteria Brunello" which is the right language and better grammatically), but Italian names and words along with English are used in business names in this manner in Brazil so it makes sense to the owners. In this case I don't think its the name of any of the owners unless they have changed.
Where can I buy fresh burrata cheese
The importer who brings in buffalo mozzarella from Naples and I believe the burrata (which he probably gets via Naples, but from what I put together its not made in Naples itself) is an acquaintance of mine. He sells the same mozzarella to SI, Capone's, Sessa's, restaurants, and more. SI is the most likely to find imported burrata, but its worth a call to Capone's (which had the best prices overall on the buffalo mozzarella). There are other products brought up from NYC as well as Vermont buffalo products (Seacrest). He brought mozzarella in twice a week (used to be the Al Italia schedule ; now they have daily weeknight flights), but the burrata was a bit more complicated to acquire and its limited -- when there were droughts in Italy, it wasn't available at all. Overall its a small operation and the dairy products are only a part (honestly I thnk the burrata is more to keep customers interested). Sometimes things happen with the delivery -- package delayed, issues with customs, etc. I lucked out once when their cheese was delayed two days and he didn't want to sell it to keep up his reputation. As far as I know flavored burrata and so on are not from Italy (and I don't think Fiore di Nonno) -- I would guess from Vermont, but not certain.
BTW, a couple of local restaurants have played around with making their own. Russell House Tavern I think gave it a go, although they were buying from Fiore di Nonno too and mostly they put it on pizza which is a bit of a waste.
Any info on Happy’s Bar & Kitchen
Potato is probably the most common soup base in Portugal as well as in Brazil (except more yuca is used). The combination of of salt cod and potatos in a soup would not be uncommon at all in Portuguese cooking (and in Brazil the yuca base is key to "bobo de camarao" with shrimp, but yuca/potato also shows up in some versions of "caldo de sururu" (a mussel soup)). Its the sum of things which would be odd, so as almansa says they are taking two different local greatest hits of Portuguese cooking and throwing them together. Potato soups are simpler, which makes sense considering potatoes were traditionally inexpensive year round sustenance (this also isn't particularly Azorean, where they actually have less variations on chourico than other portuguese regions). Dunno, take the Fall River reference as a tip of the hat to Emeril and "chourice" in everything. :-)
Maria y Ricardo's New Corn Tortillas
This is slightly off topic, but figured someone might be interested. La Nina reopened in Everett (about 3-4 months ago), but isn't doing direct retail sales anymore and no retail outlets yet.
manioc root from Brazil
Since someone spammed this thread, I'll add a late response. You are talking about tapioca (generally made to order) or beiju (more well done and generally sold prepared except in a steamed version) but are basically the same thing which is made from "goma de tapioca" which is actually the starch not the root itself. You can make it from the root, but the same process is used to make the starch in both "goma pronta" (what I believe you are referring to) and "povilho doce" which you can easily buy in the US (certainly in Broward county). Apparently you can simply hydrate povilho several hours to overnight, drain (very well) and pass it through a coarse sieve, but I have only made bijus from the ready goma.
At a Brazilian market or supermarket with a large Brazilian population look for "Polvilho Doce" also called fecula sometimes and also "amido doce." You don't want "polvilho azedo" or "fecula de mandioca azedo" which is great for Pao de Queijo but too strong for this application. You can try "tapioca starch" at Asian markets, although I haven't been very happy with the taste at least in Pao de Queijo. Like with "farinha" the industrial product isn't nearly as good as a fresh artesanal version, but I have heard of good results hydrating povilho doce and some brands are better than others.
Anyone know where to get salt cod in the Boston area?
I am not a big fan of the small wooden box salt cod, but there are a lot of good options and many bad. In my opinion Johnnie's and Stop and Shops that ply to an Italian population (Medford, Stoneham) are a better source for larger pieces than Market Basket and not a fan of Shaws (the Twin Cities plaza store, though might be ok in this regard). But I usually buy from Courthouse, Fernandes Fish Market and McKinnon's. Occasionally the pollock from Market Basket or Johnnie's. In the past I regularlyh bought quality Salt Cod from Sessas and J Pace. Seabra is good for overall selection. If you don't mind following a link, there are some notes below and in other past threads.
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/836784#7189859
Lots of lamb offal at Market Basket
Market Basket doesn't butcher whole animals, the offal they likely purchase frozen. It is available post-Easter because that is traditionally when native lamb is slaughtered so there is a surplus and much other lamb is imported, so getting the offal is a bit harder (year round halal and other butchers break down native lamb, which are generally local animals).
Strip T's increasing funkiness
If any restaurant in Boston needs a August vacation (in April), Strip Ts definitely is in the running given their whirlwind past 9 months. I am impressed they are only taking 2 days around the "state holiday," they're hungry!
Azorean Restaurant in Gloucester?
