The Haitian Beef Patty War

            It had been close to a year since I last had a Haitian patty and last weekend the craving struck me so much that I had to make the journey to Jamaica, Queens to pick some up. With the lady away in Haiti for 2011, there's was nothing that would bring me to that area, so I wasn't having any patties at all. The patties were a normal weekend ritual and each time tasted as good as the first time I tried them. I was planning on brining Leo to the park that very same day, but the sudden craving forced me to call an audable, so I ended up brining Leo with me for a ride to Queens, and then after we would go to the park.

            Haitian patties themselves aren't expensive, but since I had to go over the bridge my appetite was adding an extra thirteen-dollars to the food. The place we always go to is called Le Bon Pain and its located on Jamaica Avenue off of 212th St.(you may require a degree in scientific engineering to understand a Queens street map). Typically when going there the line is nearly out the door, and the place is so popular there's cars double-parked all along the front street. Plus, there's the usual hustle and bustle of Jamaica Avenue with cars, livery cabs, dollar vans, police cars, buses, and in the summer, Mister Softee trucks, flying all over the place. When the traffic gets near the double-parked cars in front of Le Bon Pain, its a real demolition derby. Each time I approach the block I'm worried over losing a side-mirror or just having a bus cream me from the other side of the street as I make a left turn. There's lots of red lights on Jamaica Avenue, and everyone is in a rush to not get caught by one. As I made my approach this time towards the Le Bon Pain Bakery and was only a block away, I looked to my left and saw a big flag of Haiti that caught my attention. Taking a closer look, the flag was in front of another bakery I never saw before, the Abou Bakery. Like I said, it had been about a year since I last was around that area, was someone bold enough openly challenge Le Bon Pain?

             As usual there were cars crammed all over and finding parking was impossible, I ended up parking three blocks away on some residential street. Knowing Le Bon Pain was likely to have its typical long line and a fifteen minute wait, plus I had interest in seeing the new kid on the block, I had to worry about Leo in the car. Usually he just hides under the seat when he's in the car, but what if he panics that I'm gone so long and ends up going to the bathroom in the car? Or what happens if someone decides they want to borrow my car and end up adopting Leo too? There was certainly some pressure involved in the visiting of these two bakeries. I first went to the mainstay of Le Bon Pain, and as I expected the line was all the way to the entrance, in fact my back was pressed against the glass door. There were nearly twenty-five people on the line, but with two cashiers working the registers I was hoping it would go fast. Although the patties are their bread-n-butter, it is a full bakery that specializes in wedding cakes, regular cakes, breads, and all sorts of Haitian treats. I even saw red velvet slices of cake added to their menu, but I had to give those a break as it seems I'm eating red velvet every week. The wait on the line only came out to about ten minutes, and the patties I ordered were two beef(my favorite), one chicken, and one fish. The total for all four patties came out to a very modest three-dollars.

             Once I was outside I had to choose between checking on Leo in the car, or going to the new bakery first and then heading back to the car. I never seen inside the Abou Bakery before, so I had no idea if their line would be as long as Le Bon Pain's. I figured since the place is probably new, its likely they don't draw as many customers and I'll be in-n-out quickly, so I decided to head over to Abou Bakery. Once again my instinct served me well as there were only two other people inside when I got there. They weren't sure yet what they wanted, so I got to go first. I ordered one beef and one chicken patty. The girl behind the counter informed me they just ran out of the chicken, but luckily one of the cooks in the kitchen overheard my order and came out with a fresh chicken patty for me. The two patties came out to two dollars, whereas at Le Bon Pain I got four patties for three dollars. Now with a total of six Haitian patties in my clutches, I headed back to my car and happily saw it was still there. In fact, Leo had left his usual hiding spot under my seat and was walking around the inside of there car. As I promised, I brought Leo to the park for about an hour, we actually had to cut the event short because it was starting to get chilly. Also, I couldn't wait to get home and try the patties from each of these bakeries to find out who has the best.

