“WHAT’S IN YOUR POCKET?”
“WHAT’S IN YOUR POCKET?”
It wasn’t until a few years ago that I truly came to appreciate turcos, the tiny turnovers my grandma labors over every holiday season stuffed with thrice-cooked pork, raisins, and nuts. As cinnamon and anise waft through that sweltering South Texas kitchen, my mom, her sisters and cousins still try to sneak a fresh turc (as they lovingly call these pockets) straight off the sheet pan. “Only eat the ugly ones!” my grandma always yells. See, she stashes all of her perfectly roped empanadas for the big parties, a far cry from how they were originally eaten.
Eddie Mao is a true dumpling aficionado, and no stranger to the tastiest dumplings in New York City. His love for pocket foods is somehow still greater than the copious amount of dumplings we ate with on our dumpling crawl through Flushing. He is committed to researching the many varieties of the dumplings, baos and all of their cousins in both China and in his home neighborhood of Flushing.
By Ellen Gray
When I was in 6th grade, my grandmother, lured by the tropical climate and a gaggle of widowed friends, moved to Florida. For a number of summers, I joined Mama Min in her high-rise Hollywood apartment, traveling via Eastern Airlines to the land of palm trees and coconut patties.
The World In A Pocket is devoted to exploring the world through the lens of a dumpling. From mandu to empanadas, spanakopita to gyoza, pierogis to pop tarts, this is our love letter to pockets worldwide and the stories they tell.
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