Having once stumbled upon an unassuming street vendor selling what was arguably the finest falafel I’d ever tasted, I developed a profound appreciation for the magic of outdoor food markets. It’s that blend of culinary adventure, vibrant atmosphere, and unexpected discoveries that makes these gatherings so special. The video above masterfully captures this spirit, taking us on a whirlwind gastronomic tour through Smorgasburg, the USA’s biggest weekly outdoor food market, nestled in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park.
This renowned New York City food festival, whose name, ‘Smorgasburg,’ fittingly translates from Swedish as a ‘big spread of food,’ is a crucible of global street food. It’s where culinary artisans converge, offering an astonishing array of dishes from every corner of the world. While the narrator set out on an ambitious quest to sample delicacies from six different continents, his journey highlighted not just the incredible diversity but also the ingenious adaptations and fusions that define the modern food landscape.
Savoring North America: Lobster Innovations at Red Hook Lobster Pound
Our culinary expedition begins firmly rooted in North America, specifically with the iconic offerings from Red Hook Lobster Pound. Here, the classic Maine and Connecticut style lobster rolls are elevated with creative twists, demonstrating that even beloved traditions can inspire fresh interpretations. Beyond the familiar, Red Hook Lobster Pound introduces the audacious lobster BLT and, notably, the lobster crunch wrap.
The lobster BLT is a testament to subtle innovation, marrying the sweet, succulent Maine lobster with crispy bacon, fresh lettuce, juicy tomato, and a hint of Chipotle mayo, all nestled within a soft roll. The narrator’s initial skepticism about a single strip of bacon quickly gives way to appreciation for its quality and the textural contrast it provides. This dish offers an intriguing comparison between the two major lobster roll styles: the warm, buttery Connecticut version, and the cold, mayonnaise-dressed Maine variant. In this context, the mayonnaise in the Maine style proves to be an ideal binder, harmonizing with the bacon and vegetables. This discerning observation underscores the nuanced considerations that go into crafting a truly exceptional sandwich.
However, it is the lobster crunch wrap that truly embodies the spirit of culinary fusion. Imagined as a gourmet rendition of a fast-food favorite, it encases Maine lobster, melted cheese, lettuce, and tomato within a crunchy tortilla, all enveloped by a soft flour tortilla. The preparation process, featuring generous butter application and a flat-top sizzle, ensures a golden, crispy exterior and a rich, gooey interior. While the narrator noted its abundance of cheese and garlic butter over lobster, the textural interplay of soft bao, crunchy tortilla, and tender lobster meat creates a satisfyingly decadent experience, cementing its status as a delicious, albeit heavy, innovation.
Taste of South America: Authentic Patacones from Ehbra NYC
Venturing southward, the journey brought us to Ehbra NYC, a stall brimming with Colombian food classics. The star attraction here, and a vibrant representative of South American cuisine, is the Patacones. This dish, often described by the narrator as “Colombian nachos,” provides a fantastic analogy for its layered structure and communal appeal.
The foundation of Ehbra NYC’s Patacones is meticulously prepared green plantains, twice-fried to achieve a crisp exterior while maintaining a tender interior. This forms a robust base for an impressive array of toppings. A generous layer of mozzarella cheese, followed by sweet fried plantains, adds depth and balance. The savory components include succulent chicharrones (fried pork belly, here more substantial than just skin) and rich, braised beef, reminiscent of a tender brisket. The ensemble is then lavishly dressed with creamy guacamole, a spicy salsa verde, cool sour cream, and a tangy tartar sauce, creating a symphony of textures and flavors. The “flag” presented on top is not just a garnish but a symbol of national pride, enhancing the authenticity of the experience.
The narrator’s enthusiastic description of the “spicy, very fresh” green sauce and the “crunchy” plantain base perfectly illustrates the appeal of this dish. It’s a testament to the versatility of plantains and the rich culinary heritage of Colombia, showcasing how simple ingredients can be transformed into a grand, satisfying meal. The combination of savory meats, sweet plantains, and vibrant sauces makes the Patacones a truly memorable dish, prompting thoughts of immersive travel to explore such culinary traditions firsthand.
European Elegance: The Raclette Queen’s Swiss Delights
Europe’s culinary contribution arrived in the form of Raclette, a beloved Swiss tradition, brought to Smorgasburg by the Raclette Queen. Raclette is not merely cheese; it is an experience centered around melted cheese, renowned for its pungent aroma and unparalleled creaminess. The cheese, as proudly stated, is flown directly from the Swiss Alps, ensuring an authentic taste that transports diners straight to the alpine pastures.
The simplest incarnation, cheesy baby potatoes, epitomizes comfort food. Air-fried new potatoes, seasoned with herbs, provide a tender, starchy canvas for the freshly scraped, gooey Raclette. The narrator describes the cheese as having “some pungent flavor, like it’s got some personality,” but notes its balanced intensity. This approach highlights the inherent quality of the cheese itself, allowing its distinctive character to shine without excessive adornment. The potatoes, perfectly soft and seasoned, offer an ideal textural counterpoint to the thick, comforting cheese.
Elevating the experience further, the Raclette Queen crafts a sophisticated sandwich that embodies a “United Nations of sandwich.” This baguette-based creation features a symphony of European ingredients: a spread of sharp Dijon mustard, crisp watercress, savory Spanish prosciutto, and tangy French pickles. The pièce de résistance is, of course, the generous cascade of melted Raclette cheese, scraped directly from the wheel onto the open baguette. This combination creates a complex flavor profile where the richness of the cheese is expertly cut by the mustard and pickles, while the cured meat adds a layer of umami and the baguette provides a satisfying crunch – even if, as the narrator humorously notes, it poses a challenge to the roof of one’s mouth. This dish beautifully illustrates how traditional ingredients, when thoughtfully combined, can achieve a harmonious and deeply satisfying result.
Asian Fusion: Dilla Manila’s Sisig Dilla
Our journey through the continents brought us to Asia, represented by Dilla Manila, a stall offering Filipino food with a captivating twist: the Sisig Dilla. This innovative dish exemplifies the exciting possibilities of fusion cuisine, blending traditional Filipino flavors with the familiar format of a Mexican quesadilla. The central component, Sisig, is a venerable Filipino delicacy typically made from parts of a pig’s head (snout, ears, jowl), expertly chopped, seasoned with calamansi and chili peppers, and served sizzling hot.
At Dilla Manila, Chef Tim explains their adaptation for the New York City food festival scene. While authentic pig face can be challenging to source in Brooklyn, their Sisig masterfully combines lean pork meat and pig ears to replicate the characteristic texture and richness, offering that crucial “cartilage” chewiness. This nuanced approach ensures that the essence of Sisig remains intact, even within a new construct. The Sisig Dilla starts with a flour tortilla, layered with a cheese blend, the spiced Sisig mixture, a homemade chicharon for added crunch, and more cheese, all grilled to perfection on a flat top. The narrator’s playful “American version of Raclette” comment humorously highlights the abundance of gooey cheese, a crowd-pleasing element.
The combination of smoky, crunchy, and fatty Sisig with copious amounts of cheese creates a deeply satisfying flavor profile. The inclusion of chicharon, a favorite in both Filipino and Mexican culinary traditions (a connection the narrator attributes to shared Spanish influence), further binds the fusion concept. Served with corn chips and a homemade jalapeno ranch, the Sisig Dilla successfully caters to a diverse palate while showcasing the bold flavors of the Philippines. It’s a stellar example of how chefs adapt and innovate, bringing their heritage to a broader audience in a bustling Brooklyn food market.
African Influence: Taste the Flava’s Jamaican Oxtail Boats
The quest for African cuisine led to an interesting discussion at Taste the Flava, which specializes in Jamaican food. While not directly from the African continent, the proprietor, Simone, persuasively argues for the profound African influences on Jamaican culinary traditions, particularly in dishes like jerk chicken, which shares a lineage with outdoor, wood-fire cooking techniques found across Africa. This contextualization highlights the diaspora’s impact on global foodways, where cultural heritage is preserved and transformed in new lands.
