Better Than Pizza: Jamacan Beef Patty
When it comes right down to it, I’m cheap. And usually hungry. And a bit lazy, not wanting to wander too far out of my neighborhood to find something tasty. And I crave unusual ethnic food far more frequently than I crave something most of my peers enjoy, like Tasty-D-Lite or Luna Bars. If I’m going to pay money, what I buy needs to be interesting, delicious, unusual, and satisfying. When it comes to cheap snacks, I’m a major pain in the ass.
That said, I don’t have caloric or fat limits, and I take great pride in my omnivorousness. So a city like Brooklyn is made for me – filled with ethnic variety, options, and a respect for thrift. It’s easier to rattle off a list of ten places to try than come up with ten reasons to visit the same shop twice.
So it surprised no one more than me when I started making a once-a-week habit of Christie’s. Christie’s makes pasties, or Cornish pies, or hand pies, or whatever you want to call highly seasoned savory meat stuffed inside flaky pastry. Christie’s calls them Jamaican pattys. Mon’.
Like all remaining urban culinary secrets, it was a place I’d walked by a zillion times, but was finally taken there by a trusted culinary advisor. When I walked in, I noticed that we were the only white people there; everyone else was speaking with strong Caribbean accents and seemed to be regulars. A very good sign.
Growing up, my best friend was from the Caribbean, so I was no stranger to Soursop, Peanut Punch, Coconut Water or Sorrel Drinks. Their beverage cooler contained all the usual subjects, without any riff-raff from the Coca-Cola company.
There was a steam table with jerk chicken, oxtail, callaloo, and curried goat. All good signs. But my friend brought me here for a meat pie, and that’s what I’d be having.
$1.85 later, I had a warm pie crust in my hand, filled with some unidentifiable meat no closer to organic than a packet of Pop Rocks. True comfort food.
The meat was seasoned within an inch of it’s life. Black pepper, allspice, MSG…perhaps a little hashish. But I am ahead of myself; the key to this experience was the first bite – before I even tasted the meat, there was something else entirely:
When I accepted the hand pie (and the $0.15 change, which I *did* leave as a tip; my frugality knows socially appropriate boundaries), I felt its weight and warmth in my hand. I had a look and couldn’t help but admire the craftsmanship; this pie that knew no temperature less than 38F. It had been crimped by a person and…let me just take this corner piece off…flake, flake, cleave, steam puff. Indeed. I nibbled at the pastry and my eyes widened – involuntarily. The pastry fissured on my tongue; flake is too lightweight a term to use to describe the oral experience. It cleaved, and dissolved.
Which was a good thing, because I had to take another bite, and another. This is how I got to the aforementioned meat. The texture was as terrible as the pastry perfect. But I got past it, as you look beyond a friend’s chronic lateness and instead choose to enjoy her vivid personality. The seasonings. There are no words.
But there is an address:
Christie’s Jamaican Patties.
387 Flatbush Ave, Brooklyn 11238Btwn Sterling Pl & Carlton Ave Phone: 718-636-9746
That said, I don’t have caloric or fat limits, and I take great pride in my omnivorousness. So a city like Brooklyn is made for me – filled with ethnic variety, options, and a respect for thrift. It’s easier to rattle off a list of ten places to try than come up with ten reasons to visit the same shop twice.
So it surprised no one more than me when I started making a once-a-week habit of Christie’s. Christie’s makes pasties, or Cornish pies, or hand pies, or whatever you want to call highly seasoned savory meat stuffed inside flaky pastry. Christie’s calls them Jamaican pattys. Mon’.
Like all remaining urban culinary secrets, it was a place I’d walked by a zillion times, but was finally taken there by a trusted culinary advisor. When I walked in, I noticed that we were the only white people there; everyone else was speaking with strong Caribbean accents and seemed to be regulars. A very good sign.
Growing up, my best friend was from the Caribbean, so I was no stranger to Soursop, Peanut Punch, Coconut Water or Sorrel Drinks. Their beverage cooler contained all the usual subjects, without any riff-raff from the Coca-Cola company.
There was a steam table with jerk chicken, oxtail, callaloo, and curried goat. All good signs. But my friend brought me here for a meat pie, and that’s what I’d be having.
$1.85 later, I had a warm pie crust in my hand, filled with some unidentifiable meat no closer to organic than a packet of Pop Rocks. True comfort food.
The meat was seasoned within an inch of it’s life. Black pepper, allspice, MSG…perhaps a little hashish. But I am ahead of myself; the key to this experience was the first bite – before I even tasted the meat, there was something else entirely:
When I accepted the hand pie (and the $0.15 change, which I *did* leave as a tip; my frugality knows socially appropriate boundaries), I felt its weight and warmth in my hand. I had a look and couldn’t help but admire the craftsmanship; this pie that knew no temperature less than 38F. It had been crimped by a person and…let me just take this corner piece off…flake, flake, cleave, steam puff. Indeed. I nibbled at the pastry and my eyes widened – involuntarily. The pastry fissured on my tongue; flake is too lightweight a term to use to describe the oral experience. It cleaved, and dissolved.
Which was a good thing, because I had to take another bite, and another. This is how I got to the aforementioned meat. The texture was as terrible as the pastry perfect. But I got past it, as you look beyond a friend’s chronic lateness and instead choose to enjoy her vivid personality. The seasonings. There are no words.
But there is an address:
Christie’s Jamaican Patties.
387 Flatbush Ave, Brooklyn 11238Btwn Sterling Pl & Carlton Ave Phone: 718-636-9746
posted by Allison Fishman Task at 7:00 AM
2 Comments:
Come on let's go! updates! more recipes! I'm a very impatient Frenchman (and friend of Jason) ;)
Come let's go! Updates! More recipes! I'm a very impatient Frenchman (and good friend of Jason) :)
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