GIFT GUIDE 2004: EATS & DRINKS - STUFFERS

MINAMOTO KITCHOAN

608 5th Ave. (49th St.), 212-489-3747

kitchoan.com

In many ways, this refined maker of wagashi, traditional Japanese cakes that feature red bean paste, rice or potato flour and seasonal ingredients as the basis of their dainties, has more in common with a chocolate shop than a bakery. Like chocolates, the wagashi, regularly flown in from Japan, are small, uniform in appearance, and can be packed up in a flat box and presented as a gift.

But the protein-rich pastries are a far cry from butter-fatty European sweets, and it is a pleasure to acquaint oneself with the textures herein. The Japanese crepe, a sweet wheat pancake that wraps many of the confections, is spongy; mochi, a glutinous rice paste that also serves as a coating, is gummy; red bean paste, the filling that appears in almost all of the sweets, is cakey and dense; fruit jellies are firm and wet.

First-timers might want to start with the signature tsuya ($2), a honey-scented sandwich of Japanese crepes and thick red bean paste. Each wagashi can be purchased individually (most cost around $3, some as much as $10.50), and the packaging itself is a treat. Persimmon jelly, jukushinosato, is packed in a plastic mold that resembles the fresh fruit in a crate. Most others are wrapped in muted colored paper beautifully decorated in Japanese characters and natural and abstract designs. These very sweet sweets are best taken with tea, and assorted green teas can also be purchased here.

AJI ICHIBAN

167 Hester St. (betw. Mott & Elizabeth Sts.), 212-925-1133

153A Centre St. (betw. Walker & Canal Sts.), 212-625-8179

37 Mott St. (Pell St.), 212-233-7650

23 East B'way (Catherine St.), 212-571-3755

188 Lafayette St. (Broome St.), 212-219-4010

ajiichiban-usa.com

This Hong Kong-based snack shop is bulk- food heaven for lovers of all things sweet, salty, sour and most of all, preserved. Hundreds of varieties of dried fruits, vegetables, crustaceans, meat and fish are available in several permutations and combinations of seasonings and preparations. As exotic as many of the items seem—shredded squid, vegetarian dice crackers, plum tablets—many of the flavors are not all that foreign to the American palate. The boutique's practice of offering a bowl of most items for sampling is also excellent for coaxing wary Westerners into trusting the inventory. The crispy squid ($11 per half pound) doesn't taste fishy at all, but boasts an addictive sticky spicy barbecue flavor that is 50 times preferable to America's salty chips. Other marine snacks—sesame dried fish, shrimp rolls, cuttlefish crackers—are equally innocuous, if not enjoyable.

The ratio of fruits to fauna at Aji Ichiban is at least 15 to one—the store features 28 varieties of preserved plum alone. What the difference is between preserved plum, preserved prune and pear plum, I'm not sure, but take note, Christmas literalists: They do sell sugarplums ($10 per half pound). I especially enjoyed the dried kumquat ($4 per half pound), sticky slices of the tart citrus fruit packed with concentrated kumquat flavor.

For the mild-hearted, there is a large variety of gummy sweets, many of them individually wrapped and illustrated with bouncy Asian anime. Candies that caught my eye were the delicate bouquets of sushi- and maki-shaped lollipops ($1 per piece), and tiny metallic plastic versions of the Japanese beckoning cat Maneki Neko ($18 per half pound) stuffed with candy. Since Aji Ichiban is self-service, you can control the size of your portions, hence pretty much anything can fit into a stocking, and the dainty red-striped cellophane bags with Aji Ichiban's crisp logo are decorative in themselves.

