From Alaska to Cuba, our huge Christmas dinner will be global

A butterflied whole roasted pig at La Pola in West New York, a Cuban-sandwich shop that is a magnet for pork lovers at the holidays, below. A whole pig is $300.

Belarmino Rico named his shop after La Pola, the town in Spain where he was born. Few would argue with his claim that he is "The King of the Cuban Sandwich," which he learned to make in Havana after emigrating to Cuba.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

I've lost count of how many courses we are planning for our Christmas dinner.

We've been gathering food since Monday, and this afternoon, my wife went to the ShopRite in Paramus for four live lobsters ($8.99 a pound).

Meanwhile, I brought home more than a pound of fresh spinach, which we plan to cook with extra-virgin olive and garlic.

Earlier, my wife visited a family friend who prepared five whole fish for our dinner on Thursday.

They will join king crab legs from Alaska ($17.99 a pound at Costco Wholesale in Hackensack), and Cuban-style roast pork with all the trimmings from La Pola in West New York.

The tip jar at La Pola.

Tortilla Espanola is a Spanish potato omelet.

A tray of steaming Cuban tamales.

We join the pork pilgrimage 

Every year on the day before Christmas, hundreds of Cuban-Americans and lovers of their garlic-rich cooking make the pilgrimage to La Pola, a Cuban-sandwich shop at 54th Street and Palisade Avenue in West New York.

Proprietor Belarmino Rico -- with the help of sons Tony and Joe, his wife and his loyal employees -- does a 24-hour marathon of preparing roast pork and side dishes for customers who stream into the small shop to pick up what they pre-ordered.

The day before Christmas is the busiest, but Rico also prepares Cuban holiday dishes for Thanksgiving and the new year.

This morning, my son joined me for the drive to La Pola, where he had a crispy Cuban sandwich and I sipped cafe con leche as I caught up with the Ricos.

We took home a roasted pork leg, a small Tortilla Espanola, a tray of Yuca with Garlic and another of Aroz Morro or congris, which is white rice cooked with black beans.

A couple of bags of Plantain Chips and a small plate of Chicharones or fried pork rinds completed our order.

Yuca with garlic is true comfort food.

The classic Cuban Black Beans.

A glazed ham.

The Ricos and their employees work tirelessly to fill Christmas orders.

Today, Belarmino Rico, center, waited on a steady stream of customers who had pre-ordered roast pork and side dishes for Christmas.

All of the legs, shoulders and whole pigs are roasted in a pizza oven, above.

La Pola's Cuban Sandwich ($7) is prepared in a heated press or plancha: The classic ingredients are roast pork, ham, Swiss cheese, mustard and pickles.

Joe Rico.

The six provinces of Cuba, above, and the Spanish flag, below, are painted on La Pola's plate-glass windows.

If you missed ordering roast pork for Christmas, La Pola will be taking orders for New Year's Eve.

La Pola, 5400 Palisade Ave., West New York; 1-201-867-6028. Closed Christmas Day. Closed Sundays. Cash only.

Recipe in Costco magazine is needlessly complicated

A five-cheese-and-garlic frittata starts out on the stove and finishes cooking under a low broiler setting. There is no need to turn this 10-inch stuffed Italian omelet or the Spanish potato omelet described in a recipe in the April 2014 issue of Costco Connection magazine.

Kirkland Signature Basil Pesto from Costco Wholesale is spooned on top of the frittata once it is out of the oven.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Reading instructions in the Costco Connection magazine on how to turn a Tortilla de Patata (Potato Omelet) is like watching a high-wire act:

You fight the urge to close your eyes to avoid seeing an accident.

The Potato Omelet recipe in the lifestyle magazine for Costco Wholesale members is too complicated, and likely discourages a lot of home cooks from trying it (Page 49).

I've been making frittatas, the Italian version of this omelet, with sliced sweet potatoes and other ingredients, and have never turned them.

Don't try at home

In the Costco recipe, Christina Mendez provides the following instructions:

"When the edges are cooked and the center is still moist, place a plate over the pan and invert it, so the raw side of the tortilla flips face down onto the plate.

"Carefully return the tortilla to the pan by sliding it off the plate and continue cooking for another minute."

That's a cooking disaster waiting to happen.

With my frittatas, I don't bother trying to turn them. I just put them in the oven or under the broiler to brown and finish cooking.

Boil and save oil

Another shortcut for the Spanish omelet recipe is to boil water to cook the recommended 8 medium Yukon Gold potatoes, which you have to peel and cube.

