Newark's Ironbound section: Portuguese and Brazilian at its best

Circa 1895

Looking to discover a historically diverse, culturally vibrant part of this 316-year old town?

Well, one of Newark’s best-kept secrets is the rich Portuguese heritage found in an unassuming neighborhood just three blocks from bustling Penn Station. A quick jut over the tracks and then up Ferry Street yields the warmth and modern ethnicity of Portugal, Spain and Brazil. Restaurants, shops and storefronts in the Ironbound section genuinely reflect a part of the world not often seen in the American rainbow, and we’re lucky enough to have it right here in its unspoiled splendor.

You’ll want to walk through these East Ward streets to really feel the depth of Ironbound’s history. Aspects of when the Germans, Irish, Polish, Italians and others lived here remain, but it wasn’t until the Portuguese began arriving in the 1910s, and then en mass in the 1950s, that the area received its most modern makeover. TV tough guy Tony Soprano’s supposed childhood was here, which means he would have experienced this timely cultural transition, and this was a likely reason he wound up in The Caldwells.
 

Portuguese bakery

Newark’s Lusophone population – an umbrella term for all Portuguese-speaking peoples from places like Brazil, Cape Verde, Angola and Mozambique – is rangy and still bases its culinary profile within the parameters of its original imperial overlords. But the food found here also hints of how Portuguese cuisine has come full circle. Bygone foreign outposts have returned the flavors, so to speak, many times over.

Ergo, a wide range of spices and stylistic variations make Portuguese food one of the world’s most diverse. Growing out of an empire that once stretched from the Azores to Gao (India), the ‘Portuguese’ tag on food often describes little besides the main ingredients of a particular dish; breadth and creativity keep most classic recipes from ever tasting the same as you go from kitchen to kitchen and chef to chef. Heck, something we consider to be authentic Japanese – tempura – was brought there by the Portuguese in the 16th century. For adventurous eaters, discovering Portuguese food will open many new flavor doors.

But history will only get you so far in Newark’s “Little Portugal” as the waifs from bakeries like Teixiera’s and the Princesa (on Pulaski St.) envelop your senses. Soon, you’ll be thinking about the fabulous – yet extremely affordable – goods they are baking on premise and teasing you with in display case after drooled upon display case.
 

Dia de Portugal, or Portugal Day, in Newark, NJ

Go ahead, try to fight the gastronomique bliss that’s so easily found around here for under a dollar…leite-crème (a set egg custard) and arroz doce (Portuguese rice pudding) abound block after block and undermine your focus.

Beyond Ironbound and Newark, Lusophone food heritage travels well throughout the (North) Jersey region. Really, wherever such immigrants have settled in our fair land – from Massachusetts to Hawaii – there is a strong, rather undiluted Portuguese presence in that area’s culture. And their evident commonality is celebrated worldwide at least one day a year.

To immerse yourself in everything Portuguese, make sure not to miss the (unofficially) 369th annual “Dia de Portugal” during the week of June 10th, the official worldwide Portugal Day. Here in Newark, half a million people will converge, especially from Ferry to Market Streets, to mark the event, making it a good thing Penn Station is so conveniently close. Come hungry and come early to make sure not to miss any of the music, food and fun found on most every block.