Rewind to the summer of 2002. I was in the midst of my first truly independent summer, interning for Dutton Children's Books (a subsidiary of Penguin Putnam) on Hudson and Houston in New York City for two glorious months. Come lunchtime, though, it was a bit of a struggle to find something decent to eat for a decent price. I wasted much stomach space on mediocre snack-cart knishes and (ew) salads.
Until one day, I was poking around looking for Peanut Butter & Co. after seeing it featured on the Food Network. Having found it, though, I found myself inexplicably drawn to the hole-in-the-wall takeout counter nestled adjacent to it. I eyed it for at least a couple weeks before finally deciding to take the plunge. I can't remember, but I think it was my first encounter with Jamaican food. I think I'd heard about jerk chicken, but something else on the menu caught my eye--the curry goat.
Now, I love curry, and I love lamb. For me, goat did not seem like much of a leap. I ordered up some for maybe like $6, took the steaming parcel to a bench in the middle of West 4th, sat down and dug in.Oh, heaven.
The curry was remarkably strong, complex, savory. Little pleasure receptors in my brain were tingling. I savored every morsel of tender meat, and when I got down to them, I even sucked the saucy marrow out of the beautifully thick, white bones. It half occurred to me that these made the perfect kind of bones you'd want to give your dog to chew on. But I couldn't be bothered with that, because I was enjoying myself too much =)
The take-out counter, Jamaican Flavors, has since closed. I was so disappointed and broken-hearted when I discovered this in May 2008. But it looks like this new place, blogged about on www.midtownlunch.com, might be a good runner-up to try next time I'm in the Big Apple. Photo borrowed without permission.
