Port Newark: Your Global Kitchen

I know, I know, I blog about food all the time (when I manage to blog at all, that is...but hey! I've been doing pretty well lately, haven't I?). But seriously: it blows my mind that most of the people in the NY metro area have no idea that some of the best ethnic food stateside lies in dirty, grungy, forgotten-about Port Newark, behind all those gantry cranes you see from the Turnpike (one of my favorite pastimes since moving here is wondering what average, non port-working East Coasties think about ports. Do they know, for instance, that Newark is the largest container port on the East Coast? Do they wonder what goes on there? Do they say to themselves, "Huh, I wonder what those are?" when they see the cranes, or do they just not notice? If anyone has any insights, I'd be delighted to hear them). Granted, your average Joe can't just hop on board the nearest car ship and indulge in Filipino delicacies, so perhaps it's understandable that ship food doesn't get more media attention. So that's why I'm here: to draw your attention to la cuisine maritime and liven your day with accounts of what I eat for lunch. I'll break it down by country.

#1. The Philippines. You've probably never had Filipino food. I hadn't, until I started this gig, and all of a sudden things like chicken adobo, pork belly soup, and dried fried fish (to be skinned and boned by the diner, of course) were added to my list of dietary staples. To be honest, I could take or leave most of it (especially the pork belly...and sometimes hooves...) - but since 2/3 of all seafarers (and I'd guess the percentage is even higher for cooks) are Filipino, I eat an awful lot of it. Filipinos are also unfailingly hospitable (bonus). Fun fact: a recent edition of Time Out New York devoted a full page to a review of a new Filipino restaurant that just opened in Brooklyn. It cracks me up that snobby New Yorkers are paying exorbitant sums to eat fancified versions of the food I eat almost every day. For free.

#2. India. Yeah, all right, you've had Indian food before. But have you ever had real Indian food, prepared by Indians for Indians - Indians who weren't expecting an American to turn up for lunch? Totally different story. Totally different spiciness factor. Needless to say, I have devoted considerable time to cultivating the art of cunningly persuading Indian crews to feed me. Speaking some pidgin Hindi helps an awful lot (Another side note: the Hindi words for song and food are maddeningly similar, and the seafarers often think I'm asking them to play Bollywood music when I'm actually asking about lunch. Clearly, I need to work my pronunciation.). New favorite Indian dish: curried pumpkin. Absolutely out of this world.

#3. The Mediterranean Region (which here means Italy, Serbia, Montenegro, Croatia, Israel, and Greece). You find yourself a ship with a cook from one of these countries, you've hit paydirt. At least in one way. While the Mediterranean ethos lends itself fabulously to long, leisurely, and utterly delicious meals, it also lends itself (less fabulously) to ruthlessly hitting on women (nb: not trying to be racist. Having lived in Southern France for 8 months, I get that it's cultural. It still drives me CRAZY.). It's always a dilemma for me: do I eat incredible food, or do I stand up for my principles? The food usually wins. How could it not, when it's often things like homemade pasta, turkey drumsticks the size of my head, gorgeous fish, stuffed peppers, fresh donuts dripping with honey, and other things that would normally cost me more than I could afford, especially in this city? I mean, come on! Another point in food's favor: it's often accompanied by booze. Today, for instance, I was lunching on a salt ship with a Greek cook (think heaping plates of spaghetti bolognese, steak, fresh calamari and shrimp...yum.), and reached for the pitcher in front of me, assuming it was filled with water. It was not. It was filled with beer. Case closed. 

#4. The Rest of the World. The crews representing countries not mentioned above, which include but are not limited to: China, Japan, Sweden, Germany, Russia, Ukraine, and Korea are not likely to feed you. Although there are definitely exceptions, notably an all-Taiwanese ship with a female third officer who always feeds me fried rice. Even if it's 9:30 in the morning. 

Aaaand, now I'm hungry. Go figure.