            Since the patties were in the back seat of my car while I was at the park with Leo, they got a little cold(patties are served warm). I took one patty from each bakery, placed them in a plate, and heated them in the oven for a few minutes. To make it an even contest, I decided to use the beef ones from both so its similar flavors. First up was Le Bon Pain, I noticed they fold their patties higher which causes the insides to pour out a little. I took my first Haitian beef patty bite in a long time and it was as good as I remembered, it seemed Le Bon Pain hadn't lost its touch. Next up was Abou Bakery, compared to Le Bon Pain it seems they fold their patties more completely which covers the inside meat entirely, and gives it a longer look. I had a bite of Abou's, and I needed to take a second one immediately to confirm, it tasted nearly identical to Le Bon Pain's. I took another bite of the Le Bon Pain patty and it indeed they both tasted the same. Overall the Le Bon Pain patties seem to contain more meat inside and have a firmer pastry texture, plus turned out to be priced lower, but I have to say it would be very difficult to tell the difference if I was blindfolded. Customers are usually very loyal to their bakery, so despite the long lines and wonderful parking conditions out front, Le Bon Pain should have no problem maintaining their dominance, but they can't get sloppy otherwise the Abou Bakery can offer a patty just as good to attract the wandering stomach.

              With the six patties I bought from both bakeries, the real winner from this contest was me...

Special Video Edition: Liver Done My Way

                           The all video edition of me doning a blue-flower apron and cooking liver.

                        Get out a pen and paper and take down the ingrediants to this exquisite dish.

                                          Special thanks to Casey for all his diligent work!!!

                             CLICK HERE to be brought to YouTube to watch cooking video

Looking At Plants All Day Must Be Boring

            As this miraculous warm winter continues, the tempurature for Friday was predicted to reach up into the low 50's, so that put me in the mood to be outdoors. I pondered with the though of waking up early and just driving somewhere outside the city limits, but watching a movie late the night before and not getting up until 10:30am the next morning ended that plan very quickly. Behind door number two was enjoying the nice day and being out in nature of a more local level, so I decided to drop by the New York Botanical Garden. My last time there had to have been in the 5th grade back in 1992, so its safe to say I was due for a return.

            Knowing I would have a great deal of walking to do ahead of me, and the fact I had no breakfast, I first went to the Pelham Bay Diner nearby to get a big meal into my stomach. As soon as I looked at the menu I received the sudden urge to try something new, and with that, try something that seemed like the stupidest option available. Based on those parameters I selected the southern fried waffle which was a belgian waffle with two eggs and fried chicken breast, which actually turned out to be three chicken fingers. I sat at the counter for the purpose of not leaving a big tip. Usually if I sit at a counter at a diner to eat, I'll only leave two dollars as a tip, unlike a table where I typically leave three dollars. With my food I also ordered an iced tea, and when I was almost finished with it she asked if I wanted another. I wasn't sure if refills were free or not, so I just waived it off and declined. When I was done with the food as well as the iced tea, without asking she just took the glass and refilled it, so either refills are free or she just let me have one extra as maybe the manager wasn't around. It was a nice gesture of her part, so when it came time for the check I decided to go one dollar above the usual counter tip and give her three bucks.

            I did have fifteen dollars of cash of me, but not wanting to use the cash I paid with my debit card, and asked the cashier to exchange my five-dollar bill for singles, so I would have three to give to the waitress as a tip. With everything at the diner finished, I was left over with twelve dollars cash. The drive to the botanical garden was only ten minutes away and when I reached the parking lot, I was somewhat surprised to see parking wasn't free, they charge twelve dollars, so there went the rest of my cash. After leaving the car I saw the big sign for the New York Botanical Garden entrance, and it dawned on me its the Botanical Garden with no letter "s" at the end, I always thought and always spoke as if it was the Botanical Gardens with the "s", so already I learned something. Using my debit card I paid the twenty-dollar entrance fee, which is twice as much as the Brooklyn Botanical Garden I visited a couple of months ago. Once inside I realized the place was twice as large as the one in Brooklyn, so twice the fee started to make more sense. Thought it was a nice day, it wasn't nearly as warm as I thought it would be, and I did under dress a tad, plus didn't bring my hat, therefore felt a little chilly. Needing to get warm, I stopped off at the cafe before beginning my journey to get a large cup of coffee. The day before I swore off having coffee for a long while as I felt my heart powering the east coast electrical grid, but this was a special situation, so I used my debit card again to make the $2.18 purchase.

