We're adding Cuban roast pork, wild shrimp to our Christmas menu

Cuban Sandwich master Belarmino Rico, 76, at the plancha, the heated grill that transforms an ordinary ham, pork and cheese sandwich into a hot, crispy Cubano.

On Wednesday, Rico checked the pork he roasts for five hours in a pizza oven at La Pola Restaurant, 5400 Palisade Ave., West New York. Today, in an annual holiday ritual, he will be waiting on hundreds of customers who will flood into the small luncheonette to pick up Christmas orders -- including whole butterflied pigs, ribs and hams, plus all of the Cuban side dishes.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

On Wednesday morning, when we pulled into the tiny parking lot of La Pola Restaurant in West New York, we witnessed the calm before the storm.

Belarmino Rico, who justly deserves the title of "King of the Cuban Sandwich," was roasting pork and waiting on an occasional customer in preparation for today's onslaught.

As my wife enjoyed a hot, crispy Cuban Sandwich or Cubano and I sipped a cafe con leche, Rico explained that he had stopped taking orders for Christmas.

Today, three generations of his family and his loyal employees are greeting hundreds of customers who come in to pick up whole pigs, roast pork, ham and ribs, which will be displayed on racks and tables.

They'll also take home such Cuban dishes as congris, rice cooked with black beans; yuca with garlic, chicharrones or pork rinds, and a tortilla Espanola, a Spanish potato omelet. 

Rico named his Cuban sandwich shop for La Pola, the small town in Spain where he was born before he emigrated to Cuba.

We had a prior commitment today so on Wednesday, we picked up roast pork for our Christmas dinner on Friday.

On Wednesday, La Pola Restaurant was experiencing the quiet before the storm.

At La Pola, a Cuban Sandwich is made with a 12-inch section of water bread filled with roast pork, ham, Swiss cheese, pickles and mustard, moistened with a garlic sauce called a mojito and heated until crispy in a press.

La Pola's own Plaintain Strips are delicious and low in salt.

La Pola, on Palisade Avenue and 54th Street in West New York, is cash only.

Wild Gulf Shrimp are on sale today at Whole Foods Market in Paramus.

Going wild for shrimp

The roast pork from La Pola Restaurant in West New York is for the meat eaters in the family.

This morning, I went to Whole Foods Market for another main dish, Wild Gulf Shrimp, which were on sale for $14.99 a pound.

That's about what Costco Wholesale charges for farmed Black Tiger shrimp from Vietnam. Customers are told nothing about how they are raised.

On Friday, we'll also have a wild Red King Crab Salad dressed with Dijon mustard, fresh lime juice, seasonings and fresh chopped cilantro.

Side dishes include mashed Kabocha Squash and Organic Carrots, Organic Quinoa with Garlic and a salad of Organic Spring Mix. 

Whole Foods Market in Paramus has the best fresh seafood counter in North Jersey. One of the employees, left, gladly deveined the 3 pounds of wild shrimp I asked for.

As I waited for the shrimp to be deveined, I munched on samples of cheese, nuts and dried olives.

These bunches of Organic Cilantro are about twice as big as the conventional cilantro sold at the nearby Paramus ShopRite for 99 cents.

Bad service at Joyce Chinese Cuisine, Christmas dinner at home

The beautifully decorated dining room of Joyce Chinese Cuisine in River Edge is quite a contrast after you've seen litter, a broken sidewalk and parking rules that are difficult to fathom at the shabby strip mall on Kinderkamack Road the restaurant calls home.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

When I found out a friend had made numerous business trips to Hong Kong, I asked him to meet me for dim sum at Lan Garden on Route 46 in Ridgefield.

But he said he had heard bad things about the Chinese restaurant, and suggested we have dim sum instead at Joyce Chinese Cuisine in River Edge.

When I got there on Tuesday afternoon, he was already seated and announced that, guess what, Joyce doesn't serve dim sum.