PATEL BROTHERS

251-08 Hillside Ave. (251st St.), Jamaica, 718-470-1356

42-92 Main St. (betw. Blossom & Cherry Aves.), Flushing, 718-661-1112

42-79C Main St. (betw. Blossom & Cherry Aves.), Flushing, 718-321-9847

37-46 74th St. (Roosevelt Ave.), Flushing, 718-898-3445

patelbrothersusa.com

A native escort was just the thing for my first visit to this superb Indian supermarket. My good friend Farah, who works in Jackson Heights and hails from Pakistan, expertly walked me through the aisles of packed, canned, frozen, jarred, dried and fresh groceries from India, Pakistan and beyond while I furiously took notes. For Indian-food lovers, Patel's fearsome variety of pickles and chutneys makes fine candidates for stocking stuffers, and all cost under $3.

Of the few that I tried (there are too many to try), Swad's bhel puri mix ($1.99) instantly earned a permanent space in my refrigerator alongside the other condiments. Made with ingredients like dates, tamarind paste, ginger and chili, at the risk of sounding crass, it is the Indian answer to A1. Farah also pointed out the endless variety of ready-to-eat meals in slim rectangular boxes for under $3, also by Swad, that helped her get through two years of grad school in London. The meals, like mutter paneer, peas and fresh Indian cheese in spiced sauce, show surprisingly pure ingredients and can be prepared in minutes by dropping a sealed bag into hot water.

Clustered around the cash registers are a variety of digestive sweets, and a few of them incited Farah to squeal with recognition. "I looove these!" she said, lifting a pink hourglass-shaped container of Hajmola's Anardana Churan ($4), a powdered mixture with dried pomegranate seeds that is said to aid digestion and cure hangovers. My favorite pick was Chandan's Softy Silvers ($6), a festive plastic canister of silver leaf coated fennel seeds, betel nuts and dried dates that taste of rose. Called mukhwas—you've probably tried a handful at the Indian restaurant—this type of mixture not only aids digestion and freshens breath but can offer an aromatic respite from tired candy canes.

If these appeal to you, you might want to upgrade to the Natural Paan ($5), a box of traditional cone-shaped digestive chews, usually made fresh by wrapping lime paste, cardamom, coconut, fennel and areca nut in a betel leaf. This preserved version of paan approximates the flavor by using rose petals, sugar, fennel seeds and dates wrapped in a dry betel leaf. Although you can chew the fresh leaves, I would recommend unwrapping the paan, discarding the leaf and chewing what's inside (some people swallow paan, others don't—it's your call). For a lower-maintenance sweet, try a box of Thai tamarind candy ($1.79)—chewy dried tamarind coated in sugar and chili powder.

M&I INTERNATIONAL FOODS INCORPORATED

249 Brighton Beach Ave. (betw. Brighton 1st & Brighton 1st Pl.), Brighton Beach

Too bad you can't put herring in a stocking. M&I International, Brighton Beach's de facto Russian grocery, offers some great fresh food, and it seems a sin to endorse a visit without recommending the salted herring, fresh farmer's cheese and sirok, a refrigerated sweet cheese confection dipped in chocolate. The ladies in smocks and caps who divvy out the goods are throwbacks to the mother country. M&I requires that you communicate with the salespeople, who are often the only means of gaining access to the many food products stored in glass cases. Although they might want to help you, chances are they don't speak English. So when navigating the pastry and sweets area on the second floor, where trays of individually wrapped Russian candies are held hostage, you will need to point, be patient, and use this write-up as your guide.

M&I offers a daunting variety of imported and house-made candy. As all are colorfully wrapped and inviting, it is impossible to tell which are old, which are fresh, which taste good and which do not. The best way to know is by buying one of whatever appeals to you and sampling it. (Brooklyn-made chocolates cost $4 per pound, and imports sell for $7 per pound.) Here are some candies I enjoy: chocolate-dipped prunes and apricots; korofkee, literally "cows," a caramel fudge; mishka kosolopee, "clumsy bear," a layered wafer chocolate; belotchka, "squirrel," a chocolate truffle with crushed nuts; and grilyash, hardened caramel with nuts in dark chocolate. Also ask for a zephyr, a citrusy marshmallow puff that comes plain or dipped in chocolate. If you remain undaunted, head downstairs for a jar of cherry compote (around $4), which, if you got yourself that farmer's cheese, makes a delicious match.