I'd leave the peel on, and wouldn't follow the recipe's instructions "to cover" the potatoes, onion and Anaheim pepper in expensive Spanish extra-virgin olive oil, and cook them in a covered pan.

The recipe calls for more than 2 cups of oil. That's just wasteful.

I usually put sweet potato slices for my frittatas in cold water; leave the cover slightly ajar to vent steam and bring the water to a low boil. 

They are usually fork tender in about 30 minutes.

Or get one to go

Of course, if you don't want to go to the bother of preparing a Spanish potato omelet at home, head on over to La Pola, a Cuban sandwich shop in West New York.

Sandwich master Belarmino Rico, who emigrated to Cuba from Spain, makes an excellent version of the omelet, also called Tortilla Espanola.

Try one of his authentic sandwiches with a cup of cafe con leche, and get the tortilla to go.

La Pola, 5400 Palisade Ave., West New York; 201-867-6028. Cash only. Call for hours.

A reheated wedge of frittata made with five cheeses, including the two found in Costco's prepared pesto, and lots of garlic.

For garlic mashed sweet potatoes, I boil peeled garlic and unpeeled potatoes, both from Costco; drain them in a colander and return them to the pot, where I add extra-virgin olive oil, a little salt and other seasonings, including cinnamon and curry powder. Potatoes for a frittata or omelet also can be boiled.

A couple of shortcuts woul make a Tortilla de Patata much easier to prepare at home. This recipe appears in the April 2014 issue of Costco Connection magazine.

'Feliz Navidad' from a Cuban sandwich master

Cuban sandwich master Belarmino Rico of La Pola in West New York.

Editor's note: The original post said "On Saturday afternoon" and "Saturday" in places, but it was written today, the day before Christmas, and I've corrected it.

This afternoon, Belarmino Rico, wife Maria, their children, grandchildren and the employees of the Cuban sandwich shop known as La Pola were in the final lap of their annual holiday marathon.

"Rico," as everyone calls him, had taken orders for hundreds of hams, ribs, whole pigs and all the tradtional Cuban side dishes, and customers were coming by to say hello and pick up their Christmas dinners.
  
Rico had a big smile on his face as he wished everyone, "Feliz Navidad."

When the shop closes late this afternoon or evening, the entire Rico family and their employees will collapse into bed after nearly a week of frantic preparations.

The small shop at Palisade Avenue and 54th Street echoes with holiday greetings.

Hams were prepared on the bone, above, and glazed, below.

Whole butterflied pigs.

Cuban tamales, front, are among holiday side dishes.

Joe Rico made the Cuban sandwiches today.

The regular breakfast special.

A Cuban sandwich or Cubano at La Pola.

Related article

• A Cuban Christmas

Cuban restaurant replaces Fuddruckers

Dos Cubanos Restaurant has opened in Paramus.

Dos Cubanos, a moderately priced Cuban restaurant, opened about two weeks ago on Route 4 east in Paramus -- in the space where Fuddruckers operated for many years.

The Web site says Dos Cubanos is the largest Cuban restaurant in Bergen County.

The most expensive entree on the menu is paella, a dish from Spain ($16.99).

A whole fried red snapper ($15.99) comes with white rice, black beans and sweet plantains.

As listed on the takeout menu, a traditional Cuban sandwich -- which is made in a heated press or plancha -- is missing sliced pickles and mustard ($8.99).

The restaurant has a liquor license.

The restaurant's sign is free standing.

Dos Cubanos, 282 Route 4 east, Paramus; 201-343-4108.

Web site: Two Cubans

New ramen spot

A new Japanese restaurant, Ramen Setagaya, opened about three weeks ago on Main Street, near Center Avenue, in Fort Lee.

The restaurant -- a BYO -- is open 7 days (201-585-0739). It is a branch of a Manhattan restaurant of the same name.

Ramen Setagaya is around the corner from Batten Ramen, a no-frills, cash-only BYO on Center Avenue that has been serving Japanese noodle soup and other dishes for many years.

Korean cafe closes

Manna, a small Korean restaurant and cafe on Teaneck Road, near Forest Avenue, in Teaneck, appears to have gone out of business.

Hunting and gathering for Christmas

Belarmino Rico, left, master of the Cuban sandwich, and son Joseph at La Pola, their shop in West New York. The elder Rico is widely known as "King of the Cuban Sandwich."

The plan was to hit the gym at 9 a.m. and be among the first customers at Costco in Hackensack for its 10 a.m. opening today, but the store opened an hour early and the parking lot was half full when I got there, with traffic backed up in the turn lane and beyond at Kansas and South River streets.

