I spend much of my cheese-time on the soft, drippy, pungent French cheeses, but there is something wonderful about a truly good semisoft. The sometimes neglected semisofts can really pack in the flavor without over-doing it. It's especially surprising to bite into something that looks like your average Monterey Jack and find an explosion of pungency. Here are a few I've been enjoying lately.
Herve Mons Gabietou, French, Cow/Sheep Blend
This lovely cheese from the French Pyrenees is buttery, salty and ever so slightly-sheepy, the sheepyness tempered by the seemless blending with cow. This is one of my new favorites. Find it and eat it!
Pleasant Ridge Reserve, Cow
Uplands Cheese Co.
Dodgeville, Wisconsin
Pleasant Ridge Reserve, a two time winner of the American Cheese Society Best of Show award (Did you know there was an American Cheese Society?), was one of the cheeses that taught me how good a semisoft could be. I still remember my first taste. It was full of wine flavors and had a good zing to it. The flavors washed over me and I was sold on semisoft.
Lately, however, I've been disappointed with it. The flavors seem dimmer and less pronounced. Like wine, good cheese is very sensitive to its environment. Flavors can change based on what the cows are eating, what season they are milked and the profile of the herd. It could be that this is just part of that variance, but I must admit, I've been passing up PRR for other things.
Midnight Moon, Goat Gouda
Cypress Grove Dairy
Arcata, California
Another legendary American artisanal cheesemaker is Cypress Grove, Northern California makers of goat cheese. Their lovely Humboldt Fog goat cheese was one of the early small-producer cheeses to gain popularity. Midnight Mood is a goat Gouda, which has been around for a few years now, and is actually made in Holland.
While Gouda is usually considered a hard cheese, unless it is super-aged, it is much more similar to a semisoft. The Midnight Moon has a subtle Gouda flavor with a bit of fruit. It is milder than the other semis listed here, but still full of flavor, and more interesting than most Dutch Goudas I've had. This is a very easy to eat cheese and one that I often use for cheese plates because of its mass appeal.
Most of these cheeses will be available at a good cheese store, though Herve Mons Gabietou is a bit harder to find.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Whiskey Wednesday: The Doctor is In
We are taking a break from our series on blended Scotch to wish a hearty congratulations to Dr. Whisky, a.k.a. Sam Simmons, who is the recipient of this year's Drammie award for Best Book, Resource or Website.
For the past year, the good Doctor has been on a Malt Mission, tasting four to five whiskies per week and reporting tasting notes on his website. He does two tastings of each whiskey, one first thing in the morning (yikes!) and one in the evening. While his bailiwick is Scotch, he occasionally ventures out of that box and tastes other whiskies, including samples from such far flung locales as India and Kenya (in fact, he's tasted more Kenyan whiskies than American whiskies). While he sometimes ventures into the obscure, most of the whiskies he tastes are fairly available.
My favorite thing about Doc's site though, is his tasting notes. Tasting notes are a lot like abstract art. Everyone thinks they can do them, but it takes a true artist to really make it appealing to the public. There are lots of very popular whiskey writers whose notes are nothing more than a string of flavors or scents which seem linked together by nothing more than free association. This can go on for whole paragraphs, and the more obscure the reference, the better e.g., "unripe Haas avocados, Havana cottonseed, kyoho grapes, spring butter, cold-pressed grapeseed oil, etc., etc., etc." As I have often complained, these types of notes are of little use to the reader. Knowing that someone thinks the finish of a certain whiskey has a dash of French summer peaches doesn't tell me anything interesting or help me make a decision about whether to buy the bottle.
The great thing about Dr. Whisky is that his tasting notes are both entertaining and helpful. He starts each review by giving specific information about the whiskey being tasted; this sounds obvious, but it's a rarity in tasting notes and information about specific bottles can be surprisingly hard to find.
His tasting notes eschew the obscure and embrace the familiar, often in whimsical fashion which inspires a chuckle. Some of the flavors he's noted in whiskies are green gummy bears, sweaty pencil after an exam, matzoh, roadside construction, wet bathing suits and, unfortunately, flatulence.
Lastly, he concludes with a summary of his thoughts on the whiskey. This too seems obvious but is often lacking in tasting notes or signified simply by a numerical rating which is of little use unless you are very familiar with that taster and his or her preferences. (It also gives you something to skip to if you're feeling lazy...sorry Doc, it happens.)
The bottom line is that Dr. W is a great writer with a good sense of humor...the exact type of person who should be writing tasting notes. Now, while I don't begrudge him a celebration, he may have taken it a tad too far, but maybe that's what 253 malts will do to you.
Congrats Doc!
Next Wednesday: The Blends are Back...in Black
For the past year, the good Doctor has been on a Malt Mission, tasting four to five whiskies per week and reporting tasting notes on his website. He does two tastings of each whiskey, one first thing in the morning (yikes!) and one in the evening. While his bailiwick is Scotch, he occasionally ventures out of that box and tastes other whiskies, including samples from such far flung locales as India and Kenya (in fact, he's tasted more Kenyan whiskies than American whiskies). While he sometimes ventures into the obscure, most of the whiskies he tastes are fairly available.
My favorite thing about Doc's site though, is his tasting notes. Tasting notes are a lot like abstract art. Everyone thinks they can do them, but it takes a true artist to really make it appealing to the public. There are lots of very popular whiskey writers whose notes are nothing more than a string of flavors or scents which seem linked together by nothing more than free association. This can go on for whole paragraphs, and the more obscure the reference, the better e.g., "unripe Haas avocados, Havana cottonseed, kyoho grapes, spring butter, cold-pressed grapeseed oil, etc., etc., etc." As I have often complained, these types of notes are of little use to the reader. Knowing that someone thinks the finish of a certain whiskey has a dash of French summer peaches doesn't tell me anything interesting or help me make a decision about whether to buy the bottle.
The great thing about Dr. Whisky is that his tasting notes are both entertaining and helpful. He starts each review by giving specific information about the whiskey being tasted; this sounds obvious, but it's a rarity in tasting notes and information about specific bottles can be surprisingly hard to find.
His tasting notes eschew the obscure and embrace the familiar, often in whimsical fashion which inspires a chuckle. Some of the flavors he's noted in whiskies are green gummy bears, sweaty pencil after an exam, matzoh, roadside construction, wet bathing suits and, unfortunately, flatulence.
Lastly, he concludes with a summary of his thoughts on the whiskey. This too seems obvious but is often lacking in tasting notes or signified simply by a numerical rating which is of little use unless you are very familiar with that taster and his or her preferences. (It also gives you something to skip to if you're feeling lazy...sorry Doc, it happens.)
The bottom line is that Dr. W is a great writer with a good sense of humor...the exact type of person who should be writing tasting notes. Now, while I don't begrudge him a celebration, he may have taken it a tad too far, but maybe that's what 253 malts will do to you.
Congrats Doc!
Next Wednesday: The Blends are Back...in Black
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Mozza, Hold the Pizza
I'm not one to flock to the latest big restaurant on opening night. I avoid crowds and celebrity chefs. Sure, in the first month or two when Tom Colicchio is babysitting Craft or Wolfgang Puck is running the grill at Cut, the food will be great. But after they get their three stars from Miss Irene at the Times and the hubbub dies down, then what happens. Do they keep producing quality food or do the rest on their laurels? The true test of a great restaurant is whether it can produce high quality food over time.
This is why I had so far avoided Pizzeria Mozza and its cousin Osteria Mozza, the product of a collaboration between Iron Chef Mario Batali and local bread-winner Nancy Silverton. The restaurant opened to rave reviews from Virbila, Jonathan Gold and the like, some calling it the best pizza in LA, but that was last year, and now Mario has gone back to New York and it's just another restaurant, one that I decided it was time to visit.
Of course, it's still impossible to get a reservation, unless you like booking dinner at 3:30 (am or pm), but when I walked into the Pizzeria at 6:00 on a Wednesday evening, there were a few spaces at the bar and a pretty good turnover.
We had an appetizer, two pizzas and dessert. The funny thing is than while the appetizer and dessert blew us away, the pizzas, while good, did not seem all that special.
Our appetizer was bone marrow al forno, consisting of ovenbaked beef bone marrow, served with toast, roasted garlic, sea salt and a microscopic micro-greens salad. The marrow, served in three sections of a cow femur, was luscious...fatty, tender, beefy, garlicky, rich and served so hot that I burnt a finger grabbing the piece of bone. The salad, which really should have been larger, had a nicely acidic lemon dressing which cut perfectly through the grease and richness of the marrow. The roasted garlic was superfluous.
The two pizzas were the Gorgonzola dolce, fingerling potatoes, radicchio & rosemary and the "meat lovers pizza" with sausage, salami, bacon & guanciale. These were both good pizzas. The crusts are big, fluffy...nice and chewy, and the toppings are well done, but they just didn't live up to the hype. Frankly, I'd just as soon eat a good ole' Casa Bianca sausage and green olive pie.
Much has been written about the butterscotch budino dessert, and it did live up to the hype. A rich, creamy butterscotch pudding, topped with salt and whipped cream, the budino joins my custard hall of fame. I briefly considered ordering a second, but decided better of it. The accompanying rosemary cookies were not to my liking, but I was a bit over-rosemaried from the pizza.
I may go back to Mozza, if I hear the siren song of marrow or butterscotch pudding, but it won't be for the pizza.
Pizzeria Mozza
641 N. Highland Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90036
(323) 297-0101
This is why I had so far avoided Pizzeria Mozza and its cousin Osteria Mozza, the product of a collaboration between Iron Chef Mario Batali and local bread-winner Nancy Silverton. The restaurant opened to rave reviews from Virbila, Jonathan Gold and the like, some calling it the best pizza in LA, but that was last year, and now Mario has gone back to New York and it's just another restaurant, one that I decided it was time to visit.
Of course, it's still impossible to get a reservation, unless you like booking dinner at 3:30 (am or pm), but when I walked into the Pizzeria at 6:00 on a Wednesday evening, there were a few spaces at the bar and a pretty good turnover.
We had an appetizer, two pizzas and dessert. The funny thing is than while the appetizer and dessert blew us away, the pizzas, while good, did not seem all that special.
Our appetizer was bone marrow al forno, consisting of ovenbaked beef bone marrow, served with toast, roasted garlic, sea salt and a microscopic micro-greens salad. The marrow, served in three sections of a cow femur, was luscious...fatty, tender, beefy, garlicky, rich and served so hot that I burnt a finger grabbing the piece of bone. The salad, which really should have been larger, had a nicely acidic lemon dressing which cut perfectly through the grease and richness of the marrow. The roasted garlic was superfluous.
The two pizzas were the Gorgonzola dolce, fingerling potatoes, radicchio & rosemary and the "meat lovers pizza" with sausage, salami, bacon & guanciale. These were both good pizzas. The crusts are big, fluffy...nice and chewy, and the toppings are well done, but they just didn't live up to the hype. Frankly, I'd just as soon eat a good ole' Casa Bianca sausage and green olive pie.
Much has been written about the butterscotch budino dessert, and it did live up to the hype. A rich, creamy butterscotch pudding, topped with salt and whipped cream, the budino joins my custard hall of fame. I briefly considered ordering a second, but decided better of it. The accompanying rosemary cookies were not to my liking, but I was a bit over-rosemaried from the pizza.
I may go back to Mozza, if I hear the siren song of marrow or butterscotch pudding, but it won't be for the pizza.
Pizzeria Mozza
641 N. Highland Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90036
(323) 297-0101
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
BonBonBar's Scotch Bar: Two Great Tastes That Taste Great Together
As I think about the beginnings of my new favorite candy bar, I envision two people walking down a busy street. One is sipping a dram of Talisker, the smoky single malt from the Scottish Isle of Skye; the other is eating a piece of dark chocolate. Suddenly, the two become distracted by a passer-by and, as they are looking away, they collide and lose their grip such that the chocolate falls into the glass of whiskey.
"Hey," cries the chocolate eater, "you got your Scotch in my chocolate."
"Hey," yells the tippler, "you got your chocolate in my Scotch."
They contemplate the combination, taste it, and their expressions of anger give way to delight and then ecstasy..."It's good." "Really, good!"
Well, maybe I watched too much television in the 1970s, but how else would someone think of combining one of the smokiest of Scotches with chocolate, which is the exact premise of the new Scotch Bar from BonBonBar.
BonBonBar, a one-woman operation, is the recent creation of Nina Wanat, an LA refugee from New Jersey via the Culinary Institute of America in Napa who also blogs about her candymaking at the Sweet Napa blog. Her mission is to bring candy bars to a new level using fresh, local ingredients, innovation and great care, and although she only started her company last fall, she may well change the candy bar as we know it.
She makes a small variety of chocolate bars and handmade marshmallows, but being a chocolate and whiskey fanatic, I was immediately drawn to her new Scotch Bar.
Now, I must admit that, at first, I was skeptical of the Scotch Bar. I don't even like ice in my Scotch, but chocolate and caramel? I also feared that it was a gimmick without much basis in flavor. I'm happy to report that I was wrong.
The Scotch Bar contains a chocolate ganache made from a combination of Cacao Barry Mi-Amere chocolate (58% cacao) and single malt Scotch (Talisker's 1992 Distiller's Edition). The Scotch ganache is topped with a layer of perfect, thick caramel; the whole bar is coated with chocolate and sprinkled with a few gorgeous crystals of Maldon sea salt. This is not a candy that tastes like liquor. The whiskey flavor is quite subtle and understated. What comes through is just the faintest bit of smoke from the Talisker. Along with this subtle flavor, the whiskey adds a smoothness which balances well with the caramel and salt. The combination of the four flavor elements is sublime.
I was impressed that Nina used a bold Talisker in this candy as opposed to a more approachable malt and asked her how she arrived at that choice. She replied:
I specifically avoided really smoky or peaty malts for a long time. I tried my best to make Balvenie work, but no matter how much I put in, the flavor was barely coming through in the ganache -- and didn't stand a chance against the caramel or chocolate coating. Finally, I went to Wally's on Westwood Blvd with a couple samples of what I'd made and an attitude of "give me the strongest you've got," and the staff immediately took the project to heart and enthusiastically made recommendations. I added "even if it's smoky" to my attitude, I took home a 200ml bottle of the Talisker to try out, and then returned for more. I liked the way it tasted on its own and in the bar, and I figured that Single Malt Scotch drinkers would want all the flavors that they love in Scotch in the candy bar -- smokiness and all.
You've got that right!
BonBonBar Scotch bars, along with other delicious treats, are available on the website in boxes of 3 for $15 or 6 for $30. And be sure to also try the phenomenal Caramel Nut Bar, a chocolate bar filled with gooey caramel and a mix of nuts and cacao nibs...many great tastes that taste great together.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Whiskey Wednesday: Fowl of Renown - The Famous Grouse
For the second in our three part series on blended Scotch, we turn to the Famous Grouse. Johnnie Walker may be the world's best selling Scotch, but the best selling Scotch in Scotland is Famous Grouse, and that's gotta' count for something.
Famous Grouse is owned by The Edrington Group. While their distillery profile is quite modest compared to Diageo's massive collection, they do own two of the most wildly popular single malts around: The Macallan and Highland Park. Of course, blends aren't just comprised of malts owned by the blending company; they buy other malts for blending as well, but Macallan and Highland Park give them a good start.
I sat down with the standard issue Famous Grouse which runs about $20 per bottle (duck not included).
Tasting
You can immediately taste that Grouse has no small amount of Highland Park in it. It's hard to mistake the complex flavor of malt and straw with a touch of smoke. In Grouse, there is a lighter, less rugged touch to it than you would get with straight HP, which gives it a good balance. Of the basic-level blends I've had, I definitely think Grouse is the best. It's not afraid to give you strong Scotch flavor, even if it is less bold than a single malt. And for the price, it's hard to beat. Hmm, an affordable, flavorful blend that outsells every other whiskey in Scotland, seems that those Scots know their stuff.
Next Wednesday: Back in Black
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Something Fishy Going On: Kiriko
I am lucky to have a good friend who is fluent in Japanese. Not only does he ply me with hard to find Japanese Whiskey on his frequent trips overseas, he brings me to his favorite ramen, sushi and other restaurants in town. I don't know if his chatting with the sushi chef gets us better food, but hey, it can't hurt.
His latest favorite for sushi is Kiriko in West LA, which lies at the southern tip of Sawatelle's Japanese commercial strip. Recently, he took me there and we enjoyed an appetizer/sushi omakase (tasting menu) sitting at the sushi bar.
I like sushi, but I'm all about the big, bold and complex, and fine sushi is a subtle undertaking. I can get excited about monk fish liver, roe and uni, with their richness and deep flavors, but I have to admit, the mere presence of raw fish on rice, even a fine toro, while good, doesn't really get me that excited. That all changed at Kiriko, but we'll get there.
The appetizers were non-sushi dishes. I loved the salted ginko nuts, soft, warm bright yellow nuts topped with sea salt, which we washed down with sake. These were the perfect bar snack, warm, nutty, salty...the flavor was similar to a chestnut but without the sweetness. I could get really addicted to these.
The nuts were accompanied by a piece of mango wrapped in a home-smoked salmon topped with caviar. The salmon was wonderful, having a real smoky taste; the taste of the char was in it, like a good Islay Scotch. The mango was a great counterpoint...a simple but well executed dish.
In terms of the sushi courses, all of it was very good, and I especially liked the toro (fatty tuna) and the uni. I'm a big uni fan, and Kiriko served us fresh uni caught at Catalina Island and dabbed with a drop of lemon juice...near perfect.
But what really got me going was kinmedai, or golden eye snapper sushi. This was the first time I'd had this red-tinged white fish. The taste was transcendent...it was so much more than raw fish. It had some of the fattiness of toro but also, a deep creaminess, a smoothness that was countered well by both rice and soy sauce.
The flavor was subtle but inherently attractive and magically enticing. We asked for another piece after our entire omakase was done.
I am, finally, a fish and rice convert.
Kiriko
11301 W Olympic Blvd # 102*
Los Angeles, CA 90064
(310) 478-7769
*While the address is Olympic, Kiriko is actually on the west side of Sawtelle, just north of Olympic. Parking is available and validated at the Banquet Center parking on the northwest corner of Olympic and Sawtelle.
His latest favorite for sushi is Kiriko in West LA, which lies at the southern tip of Sawatelle's Japanese commercial strip. Recently, he took me there and we enjoyed an appetizer/sushi omakase (tasting menu) sitting at the sushi bar.
I like sushi, but I'm all about the big, bold and complex, and fine sushi is a subtle undertaking. I can get excited about monk fish liver, roe and uni, with their richness and deep flavors, but I have to admit, the mere presence of raw fish on rice, even a fine toro, while good, doesn't really get me that excited. That all changed at Kiriko, but we'll get there.
The appetizers were non-sushi dishes. I loved the salted ginko nuts, soft, warm bright yellow nuts topped with sea salt, which we washed down with sake. These were the perfect bar snack, warm, nutty, salty...the flavor was similar to a chestnut but without the sweetness. I could get really addicted to these.
The nuts were accompanied by a piece of mango wrapped in a home-smoked salmon topped with caviar. The salmon was wonderful, having a real smoky taste; the taste of the char was in it, like a good Islay Scotch. The mango was a great counterpoint...a simple but well executed dish.
In terms of the sushi courses, all of it was very good, and I especially liked the toro (fatty tuna) and the uni. I'm a big uni fan, and Kiriko served us fresh uni caught at Catalina Island and dabbed with a drop of lemon juice...near perfect.
But what really got me going was kinmedai, or golden eye snapper sushi. This was the first time I'd had this red-tinged white fish. The taste was transcendent...it was so much more than raw fish. It had some of the fattiness of toro but also, a deep creaminess, a smoothness that was countered well by both rice and soy sauce.
The flavor was subtle but inherently attractive and magically enticing. We asked for another piece after our entire omakase was done.
I am, finally, a fish and rice convert.
Kiriko
11301 W Olympic Blvd # 102*
Los Angeles, CA 90064
(310) 478-7769
*While the address is Olympic, Kiriko is actually on the west side of Sawtelle, just north of Olympic. Parking is available and validated at the Banquet Center parking on the northwest corner of Olympic and Sawtelle.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
The Big Doughnut in the Sky: Randy's Donuts
You've seen it a million times. Perched on the northwest corner of Manchester and La Cienega, there lies the big doughnut that beckons all comers to Randy's Donuts. This 24 hour doughnut stand with a drive-thru window is a celebrity in its own right, having made cameos in any number of movies and television shows, and no early morning trip to LAX is complete without paying tribute to the giant doughnut.
The plain, raised glazed doughnut (my favorite type, as you know if you've read my doughnut reviews) is Randy's best offering. A flattish, disc like doughnut, it is light, with a nice yeasty flavor. It is nicely glazed and is not overly sweet. It may not rise to the level (no pun intended) of the glazed beauties at Stan's in Westwood or the airy lightness of Bob's at the Farmers Market, but it comes in a close third.
Randy's Donuts
805 West Manchester Avenue
Inglewood CA 90301
(310) 645-4707
The plain, raised glazed doughnut (my favorite type, as you know if you've read my doughnut reviews) is Randy's best offering. A flattish, disc like doughnut, it is light, with a nice yeasty flavor. It is nicely glazed and is not overly sweet. It may not rise to the level (no pun intended) of the glazed beauties at Stan's in Westwood or the airy lightness of Bob's at the Farmers Market, but it comes in a close third.
Randy's Donuts
805 West Manchester Avenue
Inglewood CA 90301
(310) 645-4707
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