The Chinese Festival of San Gennaro
Navigating New York is not an art that comes naturally to me. I've hopped express trains to Queens, Harlem and the Bronx when I was merely trying to get back to Chelsea. I've walked the streets of TriBeCa thinking I was in SoHo. I made love to Mayor Bloomberg in Grand Central when I thought I was in Gracie Mansion. The flight of this navigator has yet to leave the ground.Yet, yesterday was a triumph of the will. My will intended to visit Chinatown for an entry I intended to title: "The Amateur Gourmet Eats Chinatown."Things began on a high note. I emerged from the Subway on Canal Street and saw this gigantic clue before me:
Burger King in Chinese! This must be it.So I walked. And I walked. Sure, this seemed like Chinatown---hawkers on the street, tourists with cameras. But where were the pushcarts that sell delicious Chinese delicacies like pork buns and turnip cakes?And then I saw green, white and red. Throngs of people pushed their way through what looked like an ancient Chinese festival of sorts. I pushed my way in:
Apparently, in New York's Chinatown, Chinese Americans look like haggard Italians and cook things like sausage on the grille:
There's also Chinese gelato and pastries:
But where was I? What was going on? I looked up and beheld the answer: The 7th Annual Feast of San Gennaro.
Having seen the movie "Hero," I know that San Gennaro is the martial arts expert who journeyed through several multi-colored vistas to kill assassins in the name of the king. How wonderful that we were here to celebrate his triumph by eating traditional Chinese food.I jumped on the bandwagon and ordered a sausage with peppers and onions:
The Italian-looking Chinese man asked me if I wanted spicy or plain."Spicy!" I said. "Hold the duck sauce."I continued on my way taking in other sites of Chinese culture:
How all-embracing are the Chinese? They even purvey Italian music:
Reaching journey's end, I took a good look at the street name so I could remember where Chinatown is for next time:
Before I left, though, I topped things off with a classic Chinese dessert:
Made me think of my favorite line from The Godfather: "Leave the gun. Keep the dim sum."