My first stop was to get my Costco-bought eyeglasses adjusted and my second was the Seafood Road Show. 

There were about a half-dozen customers ahead of me, and I discussed the large lobster tails from Colombia with the man behind me, because they are the only seafood sold at Costco treated with a preservative, sodium bisulfite. I have never bought them because of the preservative.

Wikipedia says sodium bisulfite is used in wine and on leafy greens.

"In the case of wine making, sodium bisulfite releases sulfur dioxide gas when added to water or products containing water. The sulfur dioxide kills yeasts, fungi, and bacteria in the grape juice before fermentation.
 
"Sodium bisulfite is also added to leafy green vegetables in salad bars and elsewhere, to preserve apparent freshness, under names like LeafGreen. The concentration is sometimes high enough to cause severe allergic reactions.

 "In the 1980s, sodium bisulfite was banned from use on raw fruits and vegetables in the United States following the deaths of 13 people who unknowingly consumed produce treated with excessive amounts of the substance. "

I did buy three red king crab legs ($19.99 a pound), seven sea scallops ($12.99 a pound) and a pound and a half of U-15 farmed prawns ($9.99 a pound). 

I picked up a box of clementines from Spain for $4.99, a dollar less than when they appeared initially; five pounds of lemons, $6.79; and two pounds of Sunset-brand, herbicide-free Roma tomatoes, $4.99.

Cuban interlude

Around noon, we made our annual trek to La Pola, a Cuban sandwich shop in West New York, where the proprietor, his wife, sons Tony and Joseph, and employees greet a steady stream of customers who had placed orders for whole roasted pigs, pork shoulders, hams and ribs -- plus traditional side dishes -- for their Christmas dinners.

The atmosphere is always warm and welcoming. Belarmino Rico, who moved from his native La Pola in Spain to Havana, Cuba, is known far and wide as "King of the Cuban Sandwich."

His son Joseph feeds the heated press, or plancha, with sandwiches as the elder Rico and his helpers package pork and side dishes for customers.

We took home a small section of pork ribs; congris or white rice cooked with black beans; yuca, a garlic sauce for the meat and addictive, store-made plantain chips that have far less salt than commercial ones. Last year, we enjoyed a tortilla espanola, a Spanish potato omelet.

My wife and son ordered Cuban sandwiches -- roast pork, ham, Swiss cheese, pickles, mustard and garlic sauce. The heated press had melted the cheese and crisped the foot-long pan de agua or water bread.

For Christmas dinner on Saturday, I'll serve them appetizers of crab and prawns, then Cuban-style ribs with side dishes. My dinner will be all Costco seafood: crab leg, prawns and sea scallops.

La Pola, Palisade Avenue and 54th Street, West New York; 201-867-6028.

Cooking takes a holiday

At La Pola in West New York.

We've taken a vacation from cooking most of our meals at home.

It began last Thursday, when we battled traffic to buy our Cuban roast pork feast at La Pola Restaurant, a Cuban-sandwich shop in West New York, that we served on Christmas Day. The next night, our usual one dinner out, we had soft-tofu and spring-chicken stews at the Soft Tofu Restaurant in Palisades Park. Sunday night, we ate leftovers from Christmas.

Tuesday night, we treated my niece, her boyfriend and her children to a multicourse Chinese feast at Lotus Cafe in Hackensack, before their return to California the next day. That night, we finished the Lotus Cafe leftovers. Wednesday afternoon, four of us shared a large cold antipasto and a large pepperoni/anchovy pizza -- well-done -- at Brooklyn's in Hackensack, a satisfying cheese-filled meal with a single glass of wine for me. Tonight, we were planning to drive to Paterson for Middle Eastern food if the snow doesn't detour us to a restaurant closer to home.

Last New Year's Eve, the weather kept us in and we prepared curry chicken and lamb chops, and drank wine before watching the ball drop on TV.

Moors and Christians

Image via Wikipedia

For breakfast this morning, I topped rice cooked with black beans, heated in the microwave, with a plain omelet and Valentina hot sauce, and went to town. The rice-beans combination is called congris, a Cuban term for dirty rice, but it's also known as moros y cristianos or Moors and Christians (at left in photo), a term reflecting the Arab occupation of Spain that ended in 1492.

