On a gray day in June, Eric Demby drove around Queens hoping to find a truly great Thai papaya salad.
Demby, 43, is the co-founder of the Brooklyn Flea and its food-crazed offshoot, Smorgasburg, which has locations throughout Brooklyn and at South Street Seaport. On Saturday, it expands with the opening of Smorgasburg Queens in Long Island City (43-29 Crescent St.).
While the Brooklyn Smorgasburgs are chockablock with Kings County hipsters making cupcakes and pizza, with the Queens offshoot, Demby has been intent on finding those making delicious, authentic ethnic and artisanal fare in the far corners of the borough.
“A market like this could be judged by its papaya salad,” he says. “If we’re going to have a papaya-salad vendor, they need to be doing it for real, they need to be grinding their own [spice paste].”
To find such vendors, he enlisted the help of translators and Queens food expert and tour guide Joe DiStefano.
“There’s a little bit of a Christopher Columbus thing,” says Demby.
That morning, DiStefano and Demby followed a tip that the papaya salad at Woodside’s Zabb Elee might meet their standards. After a stop in Flushing for some Chinese lamb ribs and Taiwanese pancakes, they hit Woodside. It was clear that they had found a winner.
The refreshing salad will be sold from a booth called QI at Saturday’s market, which will be one of nearly two dozen vendors offering a taste of Queens — and the world.
Have a look:
Georgia
Chef Araik Grigoryan, 41, and his son Artem, 16, will be serving traditional cuisine from the Republic of Georgia at this offshoot of their Rego Park restaurant, Marani Glatt Kosher Georgian Restaurant. Try the meat dumplings known as pelmeni or opt for healthier (but no less flavorful) options such as spiced carrots and beets. And don’t miss Grigoryan’s notably great hummus. What’s his secret? “The tahini — we make our own,” he says proudly.
China
Many think Chinese desserts are limited to sugary cakes, but Jayson Chong (above left) is changing that with his fruity, not-too-sweet puddings, also sold at KULU Desserts, his brick-and-mortar shop with branches in Flushing and Sunset Park. “The main concept is healthy, with fresh fruit and ingredients,” Chong says of the puddings, popular in southern China.
His most best-selling flavor is mango pomelo, featuring a mango purée with chunks of the tropical fruit, topped off with thin bits of citrus. Chong is still deciding if he’ll be selling pudding flavored with the notoriously stinky durian fruit at the market. “We might,” he says, “but we don’t want to scare people.”
Ecuador
Forest Hills husband-and-wife team Xavier and Mayra Diaz are behind Son, which specializes in eclectic South American fare like beef-tongue tacos and empanadas. “We just call it Spanish or Latin food,” says Xavier, who is cooking from his mom Brema’s recipes.
Don’t miss the Ecuadorean chicken hallacas. They’re similar to tamales, but the outer layer of masa is smoother and more custardy. The chicken filling has raisins, olives and red pepper — the perfect sweet-salty-spicy mix. “They’re hard to find,” says Xavier of the hallacas, but they’re definitely worth seeking out.
Thailand
Smorgasburg maestro Eric Demby found the borough’s favorite papaya salad at Woodside’s Zabb Elee. It has “nice spiciness without being too spicy,” he notes of the dish Thai vendor QI will offer at Smorgasburg. “The dried shrimp weren’t overpowering.” In addition to the much-ballyhooed papaya salad, QI will also serve juicy grilled chicken and sticky rice.
The Philippines
For the truly adventurous, Woodside Filipino spot Papa’s Kitchen will be offering the fertilized-duck-egg dish known as balut. “It’s like eating chicken soup: The yolk is the same, [but] the white part is very hard, because you’re eating the embryo,” says co-owner Beth Roa (above). Other exciting offerings include calamansi juice and toast topped with stingray cooked in coconut milk.
USA
Astoria native John Zervoulakos, 29, brings deep passion to Grandpa Val’s BBQ, named for his grandfather. “When I go to sleep, I dream about what I’m cooking the next day,” he says. From Texas moist brisket to pulled-pork sliders — he’s only smoking his meat with wood. “There’s not many of us that smoke all wood.”
India
Surbhi Sahni from Jackson Heights is bringing authentic Indian street food to the market. She’ll serve the snack known as bhelpuri, a puffed-rice salad that she does with jicama, avocado, tomato, chutney and peanuts. “It’s such an amazing salad for right now when it’s so hot,” says Sahni, who also has her own catering company, Bittersweet.
More ethnic treats to try!
■ Celebes Bakar Grill will serve Indonesian food, such as grilled meats on skewers with cubes of sticky rice.
■ Bittersweet NYC is offering authentic Indian street food, including bhel puri, a puffed-rice salad with jicama, avocado, tomato, chutney and peanuts.
■ Roosevelt Ave. Fare is set to serve garlicky Korean fried chicken and tacos made with Indian roti bread.