            The coffee turned out to be a total disaster that I ended up throwing out before I was even halfway finished. First of all, it wasn't even that warm, the coffee itself tasted like dirt, and the stirers they had were too short to accomodate the large cups, so all the sweetness was stuck at the bottom. There was a girl in the information booth who looked absolutely bored out of her mind, so I contemplated giving her something to do by asking for a map, but I declined and figured I would just wing-it. The first major exhibit I saw was inside the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory, which is basically the Garden's main attraction, and that was their Carrbean Garden display. The entrance had a donation box with a whole two dollars inside, if I could reach inside I would have a counter tip for the next time I go to a diner. This particular display was made up of plants and trees that can be found in the Carribean Islands and parts of South America. There was even a makeshift medicine-man hut built to show how tropical witchdoctors and healers set up shop. The best part about the conservatory is that its a heated greenhouse, so it was a good way to warm up and make up for that terrible cup of coffee. There were other items inside the conservatory, but from where I was there was a sign saying it was closed due to repairs, so I just left. Once I was outside, I noticed there were other people inside the other parts of the conservatory, but I couldn't figure out how they got there. I tried one other door which was locked, so seeing the situation as hopeless, I carried on to another area.

             The second building I came upon was the Mertz Library, and although it didn't seem like a place that would house plants, I decided to check it out. When I entered there was a guard sitting at a desk who also looking bored out of his mind. The lobby had a small exhibit of orchids, but overall this library was for researchers and staff members, it wasn't a place to see plants, so I left. As I walked past a tree out front I heard an unfamiliar bird chirp, so it made me look up, and to my delight it was a cardinal. The last cardinal I had seen previously was actually at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden, and there were many of them there. For some reason it seems these types of birds just like these Botanical Garden places. Soon after I heard more unfamiliar bird noises and in the trees I saw a bird with blue feathers. At first I thought it was a bluejay, but this was a little smaller so it had to be some type of finch. It was quite unique for these parts and I can't recall ever seeing a blue bird around here like that one. Lastly, I encounters some robins, and when you see those that's the sign spring should be right around the corner. From that point there were about three different paths I could've took, and it was then I began to regret I didn't take a map. I selected one path that brought me to the Bronx River, which cuts into the Botanical Garden as well as the neighbor across the street, the Bronx Zoo. There was a nice waterfall as well as rapids downstream that gave off a pleasant sound with the mix of birds and squirrels.

            There's benches all over the place for people to sit down, rest, and enjoy the surrounds, so I walked closer to the water and took a seat. A few minutes later a teenage couple was heading in my direction, and I'm not sure if there were looking for a private place to do whatever, so I cut my break short and moved onto the trail. Soon enough I came upon an outside garden as well as another greenhouse, but this greenhouse was locked at all entrances. I kept walking and walking and wasn't seeing any other buildings. There were maps at the certain points of the paths, but none of them had the usual, 'You Are Here' sign, so reading the map was totally useless. When there were still no other buildings around I realized that this Botanical Garden is more of an outdoor venue, where was the one in Brooklyn has more indoor areas. Once I felt I wasn't missing out on anything by not seeing indoor exhibits, I was able to enjoy the trees, rocks, and scenary around me as I continued on the path. It brought me back to the Bronx River a second time, but at this location the waters were calm and there was even a duck swimming downstream. The air grew chillier and the sun was beginning to set, so I needed to hurry up and see if there was anything else around. There was, the children's section, with yet another worker in the entrance booth looking half asleep and bored to death. After that I was ready to leave for the day, but as I got closer to the exit it was bothering me that I wasn't able to see the rest of the inside of that initial conservatory, knowing other people found their way in there somehow. Instead of walking straight out, I took a right and headed back to the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory.

            This time the donation box near the entrance had a whole four dollars inside instead of just two. I walked past the Carribean Garden section and finally found the other entrance to reach the other parts of the conservatory. Similar to the Brooklyn one, there were two large manmade ponds with giant goldfish inside, but not as many goldfish as the the Brooklyn-version. The inside was also set up in a similar manner; There was a desert room, warm climate room, medium climate room, etc. There was also a staircase leading downstairs and a very intruiging hallway that looked like some underground tunnel a James bond villan would use to get to their headquarters. I was quite templated to walk down this hallway to find out what was on the other side, but something about made it seem like it was for employees only, so I left not knowing the answer to that mystery. I still wasn't sure if I saw everything there was to see at the Botanical Garden, according to the maps of the side of the path, there looked to be alot of different attractions, and I doubt I saw them all, but I figured it was probably getting near closing time, so I headed back towards my car. Empty was the information booth the first bored worker was standing in a few hours earlier, so I was positive the place was about to close. My legs were killing me from all that walking and I couldn't wait to get home and take a nap.

             Although if I took nap right there at the Botanical Garden, someone would've mistaken me for an employee...