The moros were left over from our Cuban roast pork feast on Christmas Day -- accompanied by ham croquettes and a Spanish potato omelet -- all from Belarmino Rico, owner of a West New York Cuban sandwich shop called La Pola, the Spanish town where he was born. All that was missing was a salad I forgot to make in the rush of heating up the Cuban food and preparing lamb, a hamburger, a hot dog and mashed potatoes for three guests who don't eat pork. Next year, I'll sautee collard greens with garlic.

The roast pork I sliced and plated was moistened with an addictive garlic sauce or mojito, which also goes into Rico's Cuban sandwiches before they are heated. This morning, I sliced off the roast pork's skin and fat and put them in the oven to crisp up the skin and liquify the fat. I ate entirely too many pieces, but included something healthy in my breakfast -- a small bowl of cabbage kimchi.

Christmas Eve Cubano

We fought the holiday traffic today and drove to West New York, but, luckily, there was an empty parking spot waiting for us in the small lot next to La Pola Restaurant, self-described "King of the Cuban Sandwich." To that, I say, Amen.

Inside, proprietor Belarmino Rico, his wife, sons, grandchildren and merry band of helpful employees made and served hot sandwiches, or Cubanos, and packed up Christmas specialties his customers had ordered -- roasted hams, ribs and  whole, butterflied pigs; the rice-and-black beans combination called congris; tamales, Spanish potato omelets, plantain chips (photo) and chicharrones or fried pork rinds.

Rico, who was born in the Asturian village of La Pola in Spain, lived in Cuba and learned to make the sandwiches at his uncle's bodega in Havana.

My Christmas menu now is set:

Alaskan king crab and sweet corn chowder (Costco)
Cuban roast pork
Congris (white rice cooked with black beans)
Tortilla espanola (potato omelet)
Cuban ham croquettes
Organic spring mix salad
Wine
Pear and hazelnut galette (Balthazar Bakery)

One of my guests and her children don't eat pork, so I'll prepare Australian leg of lamb for her, and an organic hamburger and uncured hot dog for the kids, with mashed potatoes.

La Pola Restaurant, 5400 Palisade Ave (54th Street), 
West New York;  (201) 867-6028. Call for holiday hours.
 

In search of a naturally raised holiday ham

I have been looking for an uncured, naturally raised ham to serve on Christmas Day, a holiday my wife and son celebrate. I have read that hogs receive more antibiotics than any other animal raised for food. I also want an uncured ham to avoid such preservatives as sodium nitrate and sodium nitrite.

Last week, Costco's first antibiotic-free, vegetarian-fed half ham showed up at the Hackensack store, but I was disappoinited to see that it had been cured and preserved with sodium nitrite. Next to it was a ham steak with no preservatives, but nothing on the label said it came from a naturally raised animal. You can't win.

On the Organic Prairie Web site, I saw an uncured, hardwood-smoked, boneless half ham from an heirloom breed that was free of antibiotics, growth hormones and other additives. Best of all, it was about three pounds -- perfect for my family of three. You might recall how we have struggled to eat much bigger hams. But I would have to buy three hams for a total of $81.42 -- about $9.05 a pound -- plus $15 for shipping.

I'll check out Trader Joe's and Whole Foods in Paramus tomorrow to see what kind of hams they carry, but I am also planning to shop for traditional Cuban roast pork (photo) and side dishes. This means I'll have to throw out all concerns about antibiotics and how the animals were raised, but the garlic-rich cooking wins me over time and again.

When I say shop, I mean making the trip to La Pola in West New York, where I have purchased food for several Cuban Christmas meals in the past. On the day before Christmas, most of the tables and chairs of the Cuban sandwich shop will be cleared away to make room for racks holding roasted hams and ribs. Side dishes such as rice cooked with black beans (congris), garlic sauce (mojito) and plaintain chips also will be available.

Belarmino Rico, the proprietor, his sons and wife are usually swamped at this time of the year, but their welcome is warm. In an article I wrote for The Record in 2003, I crowned Rico's Cuban sandwich the best among a dozen I tasted in North Jersey. With a name like Rico (Spanish for delicious), he couldn't lose.


La Pola Restaurant, 5400 Palisade Ave (54th Street), 
West New York;  (201) 867-6028. Call for holiday hours.

We'll eat, talk and shop for food

Please join me for an exploration of some of North Jersey's great ethnic food enclaves.

Initially, I will be conducting walking tours of Middle Eastern and Korean restaurants and food shops that will begin with a great lunch. Later, I'll be adding a Latino food tour, starting with lunch at the best Cuban sandwich shop in Hudson County.

I will need a minimum of four people for each tour. Please contact me for details at vsasson@hotmail.com.