THE APPLE OF OUR EYE
ELMHURST - For a city known as “The Big Apple,” New York has little connection to its namesake fruit. Most people have no idea that one of the country’s oldest and most loved apple varieties, the Newtown Pippin—dubbed “The Prince of Apples” by Thomas Jefferson, who exported saplings to his Monticello estate— has its roots deep in Elmhurst.
Erik Baard, a Long Island City–based environmentalist, is on a mission to change that. Since 2006, Baard has spearheaded a local movement to plant Newtown Pippin saplings across the city and state. “I’m trying to remind New Yorkers of our agricultural heritage one tree at a time,” explains Baard, the borough’s own Johnny Appleseed.
The project started several years ago when Baard’s close friend David Kitsner, CEO of Green Apple Cleaners, an eco-friendly dry cleaning service based in Manhattan, shared his interest in planting trees to offset some of his business’s carbon footprint. “Then Erik told me about the Newtown Pippin, and I knew we had to use this tree, which has so much local significance,” explains Kitsner, a Bayside resident.
The Newtown Pippin—a pippin is an apple grown spontaneously from seed—first took root in the Newtown section of Queens, now Elmhurst, in the 1700s, and was almost universally lauded as one of the best-tasting apples ever grown. But it was never the prettiest, thanks to its blotchy green hue and irregular shape. During the Civil War, Southerners renamed it the Albermarle Pippin; later, the town of Newtown changed its name to Elmhurst. “There were no more dots to connect,” says Baard, and the Newtown Pippin nearly disappeared from the local landscape.
But now, the Newtown Pippin is making a comeback, thanks to Baard’s tireless promotion and funding from Green Apple Cleaners and Slow Food USA. Over the last two years, 100 Newtown Pippin saplings have been planted in premier public spaces, institutions, neighborhood schools and community gardens. “I want them in every park, school and street,” says Baard. GreenThumb, MillionTreesNYC and the Greenbelt Native Plant Center have agreed to care for the trees as they grow. While the newly planted saplings won’t bear fruit for another few years, Whole Foods Market is already in talks to carry their progeny.
But the biggest news of all may come this fall. This past summer, Councilman James Gennaro, the Fresh Meadows–based environmental chairman of the City Council, introduced a resolution designating the Newtown Pippin as the official apple of New York City. A ruling is expected this fall. “This apple represents both our agricultural past and our future,” says Gennaro. “And the fact that it’s green—symbolizing where we’re going as a sustainable city—that’s an important connection to make.”
Written by Rachel Meltzer Warren with additional reporting by Jamie Feldmar
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BREAD TO DIE FOR
JACKSON HEIGHTS - For those who’ve never celebrated el Dia de los Muertos—the Day of the Dead—stepping into one of the Mexican bakeries in Jackson Heights toward the end of October can be a little overwhelming. Every year, preparations for the holiday fill the shops lining Roosevelt Avenue: Sugar skeletons and marigolds twirl from the ceiling, and families race to and fro with trays full of neon-hued pastries. Bakers on both sides of the border know that the best way to tempt anyone—dead or alive—is with good bread. The lure of choice on el Dia de los Muertos: the exquisitely sweet, cinnamonscented pan de muerto.
At its most basic, pan de muerto is a small circular boule adorned with strips of dough arranged atop the surface in an X shape to resemble bones. The dough is enriched with butter, eggs and sugar and is most commonly flavored with cinnamon and anise, though orange and vanilla are occasionally used. Depending on the region in which it’s prepared, pan de muerto can also be shaped into skulls and whole skeletons, and decorated with colored sugars and icings.
Although the annual celebration of the departed happens to share a date—November 2—with the Christian All Souls Day, el Dia de los Muertos finds its roots in the ancient Aztec celebration of the goddess Mictecacihuatl, known as the “Lady of the Dead.” Across Mexico, elaborate feasts are prepared, homes and streets are decorated with hundreds of happy and well-dressed skeletons and the dead are VIP guests. Similar celebrations for the deceased are held across parts of Central and South America, as well.