SAHADI'S

187 Atlantic Ave. (betw. Clinton & Court Sts.), Brooklyn Heights, 718-624-4550

sahadis.com

What not to buy is really the question at this Middle Eastern institution, where somehow everything looks good. Although the 100-plus-year-old market has a primarily Middle Eastern flavor, over the years it has expanded its inventory to include other international and domestic gourmet items. Some of the imported gems I discovered were Café Maatouk, a brick of delicious Brazilian coffee with ground cardamom from Lebanon ($1.85), olive oils from Jordan and Lebanon (starting at $3.95), Lebanese halawa (which shares shelf space with halvah from Brooklyn) and bottles of Mymoune artisinal rosewater from Lebanon ($4.25). Also enticing were packs of sticky flavored tobacco for the shisha ($6.25), ready-to-eat canned grape leaves from Lebanon, and for sheer novelty, Syrian chickpeas coated in shells of white, baby-blue and pink sugar ($2.25), Jordan almond-style .

Sahadi's also offers fresh Turkish delight with almonds and pistachios ($7.50 per pound), and an impressive array of dried fruits, nuts and spices in bulk. Jumbo walnuts ($1.75 per pound) in their shells caught my eye, and a barrel of dried mint leaves, at 40 cents per ounce, was impossible to pass by.

NORDIC DELICACIES

6909 3rd Ave. (Bay Ridge & Ave.),
Bay Ridge, 718-748-1874

nordicdeli.com

If you missed your chance to buy Daim bars, gingersnaps, lingonberry preserves and gløg during your last visit to IKEA, this Nordic shop in a former Scandinavian stronghold, Bay Ridge, has got you covered. The shelves at this modest store, which looked a little sparse at the time of my visit, really fill up during the holidays, according to the blond mother-hennish owner, Helene Bakke. Anticipate a replenished stock of the harder- to-find chocolate bars like the Norwegian Freia-brand candies, with fantastic names like Firkløver, milk chocolate with fruit and nuts, Kvikk Lunsj, the Nordic answer to Kit Kat, and Smil, their Rolo. For now, check out the collection of cookie and waffle irons, which Bakke has plenty of experience with—she uses hers daily to make fresh cookies and waffles in the store.

SCHALLER & WEBER

1654 2nd Ave. (86th St.), 212-879-3047

schallerweber.com

Schaller & Weber is a store full of vice. It has the best kinds of animal fats in the best forms: cured meat and milk chocolate. This destination for all things German is also the retail arm of one of the city's fantastic charcuteries. Here, you can sample all of the award-winning sausage, deli meats and pates made in their Long Island City plant. As some of the meats can survive at least a day without refrigeration, try slipping a salami into your loved one's stocking. The tv sausage, around $5 for four franks, is a smoked miniature kielbasa that, presumably, is perfect for munching on while sitting in front of the television. Serving a nobler purpose is the landjaeger ($3.49), two sticks of dried pork and beef sausage that are intended as a hiker's snack, a carnivore's Clif bar that you can fit in your pocket. (Naturally, Schaller & Weber also sells beer steins that can fit in your pocket, too.)

Then there's the chocolate. Schaller & Weber carries an enormous variety, including Ritter Sports bars, Milka and Lindt bars in flavors that you'd be hard-pressed to find in the states (think coconut, muesli and berry yogurt). Marzipan bars and Mozart Austrian chocolates abound in every imaginable shape and size. A friendly butcher volunteered that kids love liquor-filled chocolates—Lindt squares with cognac, pear Williams and kirsch, and my favorites, bottle-shaped chocolate Santas filled with Brandy ($10 for a box of 8). Other sweets of note are mini packets of Baalsen spice cookies, shaped like stars and hearts and coated in dark chocolate ($2), miniature Manner wafers ($4) and toy-filled chocolate Kinder Eggs ($2). More sophisticated are the variety of French chestnut purees and an enviable collection of German honeys. If the selection is too daunting, there's always a Schaller & Weber gift card.

