Frog Hollow is one of Hartford's oldest
neighborhoods. It takes its name from the marshy conditions in the low land near
what is now the corner of Broad and Ward Streets. At least, that's what
Wikipedia says.
There is a street called Park Street that I have
been wanting to visit. Why? Well, it has also been called "New England's Spanish
Main Street". There is an array of Spanish, Puerto Rican, Caribbean, Cuban and
Mexican merchants; the largest one being El Mercado.
I like markets of all kinds. And while I really enjoyed the
large Asian market, the specialty items were very foreign and
scary to me. I had no idea what to do with them. Latin markets, while I may
have never used the products myself, seem "familiar". I'm more comfortable with
the dried chilis and the fresh produce. I wanted to see what they had to
offer.
My desire to check out Park Street was even greater after reading
this blog on making arepas. You may remember that
David and I drove to Norwalk for arepas after seeing a Diners,
Drive-ins and Dives show. When I ran across this blog, the recipe looked SO
EASY! I just needed Venezuelan pre-cooked white cornmeal, something that I
couldn't find anywhere else. I was sure if it was to be found in Connecticut,
it would be on Park Street.
So off we went late Saturday morning in search of a cutural adventure and
a bag of ground corn. Just to get a feel for where we are going, this is a place
where you can buy a live chicken out of the back of a van. No joke:
It's the kind of place I wanted to walk around with camera in hand
snapping photo after photo. It's the kind of place I never would. I have to
admit, Fiesta Market in Richardson is MUCH bigger and more fun than this little
market, but I found what I was after and more:
Nope, it's not an optical illusion. That avocado was as big as the 2lb bag of
cornmeal. It was HUGE! David and I ate on it for three meals and still had to
throw some out. Along with the aforementioned goodies we got queso frecso
(
something you can't find ANYWHERE around here) and a green sofrito.
YUMMY!
Sofrito, if you are not familiar is a combination of aromatic ingredients
which have been cut in very small pieces, and slowly sauteed or braised in
cooking oil for 15-30 minutes. In Spanish cuisine, sofrito consists of garlic,
onion, and tomatoes cooked in olive oil, and is used as the base for many
dishes. At least that's what Wikipedia says. This one had green peppers,
corriander, sea salt, garlic, onion ... delicious!
What's a day trip without food of some sort? It's us afterall. We stopped
in at
Los Cubanitos Bakery for a sweet treat.
If you click on the link, there is quite a write-up about the bakery. I cut
it down to a few sentence: "
This bakery was originally built in 1920. The
walls are decorated with pictures of the workers and families, an American flag,
and a Cuban flag. The owner, Mr. Castillo, left Cuba in 1956 and traveled to the
Bronx of New York. He immigrated for what his daughter, Martha Egozcue,
describes as, “for what every immigrant comes here for: to prosper. His daughter
says recipes are something that he wanted passed down and kept as the bakery’s
own. Directly across from the entrance is a case with cookies and donuts at
which customers can stare and salivate as the wait in line. The bakery is a
small business in terms of workers as it employs about 8 people. It draws in
business mainly from the Latino population of the Frog Hollow neighborhood.
However, the baker, Juan, says that the bakery also receives business from the
greater Hartford area, including non-Latinos. He also says that much of the
business comes from regulars." AND I CAN SEE WHY!
David and I satood in line, patiently waiting our turn. The promised $0.50
loaves of fresh baked bread were long gone by the time we got there that
afternoon. But the pastry cases were full! We each we in with the idea that we
wanted one thing, and the longer we stood and looked and drooled, the one thing
became severl. We walked out with:
1. A piece of chocolate cake with whipped cream frosting.
(It was average)
2. Six meringue cookies. (I asked for one and was told they
were sold 6 for a $1.00. They were really sweet, but still good.)
3. A sort of latin cannoli? It was dipped in choclate and
filled with a fruit cream and whipped cream? Sounds odd, but David devoured it
in seconds when we reached the car.
4. And the star.... dulce leche sandwiched between two
light, flaky, buttery cookies and dusted with powdered suger. (YUMMY! Folks,
we have a winner ... that alone was worth going back for.)
The total cost? $5.85. Affordable to boot. Everyone was friendly and nice.
We would definitely go back.
Around here Frog Hollow has a reputation for being seedy, dangerous. If you said
"I'm going to Frog Hollow this weekend" with excitement people may look at you
strange. And I can see it. Let's put it this way, everywhere we went you had to
have a key to get in the bathroom - even the local McDonald's - for safety
reasons. But I would and WILL go back in a heartbeat. Delicious food, inspiring
groceries, nice people, energetic location. We'll just be back home before the
sun goes down! :)
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