I think you are right he is the last chef from O Fado (which I had two not so good experiences), but I am getting deja vu about seeing him somewhere else. I wish I knew where the first chef at PB Restaurant in Everett went (the restaurant itself has been closed for a while). I know the PB chef from Atasca, which is where I think I also saw theTrackside chef and the PB chef might have worked under him in the tapas "kitchen" at the Atasca Broadway. You can buy acceptable frozen sardines in the winter, but only from a good (Portuguese) fishmonger and because they are not gutted before freezing they can become a nasty mess. Luckily we have the much better fresh ones year round.
Peri Peri Chicken
Matt H that came to mind when I was posting and to be honest I was hoping you would hop in with an opinion on it. I haven't been to the Snack Bar since the mom was at the stove, the dad the grill/fryer, and the oldest son upfront (I looked up and I definitely haven't been regularly since 2009, but probably even a bit before that). That said, for marinated meats (febras, etc) I found JJ to be a touch spicier, and really what I like at the Snack Bar was things with a tomato/onion/pepper base, as opposed to marinades or massa de pimentao. Even though the shrimp wasn't good quality, they had fine portuguese style shrimp and all the stews were top notch. And I much prefer their bife a portugesa to JJ's, whose sauce always brings "gravy master" to mind (similarly the carne a alentejana at the snack bar was a bit better, although not the best version around in part because of the marinade). But a lot of that could have changed and I am definitely curious about the frango.
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/665937#5170233
BTW, I think their chicken is roasted and everyone here only posts about the Brunch/Breakfast at the Neighborhood, but their weekday lunches are pretty good so that is another option for Portuguese chicken that I would suggest. Similar to the snack bar -- home cooked style food and overlooked like the Snack Bar used to be.
The *NEW* East Coast Grill
The Haitian market across from ECG may have Matouk's sauces and there are other outlets on Cambridge street (several of the dozen convenience stores from Inman to Lechmere have it), as well as the bodegas on Columbia near Harvard St. La Internacional in Union has the 3 main ones. The basic West Indian sauce has some of the ingredients of IB (mustard, papaya) but is different, the Calypso sauce is a bit sweeter... mixing the two of them might be closer than one of the other but maybe sweeter than IB overall.
Azorean Restaurant in Gloucester?
Sardines are regularly flown in from Portugal throughout the (long) season and available frozen all the time. Portuguese octopus imports are basically all frozen as far as I know, but I don't know about Spanish. Neither are likely from our coasts and the owner of the Azorean is in interesting character who would probably tell you where he buys from, if you or the chowmom asked. If you want to know what is being sold at the Gloucester Seafood Display Auction and generally fished locally (now renamed the Cape Ann Seafood Exchange after it was sold following many years of intrigue) NOAA reports on that weekly:
http://www.st.nmfs.noaa.gov/st1/market_news/doc31.txt
Nab is inquiring about the lapas because they are an Azorean (and Madeiran) specialty and most of the other Portuguese restaurants in the area have Continental owners so for many specialties you have to go down to Fall River. They are a bit of an acquired taste and a lot of people who will eat other mollosks, don't like them. I wasn't asking you to keep track on those there, just keep us updated on future meals (and post on the Trackside because I don't think there are any reviews less than 3 years old on that either! :-). Despite the name, the Azorean has a pretty pan-Portugal menu (and when I went a few years back had other "international" food too). They are trying to be a Portuguese bistro, not an Azorean specialty restaurant.
I don't remember the octopus as being memorable at Portugalia (or even how its prepared), so for me its not a specialty there. The real specialty there is salt cod, but they have blackboard specials in the bar (you can see part of it from the dining room, but sometimes they write one or two things above the bar I think). Thats where they sometimes put things like cod tongues (linguas de bacalhau) or cheeks (caras de bacalhau). They also have fresh fish preparations of some of their other plates -- for instance bacalhau lagareiro comes with batatas ao murro and brocolli, but they offer that plate with a pan-fried or grilled fresh fish for folks who aren't salt cod fans. Its not "polvo" (or polpo), but writing this post has given me a craving for the grilled squid and vinegar peppers at Abbondanza which was a Friday special for a long while, too bad its not physically possible to go there right now!
Update: Nab the Trackside not only has a website now, but a chef bio (who I have seen somewhere else) and he is from Funchal, so you should bug him for Lapas this summer too! :-) No peixe espada preto on the menu, though.
Azorean Restaurant in Gloucester?
As far as I know its several months early for lapas and it would be a feat to eat them raw. :-) Nab should call Courthouse for a season and then bug Portugalia twice-weekly asking if they are on the daily menu. But the gallery here wants you to keep us updated, even if that means weekly visits, and that includes the Trackside! Personally I am envious of the polvo and batatas ao murro, though, so you could report on that weekly as far as I am concerned.