In preparation for el Dia de los Muertos, most people buy pan de muerto from a local bakery. Families bring the bread home to enjoy with a hot chocolate and coffee, and, of course, the vivid memories of their late loved ones.
“About a week before the holiday, we start getting a lot of special orders,” says David Orduna, owner of Cholula Bakery in Jackson Heights. “During the rest of the year, we’ll make a few, but during the holiday we have five people making only pan de muerto all day. People call in to get 150 pan de muertos to bring to church. In the last week of October, we sell probably 5,000 pieces, at a dollar each.” During el Dia de los Muertos, Cholula turns out elaborate skeleton-shaped, red-sugar-encrusted pan de muerto, as do many neighboring bakeries.
Cholula Bakery, 88-06 Roosevelt Ave., Jackson Heights, 718-533-1171
Mexicana Bakery, 88-04 Roosevelt Ave., Jackson Heights, 718-507-6381
Coatzingo Bakery, 76-11 Roosevelt Ave., Jackson Heights, 718-429-4160
Written by Maggie DeMenna
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THE ICE IS RIGHT
LONG ISLAND CITY - Giuseppe Gonzalez, nattily attired in suspenders and a bow tie, is smashing a 40-pound block of ice into bits. Positioning a chisel in the middle of the chunk, he windmills his arm around and smacks the enormous cube with a hammer. Shards of the frozen stuff fly everywhere, splintering off and dusting the surface of the bar. After several minutes of chipping away, Gonzalez cradles a perfect fist-sized cube, drops it into his cocktail shaker, and swings his arms above his head, the ice rattling away.
“It’s simple—the best drink starts with the best ice,” he says. Moments later, he pours a perfectly balanced Manhattan into a rocks glass, the amber liquor caressing all sides of the mighty cube. “Ice is the most important part of a drink. You have to understand the ice to understand the drink,” he says.
And he should know. Gonzalez is one of the highly trained bartenders at the newly opened Dutch Kills Bar in Long Island City (the name reflects the Dutch name of an arm of the nearby Newtown Creek). Done up in the style of a 1920s Prohibition-era speakeasy, Dutch Kills Bar specializes in precise cocktails, from classic Manhattans to newer concoctions like the Water Lily, made with gin, Cointreau, lemon juice and violet liqueur. But before the drinks are poured, they’re paired with one of eight different styles of ice—shaking, sipping, stirring, crushed, cubes, rocks, Collins or Scotsman. And while the bar makes some of its own ice, the majority comes from Natuzzi Brothers, a Springfield Gardens–based ice distributor that’s been in Queens for close to 50 years.
Richard Boccato, co-owner of Dutch Kills Bar, spent months researching the best ice. He says, “Drink durability is a big focus here. The drink fuse is lit the moment the ice hits the shaker—the game is afoot, and ice is paramount to ensuring the life of that drink.”
Natuzzi Brothers manufactures its ice by a process of slow-freezing purified tap water at 24 to 32 degrees over the course of two days. The blocks are frozen in place in a mold and hoisted out with a special ice crane, then shipped around the country in refrigerated trucks. The result is crystal-clear, slow-melting ice that makes for premium cocktails. Three times a week, Natuzzi delivers a 300-pound “cake” of ice to the bar, which is broken down into eight large blocks. The bar goes through three to four blocks every night, with bartenders cutting away with a special Japanese saw and hammering the blocks into drink-sized chunks.
Eventually, Boccato hopes to turn Dutch Kills Bar into a “virtual ice factory,” where all the ice is produced on-site. But for now, he says, “I’ll stick with Natuzzi—they’re simply the best.”
Dutch Kills Bar, 27-24 Jackson Ave., Long Island City, 718-383-2724
Written by Jamie Feldmar
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