The dish chosen to represent this influence was the Jamaican Oxtail Boats, a unique creation that the narrator himself had not encountered even after extensive travels in Jamaica. The “boat” itself is crafted from “festival” bread, a dense, slightly sweet fried dough made with a distinctive blend of flour and cornmeal, giving it a crumbly yet substantial texture. This bread is then sliced open and generously filled with tender, shredded oxtail, which has been slow-cooked until it “falls right off the bone,” resulting in a gelatinous, rich, and deeply savory protein.
To balance the richness, the oxtail is topped with crisp, pickled cabbage, providing a much-needed fresh component and a tangy counterpoint. A trio of sauces—the signature jerk barbecue sauce, a creamy white sauce, and a spicy avocado sauce—are then drizzled over the filling, each adding layers of flavor and complexity. The narrator praises the “soft, delicious, and absolutely tender” oxtail and notes how the coleslaw cuts through the richness, while the white sauce (irrespective of its specific origin) delivers pure satisfaction. This dish showcases a clever use of ingredients and flavors that, while distinctly Jamaican, carry the echoes of a rich African heritage, making it a compelling culinary narrative in a vibrant global street food environment.
Multicultural Marvel: C Bao’s Fusion Bao Tacos
Concluding our tour, we arrive at C Bao, a stall that masterfully navigates the waters of multiculturalism with its innovative Bao Tacos. This concept brilliantly fuses Latin-inspired flavors with the beloved steamed bao bun, creating a culinary bridge between Mexico and China. The bao bun, a fluffy, slightly sweet steamed dough, serves as an inspired alternative to traditional taco shells, offering a soft, yielding embrace for the fillings.
The menu at C Bao is thoughtfully designed, offering a range of meat options from minced beef and sweet soy chicken to carnitas, roasted duck, and golden tofu. The narrator opted for a dual exploration, choosing the carnitas for its undeniable Mexican essence and the roasted duck to represent Chinese flavors. The carnitas bao is a vibrant assembly: tender, seasoned carnitas are piled onto a bao bun with crisp lettuce, raw onion, tomato, cheese, fresh cilantro, and a trio of sauces including spicy mayo, sour cream, and jalapeno sauce, finished with a squeeze of lime. The narrator lauds its “soft, tender, nicely seasoned” meat and the delightful interplay of crunchy raw onions and fresh cilantro, all harmonizing with the various sauces. The bao bun itself earns high praise for its soft texture, solving the “Mexican rubble” problem often associated with brittle hard-shell tacos, instead providing a gentle “hug” for the ingredients.
Equally impressive is the roasted duck bao. This creation features shredded cucumber, rich hoisin sauce, duck meat mixed with sautéed onions and peppers (fajita-style), raw onion, tomato, shredded cheese, cilantro, spicy mayo, sour cream, and pickled jalapeno, crowned with a lime. The narrator, despite his initial thoughts that “most Americans coming here, they see duck on the menu, and they duck out of there,” declared it “even better.” He highlights the delicious contrast of the tender duck with fresh, crunchy vegetables and the subtle kick of the sauces, all encased within the soft, steamy bao. C Bao exemplifies how thoughtful culinary innovation can create dishes that are not only delicious but also seamlessly blend distinct gastronomic traditions, offering the “best of both worlds” in this bustling Smorgasburg setting.
Feasting on Your Questions: The Biggest Food Festival Q&A
What is Smorgasburg?
Smorgasburg is known as the USA’s biggest weekly outdoor food market, located in Brooklyn, New York City.
What kind of food can you find at Smorgasburg?
You can find a vast array of global street food, offering diverse dishes and unique culinary fusions from various continents.
Where is Smorgasburg located?
Smorgasburg is located in Brooklyn, New York City, specifically mentioned as being in Prospect Park.
Can you give some examples of unique dishes available at Smorgasburg?
Some unique dishes include lobster crunchwraps, Colombian Patacones, Swiss Raclette, Filipino Sisig Dillas, Jamaican Oxtail Boats, and fusion Bao Tacos.