BUONITALIA

75 9th Ave. (15th St.), 212-633-9090

buonitalia.com

This comprehensive importer of Italian specialty and everyday foods is the lone ethnic grocery destination in yuppie Chelsea Market. Most of the riches here are found in the preserved foods, like Play Dough-sized containers of Sicilian capers in sea salt ($2.95) that smell like surf, jars of black olive paste from Bologna ($4.95), petite cans of tuna in olive oil ($1.75), several types of cured anchovies, bottarga, and small jars of black or white truffle paste, also in oil ($5-$20). Fun finds include tiny bottles of the non-alcoholic aperitif San Bittèr ($12.50 for case of 10) and equally diminutive cans of the bitter cola Chinotto ($23.50 for a case of 24). For your hardworking single buddy, pick up a mini stovetop espresso maker ($19.50) and some Illy coffee ($10-$12). Although chocolates are available here, more interesting sweets include the marron glaces ($1.37 per piece) and strawberry preserves ($5.80).

MYERS OF KESWICK

634 Hudson St. (betw. Horatio & Jane Sts.), 212-691-4194

myersofkeswick.com

For lovers of mushy peas, this is your Mecca. The West Village British comfort-food destination carries all of the usual suspects that some people never seem to tire of. Sacks of Cadbury Buttons ($1.50), Eclairs ($3.95), Maynard's Wine Gums ($4.25) and Fox's Glacier mints ($2.50) hang there now but will inevitably be snatched up. Although I've never met someone who eats Marmite ($5.50) or Vegemite ($5.50), a molasses-colored yeast spread (people just seem to enjoy saying the name), it is nonetheless a ubiquitous fixture of these shelves. Some more-conventional and thoroughly enjoyable items are the Wilkins & Sons marmalades ($5.95) in tangerine and orange flavors, and the black-boxed Twinings Earl Grey tea ($7.50) that, for some reason, tastes so much better than the yellow-boxed variety.

The junk-food selection should satisfy most cravings. It includes miniature bags of Walker's crisps (95 cents), which stand out here because of crazy flavors like Roast Chicken and Prawn Cocktail. Jacob's and McVittie's biscuits are well-represented, as are my personal favorites, Tunnock's milk- chocolate tea cakes ($2.95), individually wrapped biscuits topped with marshmallow and dipped in chocolate, the UK's answer to a Mallomars. The store expects a new shipment soon, which will include Christmas crackers (the kind you break open, not the kind you eat) and puddings.

LI-LAC CHOCOLATES

120 Christopher St. (betw. Bleecker & Hudson Sts.), 212-242-7374

A visit to Li-Lac chocolate shop in the West Village is kind of like studying candy anthropology. All recipes for the handmade sweets have remained unchanged since the store opened in 1923. The mousse roll, a finger-size log of whipped chocolate filling in milk or dark chocolate, is a dead ringer for a Three Musketeers bar, albeit one that could not possibly be reproduced at this quality on a mass scale.

The American-style chocolates Li-Lac is known for—butter crunch, caramel squares, coconut clusters—have become staples at shopping-mall candy stores and in drugstore samplers. Sadly, while many have bitten into a maple-walnut cream or a pecan chew, few will know the true pleasure of enjoying these classics in their original forms. Until you taste one, a caramel square from Li-Lac seems interchangeable with what you'd find in a Whitman's box. Unlike the latter's gob of sweetness, Li-Lac's caramels are buttery and toasty. Chocolate-walnut fudge is nothing like the dull, cloying confectioner's sugar lumps we have come to know. Li-Lac's fudge boasts a gooey fresh texture, a satiny top layer and is full of cooked cream flavor. Radioactive green marzipan acorns with chocolate-dipped "caps" are definitively old school, but they're so fresh and pliant you can easily flatten one with your fingertips. While these confections are available year-round, Li-Lac's seasonal chocolates include Brooklyn-made Hanukah gelt and foil-wrapped Santas in sizes ranging from two-and-a-half ounces to 30 pounds.