Got Milks? Tres Leches

Tres Leches cake is one of my many loves. This Latin American dessert consists of a yellow cake soaked in three milks (tres leches): evaporated milk, sweetened condensed milk and half and half or cream. It's topped with a white icing (hopefully whipped cream). The moist cake, the milks and the frosting combine to make each mouthful a heavenly slice of creamy, dairy goodness.

Tres Leches cake is available at nearly every panaderia in LA, but it's surprisingly hard to find a good one. For one thing, as a cake soaked in milk, it needs to be fresh. It gets gloppy when old and sours pretty quickly as well.

I've gone through a number of Tres Leches phases in my life, and even made my own, which is actually pretty easy. The most commonly recommended Tres Leches among foodies is probably Porto's, the Cuban bakery with branches in Glendale and Burbank. Personally, I think Porto's, while good, is overrated. While technically proficient, their food just doesn't excite me much (though I like a beef filled, fried potato ball as much as the next person).

Lately, my Tres Leches of choice is from the bakery section of the Liborio Market. I go to the one on Third Street, east of Alvarado. Their cake has the perfect consistency - creamy but not completely sopping- and high turnover assures that it is fresh. The cake is super moist but not super sweet. The frosting isn't whipped cream, but the more typical sugar frosting you get at supermarkets, with a bit of the chemical aftertaste they sometimes have, but the overall cake is good stuff and fills my Tres Leches need better than most competitors.

Liborio Market
1831 W 3rd St
Los Angeles, CA 90057
(213) 483-1053

Whiskey Wednesday: The Best of the Worst - Scotch

We've all had it happen. You want a Scotch, but you're stuck in an airport, a crappy hotel bar, or worst of all, a wedding or a convention's cash bar. You have to decide between one or two blends that are clearly at the bottom of the barley barrel.

Well, given that I've been in this scenario more times than I can remember, I decided to take one for the team and give you the best of the worst, wherein I will review the plonk you are most likely to find in said situations.

It goes without saying that all of these are blends at 40% alcohol. They are ranked from best of the worst to worst of the worst in this blind tasting.


1. Johnnie Walker Red (Owned by Diageo)

I've never been a fan of JW Red, which I previously reviewed with the other Walkers, but face to face with these low-enders, it towered over the competition. It had nice malt on the nose and an even, unoffensive taste, though it was a bit medicinal, in a bad way, on the finish. It was certainly light, but not as light as the other contenders. It was head and shoulders above the others.


2. Dewar's White Label (Bacardi Ltd.)

The Dewar's had a nice malty nose, maybe the best nose of all of these, but the flavor was quite a bit lighter than the JW. There was some malt there, but it was less discernible. It beat out the Chivas by a nose.


3. Chivas Regal 12 years old (Pernod Ricard)

The Chivas had a weak nose but was fairly decent on taste. It was a bit milky, a bit sweet, and there was a pronounced grain flavor.


4. J&B (Diageo)

J&B was light on the nose with some malt. The flavor was bland and watery. Overall, it was boring and indistinct.


5. Cutty Sark (Edrington Group/Berry Brothers & Rudd)

This is hideous stuff. It has a weird perfume fragrance which stomps out any malt, and an unpleasant sweetness. This was by far the worst of the lot. STAY AWAY!


So, just to give you a sense of how these rankings came down. I tasted them blind. Johnnie Walker was the best by far, then Dewar's and Chivas were a fairly close call for second and third. J&B was discernibly worse than the first three and Cutty Sark was an abomination.

Good luck and give my congratulations to the happy couple.

Next Wednesday: We begin a new series of American whiskey reviews.

Now Playing at Hollywood and Ivar

As many of you know, I'm a regular at the Sunday Hollywood Farmers market on Ivar Street. I buy nearly all of my produce there and much of my other food as well, and I've often reviewed the various product available.

Over the last few months there has been a new crop of prepared food stands selling a wide variety of wares. I've written about Flan King and the great buffalo mozzarella available at the Winchester cheese stand, but there are some other new stands as well. Here are some quick hits.

Vera's Tamale Express

Fresh made chips and salsa as well as tasty tamales are available at this stand. I'm especially happy about the chips as there aren't a lot of places in LA to buy real restaurant style tortilla chips. Pork and chicken tamales were very good, both with a nice bite, and the green and red salsas were delicious and fresh tasting.

Carmela Ice Cream

I previously reviewed Carmella's stand at the Larchmont Farmers' Market, but they've moved to Hollywood. Their latest great flavor: Strawberry/Balsamico Sorbet.

Organic Coffee

I can't remember the exact name of the stand that sells organic roasted coffee (Organico Reserva?). It's all cold brewed and iced for the summer and was quite nice. They serve a fairly dark roast, which I like. I believe the coffee is Costa Rican.

I love the proliferation of prepared take-home food at the Market, and I hope there is more to come. My real hope is that our friend Nina, over at Sweet Napa will get a stand for her wonderful candy bars. We'll keep you posted.

A Diplomatic Rum

Rum is the latest booze to get the premium makeover. The one-time pirate nectar now comes in fancy bottles and shares shelf-space with Grey Goose, Milagro Tequila and other high end bottles with frosted glass and uber-modern designs.

I'm no rum expert, but I've tried a number of the high end rums and haven't been that excited about them. In many cases, the oak overwhelms the sugar, giving them less of a rum character and more of a whiskey taste. And if I want whiskey, that's what I'll drink.