But the two Chinese restaurants have one thing in common: Indifferent service from a young staff.

The table at Joyce Chinese Cuisine held a tea pot, but only one cup, and a single glass of water.

After I arrived and sat down, the server brought us menus and went away, but I had to ask another waiter for a tea cup and a glass of water.

I liked the food at the Szechuan restaurant, especially an appetizer of Hot Spicy Cold Noodles ($5.50), with their delayed heat.

But after we finished it, a busboy came over and started to clear all of the dishes and chopsticks off of the table before I told him we were waiting for two other dishes.

Most of the other customers appeared to be Chinese, usually a good sign.

I have long been loyal to Lotus Cafe in Hackensack, where I see the same waiters year after year and have gotten excellent service.

An appetizer of Hot Spicy Cold Noodles is not to be missed.

A lunch entree of Shrimp in Black Bean Sauce with broccoli was $13.50.

Dry Sauteed String Beans can be ordered without meat ($10.25).

Wonderfully spicy carrot and radish, above, and peanuts are complimentary.

Test your chopstick skills by picking up these and putting them in your mouth.

Tea is free, but Joyce Chinese Cuisine does charge for premium brews.

Joyce Chinese Cuisine, 478 Kinderkamack Road, River Edge; 201-261-8858. Open 7 days. Parking in front and rear.

A bountiful seafood feast

We started our Christmas dinner this afternoon with two items from Costco Wholesale, Lobster Bisque and fully cooked Alaskan King Crab Legs, which I steamed for 15 minutes.

We followed that with four live lobsters, which averaged a little more than 1.5 pounds each. I ate mine with the juice of a fresh lime.

We spent $65 on the meaty crab legs and nearly $57 on the lobsters, but I'm planning to make a seafood salad with the leftovers.

After the soup, crab and lobster, I only had room for some yuca with garlic, but the rest of the family tucked into Cuban-style roast pork and dirty rice, along with the yuca.

Left uneaten were five whole fish a family friend prepared for our dinner.

We drank Kirkland Signature Prosecco, a sparkling dry white wine from Italy, and ShopRite's Sparkling Cider, made from 100% apple juice and imported from Spain.

A 24.5-ounce bottle was on sale with a store card for $1.49 on Tuesday, with a limit of four. That's a dollar off the usual price.

Dinner out is snowed out

Image by taivasalla via Flickr

There were only a few inches of snow on the ground when we set out around 4 this afternoon for Sanducci's Trattoria, which has moved to a new location in River Edge. There were lights out front, but when I drove down into the rear parking lot and took an elevator up one floor, the place was dark.

We wanted to try the new Sanducci's, because it is a BYO that offers lots of choice: an all-you-can eat dinner buffet for $16.95, a three-course, early bird special, with tea or coffee, also for $16.95; a long a la carte menu and pizza. 

We ate at the original location a few years ago and I was impressed with a wonderful squid-ink pasta.

Costco to the rescue

Rather than try to find a restaurant that was open, we returned home and I dove into the freezer, unearthing frozen mahi-mahi loins and Dr. Praeger's spinach-and-potato cakes, both from Costco in Hackensack.

I steamed the meaty fish with sake, sesame oil, citrus marinade and soy sauce, and put the spinach cakes in the oven for 20 minutes. It was a quick, filling dinner.

More frozen seafood

I was delighted with the king crab legs, farmed prawns and sea scallops I picked up at Costco on Friday and served for Christmas dinner the next day. All were previously frozen, but they were as tender as could be after we prepared them.

I cut up the crab legs, which are cooked and more than a foot long, and steamed them for less than 10 minutes. My wife shelled the shrimp, which are deveined, and I cooked them quickly with stewed tomatoes, extra-virgin olive oil and Italian seasoning. I just sauteed the scallops in olive oil and seasoned them. 

Sanducci's Trattoria, 620 Kinderkamack Road, 
River Edge; 201-599-0600.  Web site:

Sanducci's Trattoria