Stroopwafels at Wal-Mart! (Or, World Table line of products)
I appreciate the post which is much more chowish than some responses and Market Basket brought biscoff cookies to the area for cheap, so its not a bad link you draw. There are other parallels between Walmart and Market Basket (yes including non-food topics), one being they both carry rumba brand meats from Cargill (latino oriented cuts, mostly from the 5th quarter, "never frozen"). Market Basket doesn't carry the beef cheeks, but Walmart in some areas does, so if you find one with that and curing salts (they have it in hunting areas) you could probably generate a chowhound stampede in that direction. Bonus if they offered veal bones in 3lb bags. :-) BTW, Market Basket in NH sometimes has incredible prices on Belgian and related beers like Ommegang, combine that with almost free instore lobster rolls, royal oak charcoal, and cheap live lobsters its basically Christmas shopping for cooler owners in July/August before you head to the shore.
Peri Peri Chicken
salfie there are no peri peri chicken chains in the area, however, we do have "frango de/no churrasco" which is the same idea. J+J's in Somerville definitely offers it and I recall it being pretty good, but not perfect. There are other options around Somerville, Cambridge, and Peabody but I can't think of places which specialize (eg a convenience store which used to roast once a week, restaurants which probably finish it on the charbroiler, banquets) so JJ's is my pick. If you head down to Buzzards Bay or Newport, make sure you stop at Churrascaria Aveirense on Sawyer in New Bedford which uses charcoal, and for the ride back there is Mr Chicken and several other options in Fall River. Don't ignore that we have some good Peruvian charcoal chicken options with nice spice, such as pollos a la brasa el chalan, as well as Dominican and Columbian outlets too. Lastly I thought I saw it pop up on a bistro type menu last year (piri piri), but could be confusing that.
Frango no/de churrasco is common the Portuguese festival circuit too, particularly on the South Coast and here are some dates from last year which are good guidelines for the coming year (don't know if I'll be able to compile it again):
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/786903#6567646
Chicharron in Boston
Dried pork rinds are an industrial product which are fried to make many of the skin-only fried rinds. If you want to place a large order, there is a small chance you could order it through something like Taurus Packing, Lord Jeffs, Puritan Beef but am pulling at straws.
Market Basket in Somerville sells well scraped pork skin which you can dry yourself and then fry. Serious Eats and ideas in food both cover it to some degree. This can sometimes be a bit hit or miss if the skin is on the tough side.
La Vale de La Sultana Market in Somerville sells pork belly cut for Columbian chicharron (and pre-seasoned), although you can get pork belles in other places (see other threads or go to MB) if you don't want seasoned.
Casa de Carnes Solução and any other Brazilian Açogue will sell "toicinho branco" and "toicinho com bacon" respectively just the rinds with fat and rinds (occasionally no skin) with meat.
There are carnicerias which have more of a Mexican oriented selection, but I haven't seen much in this way or looked that hard. If you are in the neighborhood Compare in Chelsea is worth a peek and there maybe better options in Lynn/Revere (there was a large carniceria with a huge selection but more Central American bent on Broadway heading out of Chelsea).
Chicharron in Boston
If you are looking for Mexican pork rind chicarron, the best I have in the area is Açougue Brasil on Middlesex in Medford. They were sort of an irregular thing they may have made in house and probably don't carry anymore, also got some in a package a bodega on Charles St in Waltham that is better than others. Outside that what you find here most is Dominican, Columbian (and Salvadoran which is like Columbian but more thinly sliced and sometimes more heavily seasoned), and Brazilian Torresmos. Peruvian and Guatemalan restaurants also have it but less consistent. All of these include more of the fat and the rind.
My rough picks
Columbian: El Kiosko. El Paisa nearby is also worth trying, but have had better luck with El Kiosko for this dish. Some others I frequented changed hands, so not many current reqs, but Columbian restaurants are worth seeking out.
Dominican: Latino Restaurant in Chelsea, Rincon Criollo in Lynn, La Casa del Chimi in Lynn is hit or miss, but I did like their Chicarron.
Portuguese (torresmo): Fernandes Fish Market, they have it on Saturdays. Generally larger pieces, they cut what you want, pick a piece with skin (not always crispy though).
Brazilian (torresmo): The torresmos on the feijão tropeiro at Oasis Restaurante in Medford are good and the rind with minimal pork. They have an appetizer portion, but I have had them serve that and also the "torresmo com bacon" or it with meat on it. You want "torresmo branco" if possible. Midwest Grill and Cafe Brazil have it on the appetizer/bar menus, but its more torresmo with bacon and not as good.
Puerto Rican: La Isla Bella in Chelsea, not quite as good as the Dominican places, but they do have mofongo with chicharron so that is of note.
Salvadoran: Montecristo Restaurant in Somerville (decently seasoned, not too tough, haven't done better with Salvadoran. Tapatio nearby isn't bad either).
Although its different, hounds overlook "chicharron de pollo" which is worth checking out at Caribbean places. For instance Izzy's in Cambridge doesn't have the best chicharron de cerdo, but their pollo is quite good. If you go out for Brazilian bar plates, the slightly similar dish "frango a passarinho" is also worth having.
Not Latino, but someone said BT's has pork rind and I have had awesome fresh pork rinds in So Carolina so worth checking out when you are on the pike.
