Yes, Patacon Pisao, home of the smiling green spokesplantain, has hallacas.

Patacon Pisao, the wonderful Venezuelan snack shop in Maspeth, has been touting its “special holiday bread” a/k/a pan de jamón on its Facebook lately. “Stuffed with Smoked Ham, Regular Ham, Bacon, Raisins, and Olives…The taste is unbelievable,” the wall post reads. Who could resist such a mouthwatering come-on? Certainly not me, so I ventured there last week.

While waiting to order a slice of pan de jamón (a 3-pound loaf runs $25), I noticed the sign above. “Que es un hallaca,” I asked the guy behind the counter in badly accented, but serviceable, Spanish. “It’s a special tamale we make at this time of year,” he replied in English. “It’s got beef, pork, olives, raisins, and all sorts of other stuff in it.” After being told that it’s served with chicken salad and a slice of pan de jamon—all for $10—I was sold. Well, maybe not so sold on the salada gallina, after all chicken salad screams neither Christmas cheer nor deliciousness.

I put in my fork and pulled out a plum, what a good tamale it was.

The gigantic yuletide tamale arrived swaddled in a banana leaf with a mound of salada de gallina. (Sadly they were out of pan de jamón.) The tamale itself had an orange-yellow hue thanks  to a healthy dose of annatto oil. Red peppers, green olives, and bits of meat were visible through the surface.

For some reason I was reminded of Dinty Moore beef stew. Perhaps it was the potatoes and big chunks of beef and pork.  In addition to the meat and potatoes, olives, and red peppers there were at least five other ingredients. Olives, capers, chickpeas, and green peppers took care of the savory end of the spectrum with raisins and plums adding a cheery sweetness. A soft black plum that I plucked out with my fork brought to mind Little Jack Horner and his Christmas pie.

Savory and sweet, the hallaca was delicious. The chicken salad was just that, nothing more, nothing less. All in all it was a festive, filling lunch even without the Christmas ham bread.

Patacon Pisao, 85-22 Grand Ave., Elmhurst, 718-899-8922

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Patacon Pisao's cachapa Zuliana is chock full of cheesy goodness.

In the leadup to the Village Voice’s Choice Eats tasting event on March 22, World’s Fare will profile each of the six Queens participants. Last week we took a look at Xi’an Famous Foods; today it’s Patacon Pisao, the borough’s only Venezuelan eatery.

“El Verdadero Sabor de la Comida Venezolano,” or “the true taste of Venezuelan cuisine,” reads the awning outside Patacon Pisao. The snack specialist is named after the patacón, a popular Venezuelan street food. The hefty sandwiches are made from twice-fried disks of plantain that act as a bun. I am a huge fan of the carne mechada patacón ($5), which consists of shredded beef, topped with ketchup, mayo and the restaurant’s special sauce (made from a secret combination of veggies). I was somewhat disappointed to learn from the owner Liliana Albia that this gloriously messy and delicious sandwich will not be served at Choice Eats. Instead Albia will offer cachapas and tacuchos, two other Venezuelan snacks that I tried for the first time earlier this week.

Patacon Pisao has eight kinds of cachapas, or sweet corn cakes, including pollo, carne mechada and pernil. When asked which was more traditional, Albia enthusiastically recommended the Zuliana. (Albia and her mother, Alba, hail from the city of Maracaibo, which lies within the state of Zuliana.) It consists of two semicircles of slightly crunchy sweet corn cake cradling a filling of pleasantly gooey mozzarella. It’s topped with sour cream and crumbled queso salada, or salty cheese. Sweet, cheesy, corny, and utterly delicious. Albia told me that back home the cachapa Zuliana would be filled with queso di mano, a handmade cheese. Since it’s too expensive to import, she has subbed in mozzarella.

Patacon Pisao’s full tacucho oozes queso fundido.

“When you eat one tacucho, you want to eat more because of the queso fundido,” Albia said of the way the melted white American cheese combines with the fillings. I opted for the full tacucho ($5.50). Full is the operative word here. The burrito-like treat comes stuffed with pernil, pollo and carne mechada. Lettuce, tomatoes, special sauce and ketchup balance out the meaty trifecta.

Patacon Pisao will also serve tres leches cake for dessert at Choice Eats this year. You might want to hit their table early in the evening because if the cake as good as their snacks it will likely fly off their table.

Patacon Pisao, 85-22 Grand Ave., Elmhurst, 718-899-8922

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New Park Pizza, my favorite for old-school slices, was one of many places mentioned by the panel of esteemed eaters at the Edible Winter Warm-up on January 24.

Sunday’s first annual Edible Winter Warm-Up at L haus was a hit with music and plenty of local restaurants and purveyors representing. I enjoyed everything I tried—especially Testaccio’s pasta e fagioli—but the highlight of the day was the food for thought served up by the panel on The Queens Food Scene. Joining me were Lee Anne Wong, a former Top Chef contestant who now consults for the show; Josh Ozersky, food writer and founder of Ozersky.TV; Zora O’Neill, co-author of Forking Fantastic! Put the Party Back in Dinner Party; and Dave Cook, the man behind the wonderful blog Eating in Translation. Cook provided a slideshow with photos of everything from Malaysian food festivals to taquerias. Before things got started I asked by show of hands how many people in the packed room lived in Queens and practically everyone proudly raised their hand. A lively discussion featuring everything from the borough’s best burger to Thai groceries that sell crickets and a Venezuelan snack shop that specializes in shredded beef sandwiches served on fried plaintain buns ensued. 

The slideshow sparked a debate about the borough’s best pizza. My pick was New Park Pizza in Howard Beach. Sure, it’s old school, but it’s great. Both Wong and Ozersky cited Sac’s Place in Astoria for its great coal oven pies. Ozersky also called out Nick’s Pizza in Forest Hills. O’Neill lauded Rosario’s Deli in Astoria as having the “pizza of her youth.” Never been to that one, but it’s now on my to-eat list.

Then we chatted about Astoria for a bit. Wong called out Ali el Sayed of Kabab Café for his Egyptian home cooking and Bistro 33 for its refined French-Asian cuisine. I enjoy the fiery fare at Poodam’s, Cook’s pick for Thai, but his mention of the Halal Sandwich Shop on Steinway Street stumped me. O’Neill tipped the audience off to Agnanti for Greek and Djerdan for its bureks. Meat maven Ozersky mentioned Greek Cypriot restaurant BZ Grill for its utterly delicious pork gyro. He also cited Joe’s Best Burger in Flushing as Queens’ best. To be honest, I spend so much time eating regional Chinese food in downtown Flushing that I scarcely notice the fast-food looking place that shares my name. For steakhouses, Ozersky’s pick was Argentine meat specialist La Portena in Jackson Heights, particularly for its mixed grill. He also called out Café Arzu, which lies literally around the corner from World’s Fare HQ, for its Bukharian-style lamb and beef kebabs.

 On the subject of street food I pointed out the Ecuadorean vendors on Warren Street off Roosevelt Avenue in Jackson Heights and Ozersky kvelled about the dollar kebabs from the Traditional Xinjiang Barbecue cart located near Kissena and Main Street, or as he likes to call it, the Mutton Man. Patacon Pisao, a spot in Elmhurst serving carne mechada patacón, a shredded beef sandwich that I like to think of as Venezuela’s answer to the Big Mac, was Cook’s pick. And O’Neill raved about the Egyptian kebab guy on 30th Avenue just west of Steinway.   

 The Q&A session with the audience also unearthed some gems, including the row of Korean restaurants known as Eater’s Alley, located in Murray Hill on 149 Street on the south side of Northern Boulevard, which I can’t wait to explore. When an audience member asked about vegetarian fare, EQ’s publisher, Leah McLaughlin, suggested Sripaphai’s separate vegetarian menu. My pick was the Temple Canteen inside the Ganesh temple on Bowne Street in Flushing for its gigantic dosai, or rice and lentil flour crepes. A question regarding Italian food yielded the following list of faves: Manducatis, Sapori d'Ischia, Parkside, Manetta's, Don Peppe's, Manducatis Rustica, and Trattoria L'Incontro.

Even though some 20 restaurants were mentioned during the hourlong panel, we barely managed to scratch the surface of the food scene in Queens. Next year I’m holding out for a daylong seminar.

Keep on eating,

Joe DiStefano

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