http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/10/dining/holiday-crullers-mustard-on-tap-and-a-chocolatier-in-brooklyn.html 2014-12-08 22:13:23 Holiday Crullers, Mustard on Tap and a Chocolatier in Brooklyn Holiday crullers, a mustard store, a tropical Yule log and a chocolatier in Brooklyn === To Celebrate: Iced Crullers for the Holidays New York has become doughnut central, but how about a cruller for a change? Since they’re fried, like latkes, they’re appropriate for To Sample: Mustard With a Meal? Several Ready to Serve Step right up to the bar at the new Maille mustard store to sample five kinds of strong French mustard, a culinary staple. They are dispensed from a tap and you can take some home in stoneware jars. The flavors include Sauternes, and Chablis with black truffle. There is a selection of more than 20 mustards in jars, many available for sampling, with a variety of seasonings like blue cheese, fig and coriander, sun-dried tomato and espelette and saffron. There is even a “mustard sommelier,” Pierette Huttner, to guide you. The shop also sells oils, vinegars, cornichons and serving accessories: To Indulge: A Bûche de Noël for a Tropical Taste This dazzling tropical bûche de Noël was inspired by the pineapple, a symbol of hospitality. It is essentially a cylindrical baba soaked in rum syrup, with roasted pineapple around a core of lime cream. The whole confection is glazed and encased in a gilded chocolate shell with a pineapple pattern. Too beautiful to slice and eat? Oh, go ahead. Your guests are worth it: To Warm: Milky and Sweet, but Not Eggnog When it’s winter in the Middle East, people reach for sachlav, a thick milk confection, almost like a pudding. Mario Urgiles has added sachlav to his menu at Mighty Pie to warm shoppers at Union Square. He heats milk with starch, sugar and vanilla, adds orange flower water and tops it with shredded coconut, toasted pistachios and ground cinnamon. To make your own at home, dissolve 3 tablespoons cornstarch in 1/4 cup of milk, then stir into 1 3/4 cups of milk in a saucepan. Bring to a simmer so it thickens. Sweeten with sugar or honey, which I prefer, and add orange flower water to taste. Divide into two cups and finish with toppings as Mr. Urgiles does. While they might never add rum in the Middle East, a shot or two gives you an alternative to eggnog: To Serve: Skip the Turkey; Try Stuffed Pork Belly Among the many unusual cured meats at Dickson’s Farmstand Meats, there is now schweinebauch, which the owner Jake Dickson has made just for the holidays. It’s roasted pork belly stuffed with a smooth slightly peppery forcemeat, either pork or turkey based, with almost the texture of bologna. The turkey version is studded with cranberries. Warm it and serve it in thick slabs, or use it cold in thin slices on a platter or in sandwiches: To Shop: Chocolate Santas the Old-Fashioned Way In business for 91 years and still going strong, the New York chocolatier Li-Lac has moved its production headquarters to Industry City, an increasingly food-centric complex on the Brooklyn waterfront. The copper kettles and candy-making techniques are decidedly old-school and small batch. The 10,000-square-foot space has windows for viewing the process and a retail shop that stocks chocolate Santas and other treats: