Food & Drink

International house of brunch

ISREAL

Green shakshuka

aka Middle Eastern Baked Eggs at Jack’s Wife Freda, $10, 224 Lafayette St.

Dean Jankelowitz’s cozy downtown restaurant, Jack’s Wife Freda, which he runs with his Israeli wife, Maya, offers a menu of classics that have been revived with an international perspective.

One of their variations for breakfast is shakshuka, a Middle Eastern version of classic baked eggs. “The shakshuka is a baked egg dish traditionally made in a broth of red tomatoes,” says Jankelowitz. Instead, the kitchen uses a sauce made with garlic, cumin, peri-peri red pepper spice, and green tomatillos, which also gives it a huevos rancheros vibe. “I’ve been in the city 18 years, eating out all the time, getting a sense of what people like, what’s fair game, and what’s adventurous for others,” says Jankelowitz. “We took food that both myself and my wife really liked and wanted to do something that’s sentimental, but revised,” he says. “Do what you love, and the expression shows up on the plate.”

DENMARK

Smørrebrød

aka Danish Buffet at Aamanns-Copenhagen, $9, 13 Laight St.

Brunch only found its way into Danish culture in the mid-’90s, starting with cafes and coffee shops in Copenhagen. And now it’s finally making its foray into New York City culture. “Usually, there’s a platter with different things on it — fruit, yogurt, salami, ham, salmon roe, dill, cheese, cold cuts, rye bread,” says Aamanns-Copenhagen executive chef Carl Kristian Frederiksen, who moved to the city last year to helm the Tribeca-based eatery. “At home, my mom fills up a big table with all kinds of meat, fish, pickles, and you make your own sandwiches.” And when he says sandwiches, he means open-faced smørrebrød. On the spring menu is smørrebrød with salted salmon, which is cured in a salt-and-sugar brine, placed on a slice of housemade rye bread over a little mayonnaise with lemon puree, then topped with salmon roe, crispy rye bread, raw fennel shavings, fresh dill, some spices and olive oil.

THAILAND

Khao soi

aka Spicy Thai Grits at Pig and Khao, $16, 68 Clinton St.

Ever since chef Leah Cohen launched Pig and Khao’s brunch service two months ago, the Lower East Side restaurant has been packed on weekend afternoons with customers ordering her tasty Southeast Asian comfort dishes. If you’re coming off a particularly robust night of partying, your best bet is to start with the spicy and rich khao soi curry noodles. “It was one of my favorite things when I was traveling in Southeast Asia, in Thailand,” says Cohen, who fries the dish’s red curry paste in coconut cream, palm sugar and fish sauce before adding a chicken-stock/coconut milk-based broth, egg noodles, boneless chicken thigh chunks, red onions, cilantro, house-pickled mustard greens and a wedge of lime. “It’s a street food you’ll find in Chiang Mai. It’s good to have if you’re hungover — anything heavy or spicy will cure a hangover.”

ITALY

Smoked swordfish

aka Italian Bagels & Lox at Maialino, $15, 2 Lexington Ave.

“Bagel, cream cheese and lox — that’s exactly where the inspiration came from,” says chef Nick Anderer of the Spada Affumicato sandwich, an Italian take on the Jewish culinary tradition using smoked swordfish that’s become a favorite on his menu at Maialino. Just like a typical bagel-and-lox platter, Anderer deconstructs the ingredients and places them in sections. Foods are typically cured first, then smoked: a few translucent slabs of swordfish cured with citrus, fennel, salt and sugar; a pile of Robiolina, which is a more delicate and mildly sweet Italian cow’s milk cream cheese; and ciabatta bread from Grandaisy Bakery. “When we first put it on the menu, people were weirded out by it,” says Anderer. “[Customers] wanted eggs, the porchetta sandwich. Now, I think it rivals our most popular dishes.”