New York food: how to cook like a local

New York cuisine

Of the world’s cities, New York is one people feel they know, even if they’ve never been here. From Broadway to Wall Street, New
York has helped shape global culture and the same goes for its food. Bagels, pizza by the slice, Katz’s Delicatessen and Magnolia Bakery are a handful of household names the city has inspired.

What makes New York such an incubator of innovation? Partly its sheer size. Home to more than eight million people, New York City is the most densely populated city in the United States with more than 25,000 restaurants catering to every food niche.

There’s also unparalleled diversity. At last count, migrants account for more than 30 percent of the population, hailing from more than 180 countries around the world. Around 200 distinct cuisines now call the Big Apple home, from Ukrainian to Hunanese, Ecuadorian and Nigerian. At the same time, there’s the city’s undeniable influence: Jewish-American delis, Italian-American restaurants and halal carts blending South Asian, Middle Eastern, Mediterranean and Caribbean cuisines are just a few of the unique culinary cultures born from all social walks living side by side.

Connected through five boroughs and a vast grid of streets and avenues, the city’s character-filled communities are part of New York’s one-of-a-kind appeal and where traversing the city is just as rewarding as the final destination. From the historic brownstones of West Village and cobbled streets of SoHo, the storied grit of Chinatown and Lower East Side, the melting pot of Astoria and Harlem, or the grandeur of the Upper East and West Sides, each neighbourhood offers a new dish to discover.

The turn of seasons also brings a return to cherished experiences. Park picnics and cold, creamy desserts in summer. Gulping bowls of ramen and cider in fall. Cozy upstate getaways, and grilled cheese and tomato soup specials come winter – and spring, blossoming with new produce from farmers’ markets.

From street food to hot spots (and both are just as good) and almost every cuisine and food fixation in between, there’s something for everyone in NYC — and more of it than any other place in the world.

Yasmin Newman's New York recipes

New York crumb cake

In bakeries, bodegas and coffee shops, generous slices of crumb cake call out from the counter. The defining New York touch is the ratio, size and texture of the crumb – at least a third to three-quarters of the cake – and large, fall-apart-in-your-mouth rubbles.

Street cart soft pretzels

In America, pretzels first made landfall in Pennsylvania with German immigrants who arrived at the turn of the 1700s. A century later, a second wave of migrants brought pretzels to New York, peddled in beer halls in Little Germany on the Lower East Side and then in street carts around the city. Today they are one of New York’s most enduring street snacks, the large rings conveniently stacked on rods to grab, or warmed in a heated cabinet on vendors’ carts. The best are soft yet slightly chewy, with a dark golden skin from being boiled before baking, slow-fermented for a richly flavoured dough and speckled with fat crystals of salt.

Spicy cumin lamb noodles

Within the many Chinese enclaves in NYC is the food of Shaanxi, a province at the eastern end of the ancient Silk Road, known for its fiery, spice-laden cuisine. Xi’an Famous Foods began selling specialities from the region at a stall in a Flushing mall and quickly expanded across New York as locals fell for the hand-pulled biang biang noodles rippled with chilli oil and moreish, heavy-handed spicy cumin lamb. While both dishes are commonly found in parts of China, the crowd-pleasing two-in-one combo was born in New York at XFF. For ease, this adapted recipe uses wide store-bought noodles with ground, toasted spices for intense flavour.