The Waterbury Democrat., 1934-11-15
In New York
By PAUL HARRISON

By PAUL HARRISON New York.-where foods con cerned, no nation in the world IS more than few minutes supWay
 ride for any epicurean New Yorker.
 Even in the Times Square dis eign restaurants which strive nightly for authenticity in their dishes. But the curries are not as hot as the folk of India would have them, and Spanish recipes become almost pepperless to please the placid palates of Amer jeans.
 At the WiveI, which is Swedish, there's the most marvellous selec- tion of smorgasbord in all New York. Smorgasbord is hors d'oeuvres, and there are exactly 7S items for selection. The Russian places are all right, with plenty of borsch, red caviar and bala- laika music, but they haven't quite the flavor of the Second avenue restaurants which are patroniZcd by Russians. You may find suki- yaki, but it isn't the same flavor some mess of meat. bambro sprouts, beau curds. onions. nue. rooms and strong condiments that's cooked right on your teh'aA at Miyako's, on West 58th street. China on Broadway -.r Broadway is dotted with Chi nese restaurants under Semitic ownership which specialize in such Oriental delicacies as roast becf
 with French-fried potatoes. There is one, and just one, which pre- tends to bring to the Main stem all the finest dishes you could find
 in Canton. It has an eight-page menu listing POT items. You can
 sweet, pungent chicken; Lun Gai Sung Chee, or Chicken Juice with Valuable Fish Wings Mixed Together; or a $3.50 specially
 called "One Chicken in Three
 Styles"
 I would like this place lot better if its name were not quite
 so indigestible. It is identified, so help me, as the Chew Chow Pal ace.
 Down in Chinatown. fortunately, | it is possible to find viands just as rare. and rice and rose wines quite as tasty. And it's much more re- assuring to sit in the company of
 Chinese diners who know what's
 what.
 It's fun to wander among the
 shops of the foreign quarters. ask l ing questions about the strange
 foods displayed there. Almost al- ways the proprietors seem pleased to explain. as best they can, the varied virtues of their wares. Chinese groceries are cleanest, but smell the worst because of the
 dried fish and fawl they sell.
 Shark fins. can promise you, are a treat. Birds'-nest soup is pal atable too, if one doesn't know at
 the time just what it is.
 Have Some Octopus
 little Italy, where east and west meet in a mutual passion for | octopus, devil fish, cutie fish and ] squid, which are all pretty much the same thing. am one wSo
 can take a devil fish or leave 1t alone, but 1t seems that others | feel differently about them. M:' Louis Arbucci, a Mulberry street merchant, becomes quite inarticu- late in trying to describe the suc- culence of his smaller calamai (anothcr name for them) when they're dipped in batter and broiled in ollie oil.
 When you get into the adult
 class of octopi, only the tenacle.;
 are eaten and they must be boiled until they lose the consistency of
 hose. The Chinese prepare theri
 better than the Italians. Spanish
 or Syrians. Syrian and Armenian cooking-as much as I've had of | it. seems to be mostly mutton, account for the look of faint dis l pie.
 No Sugar
 Greek quarters are scattered through many sections of
 Manhattan, but like the one oil West 10th street, where there are 37 shops within a block. Nearly
 all of these folk are from Cyprus and many of them came in as Brit-
 ish immigrants after Great Bri- tain annexed the island in 1914. In the old days they had no su- ger, and even now they sweeten everything with honey. Honey in scores of flavors and vintages. Pistachio nuts, fruits,i even rose petals. are packed in honey, too. ;. '. The national confection IS helva, a paste made of honey and ground sesame seeds. Those seeds, incidentally. have been used for centuries from the Orient to Gen. tral Europe and only now are win- ming some recognition in Ameri- can confectionery Another staple we ought to get acquainted with is the fava bean. They're as large as oysters, and half a Ha1ax, a.a aras,Ua f0r flanch