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I share your enthusiasm for turnovers. Handheld pastries are the perfect sized snack for New Yorkers on the go, and while I especially love empanadas and meat pies, I would never say no to a buttery bourek with sesame seeds and nigella glimmering on top.

Rub it all over
And bathe it with your sweet sauce
BBQ ain’t prude.

I always find yogurt drinks refreshing. I'll have lassi if I want something heavier, ayran if I want to go lighter. Sparkling yogurt is also delicious, but it can be an acquired taste. Rose water and lemonade also is a good choice, as is cucumber water.

If you like biscochitos, I'm sure you'd love polvorones, incredibly delicate shortbreads made from lard, almonds and anise and a popular treat at Christmastime. More adventurous would be hopiang baboy, a Filipino cookie made from laminated pastry stuffed with sweetened beans and candied pork fat. It's similar to lao po bing, but far more decadent.

Spanish morcilla is absolutely dreamy. Beyond paprika, you often find warm undertones of cinnamon and clove suggesting an almost Moorish headiness. Latin American morcillas, on the other hand, are sanguine for the sanguine flavor and do little to alter the natural flavor of the filling.

I love brains. I grew up eating them with eggs in a very spicy curry sauce. They were absolute heaven with buttery parathas, though that kind of rich eating is not for every day.

@hardvice - I should've specified fried lumpia and not the lumpiang Shanghai you mention, which I consider more of a splurge (although that is highly subjective). You're right to point out that there are dozens of types of lumpia, much as there are dozens of styles of spring rolls and egg rolls throughout Asia. More than rice, I think the love of pastry stuffed with filling and deep fried unites Asia in a way no emire ever could!

I didn't mean to experiment with Indian, but it just so happens that I am tweaking my normal kheema recipe to make lamb quesadillas with tamarind and chili chutney for a party this weekend. It is a standard kheema of ground lamb with cumin, coriander, lime, chilies, garlic, ginger and onions in between buttered tortillas with muenster cheese, mozzarella and cheddar topped with diced onions, cilantro and the chutney. I usually eat a similar sandwich with paratha, but I think tortillas might hold up better on a buffet.

Green cardamom has a sweet, floral taste; black cardamom is camphorous with an assertive smoky flavor. Whereas green cardamom has a slightly cool mentholated flavor, black cardamom is all warm.

I understand the novelty of finding a cabbie dhaba in the middle of SoHo, but Lahore isn't as awesome as this review makes it out to be. I've been many times and have never had a "shatteringly crisp" samosa and in general their food lacks the savoriness of well-cooked onions and relies too heavily on ginger. There is an Indian take away a few blocks away on Houston and Orchard that I think is a much better representation. IIRC they even make their own sweets.

This is the best news I've heard all week. By the sound of it, it looks like Manhattan might finally have a Filipino destination spot.

Nice review, but Austrian wine bars are called "heurigers." There's no N in the word.

The comparison between jambalaya and fried rice is interesting, although probably a bit off. "Bahay kubo" suggests a rustic dish, perhaps not Cajun country, but country nonetheless. You'll find similar takes on fried rice in plenty of Filipino houses, though Umi Nom's version is probably a step up from the hot dogs or Spam you're likely to encounter.