Delicious or funny food related gift from Flushing to party today?
We are going to a party today with old friends and would like to bring something different than a bottle of wine to our hosts. We'd like to bring something from our town of Bayside, but there unfortunately aren't many stand out food items that travel well in Bayside.
We are so close to Flushing we thought it would be fun to get something there. We eat there often but are stumped on what would travel well and be a good party food.
Open to sweet or savory, or even cooking/ decor item, ooking to spend around $20-30 unless it's great. I generally don't love Asian deserts- though I love sesame, the sesame deserts I've had are too sweet for me. So while we're open to sweet, we are more likely to like the savory in this case.
Party will be around 20 people but what we bring doesn't have to feed all. Most important quality in this case would be fun, even funny. Any suggestions?
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Cheese Boy
Aug 11, 2012 11:22 AM
Not sure if there's much humor in this, but there certainly is quality. I would get perhaps a dozen or more red bean buns from the Tianjin stall at Savor Fusion 42-01 Main St, Flushing. The buns closely resemble Dou Sha Shao Bings as seen here --> http://wlteef.blogspot.com/2010/09/do... Excellent quality, delicious filling. Peanut butter buns available also, but tend to be a bit dry. The Red bean are much more moist and better. (Both resemble donuts). IIRC, they are less than $1.50 a piece.
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Hi arugala,
At the big Asian grocery store nearest to what used to be the Palace Diner at the corner of Horace Harding Expressway and Main Street (north side of LIE), I've bought Ritz Cracker sandwiches with fluorescent yellow custard-flavored creme filling. Savory, sweet, weird and scrumptious.
Alternatively, at the Philipino grocery store on Union Turnpike at 168th street I've purchased sugar-covered, chocolate CRACKERS - not cookies. Crisp and quite delicious. The same brand also makes these saltine-esque rectangles in ensaymayada (sweet cheese) and ube flavors. These last ones are purple.
Funny enough?
Ciao,
Glendale is hungry...
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re: arugala
Hi arugala,
It turns out I misspelled it. "Ensaymada" is how is usually spelled in the Philippines. Here's a description from Wikipedia:
"In the Philippines, a Spanish colony for over 300 years; the Majorcan ensaïmada (commonly spelled ensaymada in Tagalog and Cebuano) has evolved over the centuries and is perhaps one the most common delicacies in that country, the ensaymada is a brioche made with butter instead of lard, and topped with grated cheese (usually aged Edam, known locally as keso de bola) and sugar."
So, it seems that it's more the name of a type of pastry than a flavor but I assure you, them thar crackers' flavor was called ensaymada and was both cheesy and a little sweet.
Ube is a purple yam often used in the Philippines as a sweet (ube jam, ube ice cream, etc.).
Of the things I mentioned, my favorite was the chocolate crackers, followed closely by the Ritz custard sandwiches, then the ensaymada crackers (by far the most unusual flavor) and then the ube crackers (not bad but the main reason to get these is the shocking color - also found in ube cakes in filipino bakeries).
Have fun at your party!
Ciao,
Glendale is hungry...
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re: arugala
JungMann
Aug 13, 2012 11:59 AM
Ube is purple yam. It has a flavor similar to taro crossed with, well, yams. If you think sesame desserts are too sweet, you probably won't like ube (usually mashed and sweetened, sometimes also made into confections and ice cream).
Ensaymada is a very light and fluffy pastry, similar to brioche. Like its Spanish forebears, it's slathered with butter and dusted with sugar when it comes out of the oven, however, in a uniquely Filipino twist, it is also topped with mild grated cheese.
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