Foodie on Duty – Brooklyn Flea Market

At the Brooklyn Flea Market, everything but actual fleas are on the market. Early 20th century bicycles cozy up next to a theater of candy-colored plush furniture straight from the era of Gilligan’s Island and I Dream of Jeannie. When you wade past all that threadbare vintage clothing, it isn’t uncommon to come across an armless, legless doll for sale or dusty children’s books from the late 19th century cloaked in dust and mildew. Amid the commercial circus, the smell of the grill demands for your attention, and, if you’re an obediently wise, you will make a straight beeline for the food in response.

In the back, you will see long lines in wait for frying pupusas and fresh huaraches. Homemade sour cherry, blueberry and apple pies bathe in the sun while lemon basil ices promise cool relief from the late summer heat. I opted to line up at a bakery stand that was also taking orders for a neighboring grilled sandwicherie – that way I could order lunch and dessert. For $1.75, I got a raspberry vanilla cupcake and for $7.50 I ordered a grilled lamb sandwich on a pita. While I waited for my made-to-order sandwich, I munched on my cupcake – which was bought more for its bargain price than for its looks.

When my teeth hit the top of the treat, there was a sugary shatter. To my surprise, it was raspberry icing, not frosting. To those not in the know, frosting is more heavily butter or shortening-based, whereas icing is almost all confectioner’s sugar made into a thick glaze that hardens over time. Frosting is something one will find on a birthday cake, icing is something one will find on a cinnamon roll. So instead of something soft and buttery, I was encountering something hard and tooth achingly sweet. Although the icing was a pretty pink color and I could see flecks of real raspberries, there was hardly a hint of fruity flavor. The cupcake itself was rich and buttery in flavor – like a Sara Lee pound cake – but the texture was much like the topping: dry and crumbly.

I fared much better with the lamb sandwich. Hot slices of moist and heavily marinated lamb joined a party of fresh pico de gallo, roasted eggplant and red peppers, red onion, pickled peppers, yogurt sauce and goat cheese. The salty lamb and bits of cheese were balanced out by the strong flavors imparted by the sour pickles and yogurt sauce. The fresh tomatoes and lime juice in the pico de gallo cut through the grease and lightened up the overall taste. Though the pita itself was cold, I wasn’t mad at the grill master, who had 20 orders to fill and only himself to rely on.

But having been disappointed by my failed cupcake, I went in search for tastier desserts. The canneolis I encountered were filled with the smoothest cream kissed with a touch of lemon, and the brownie “brunettes” I picked up from the Hot Blondies vendors were the fudgiest treats I had tasted in a while. But what tickled my fancy the most were the nieves at the Chida stand.

Nieves – which translates into “snow” in Spanish – are Mexican milk or water-based ices that are made in spinning steel canisters sitting in huge tubs of ice and rock salt. The flavors of the day were hibiscus watermelon, cucumber jalapeno, Mexican coffee and cajeta – which is a goat milk-based caramel. The hibiscus watermelon was refreshing while the cucumber jalapeno tasted like an ice cold cucumber salad. Since I was in the mood for sweeter things, I opted for a $4.00 cup that was half coffee and half cajeta.

The coffee had a faint taste and was more like leche con café than café con leche. If it were closer to fall, I would have preferred a stronger coffee flavor, but in the 90-degree weather, watery, milky coffee slush seemed to be just what the doctor ordered. The standout of the flavors was most definitely the cajeta, which was a sweet and salty milky treat that was heavy on the caramel flavor.

Although the afternoon was still young and there were more strange and colorful items to peruse and homemade goodies to sample, I could no longer take the intensity of the heat. So, cup in hand, I made my way back to the G-train before I melted along with my nieves.