That all changed when I tried Diplomatico Reserva Exclusiva. Diplomatico is a Venezuelan rum made by Destilerias Unidas, a well-respected South American spirits company. The Reserva Exclusiva is the top of their line, a twelve year old rum made entirely in pot stills (as opposed to continuous stills). The other expressions are the Añejo, aged four years, and the Reserva, aged eight years.


Tasting

Dimplomatico Reserva Exclusiva (Destilerias Unidas), 40% alcohol,

There is little to say except that Diplomatico is everything a rum should be. The predominant smell and flavor is sugar...thick, black molasses, maple sugar candies, oh so sweet but not cloyingly so. This is not rum pretending to be whiskey. This is rum which has reclaimed its sugar and held it up to the light. There is something beautiful about sugar and the nose of Diplomatico is similar to what you smell if you go to Hawaii and get a whiff of fresh cut sugarcane or the aroma of a newly opened bag of demera sugar.

The taste does not let you down; it is as bold and dramatic as the scent. Beautiful notes of cane sugar, dried fruit and other sweets. The alcohol weaves itself naturally into the sweetness, yo ho ho indeed.

This stuff is not yet widely available, but it seems that it is slowly becoming so. The first time I tried it was from a bottle that had been brought back from Venezuela. Now, it's available at Hi-Time Wine for $32.99, quite a bargain for the quality of this rum.

Whiskey Wednesday: The Mystery of Finlaggan

In the world of Scotch, few things inspire more intrigue than the release of a "mystery malt." What, you may ask, is a mystery malt? It is a single malt of uncertain origin.

As you may recall, within the world of Scotch, there are many independent bottlers who buy casks of Scotch from distilleries and market them under their own labels. In most cases, these bottlers reveal the source of the malt, but in some cases they do not, and those bottlings are known as mystery malts. We do not know why a given mystery malt does not reveal its source; sometimes it is because of a contractual obligation, other times it may be because the bottler is trying to market a distinct brand apart from any distillery, such as Ian McLeod's Smokehead.

Whatever the reason, mystery malts, especially Islay mystery malts, inspire no end of guessing and hypothesizing over the source.

Today, I will try Finlaggan, a popular mystery malt from Islay bottled by the Vintage Malt Whisky Company which is 40% alcohol. It is available for a bargain basement $16.95 at Trader Joe's.

Now, I've heard much speculation that the contents of Finlaggan are, in fact, a young Lagavulin. Frankly, I'm always skeptical of such claims. First, since there has been a recent scarcity of Lagavulin, nearly every Islay mystery malt is rumored to be Lagavulin. Second, because of this scarcity, why on earth would the distillery be selling it on the cheap to independent bottlers when they could be expanding their own brand? Of course, it's possible that in response to the scarcity, they overproduced and are selling off young whiskey, but they could probably make $100 a pop on a five year old release (a la Bruichladdich) as opposed to putting it in someone else's bargain malt. Then again, they could also be locked into a long-term contract with the bottler.

Caol Ila, on the other hand, a high quality but less sought after Islay malt, is known to produce lots of whiskey for independents, and is probably a more likely source for any given Islay malt than Lagavulin.

The other thing to keep in mind is that since it is a mystery malt, the bottler can change which whiskey goes into it. My bottle may be Lagavulin, yours may be Caol Ila and someone else's may be Laphroaig. There is simply no guarantee that it is all from the same source, though this site reports a correspondence with Finlaggan in which the bottler claims they use only one malt for all their bottlings.

In the end, it's really pointless to discuss the mystery. We're all better off hanging up our Sherlock Holmes hats and enjoying the malt for what it is...so here it goes...

Tasting

Plenty of peat and good Islay notes on the nose. No mistake about what region this comes from. There is a nice char on the taste but it has an overly diluted taste. The peat is definitely up front, but it is submerged in water, like some sort of peaty submarine. I can see why people think it's Lagavulin. It definitely shares some of those heavily smoked characteristics, even if they are hidden underwater.

Finlaggan is not a great whiskey but provides a decent amount of smoke at a rock-bottom price. I'm guessing it would do well in a Smoky Sazerac.

Next Wednesday: What to drink at your nephew's Bar Mitzvah

Yes They Got 'Em for Sale: Tamales Alberto

LA is a tamale paradise, filled with perhaps as many versions of the wrapped, masa-laden treats as there are cheeses in France. There are the Central American, banana leaf wrapped tamales filled with a moist masa, meat and green olives; the mole saturated Oaxacan versions; the Salvadoran sweet, fresh corn tamales that get thrown into the deep frier to crisp them up; the various arrays of sweet dessert tamales that come out for Christmas, and then there are the traditional Mexican tamales, filled with masa, salsa and meat.

There are numerous LA vendors of great tamales in the mid-city area. Mama's Hot Tamales on the South end of MacArthur Park gets points for variety, offering versions from countless nations. Panaderia Salvadoreña, with branches on Beverly and 6th, makes the best of the fresh corn variety (tamaels de elote), but for the traditional Mexican variety, Tamales Alberto has them, and to quote the Robert Johnson song referenced in the title "they're red hot."

Tamales Alberto is a stand on Temple west of Glendale Boulevard, which serves big bags of tamales to go. The queso tamales are studded with a spicy red chile sauce, the chicken include a tangy chile verde, the mole in the excellent mole tamales are in the Puebla style (less thick but just as tasty as Oaxacan). They also have pork, bean and cheese and a number of sweet varieties. All are excellent and easy to take-out for a party or quick dinner. And at $13 per dozen, you can't beat the value.

Tamales Alberto
1644 W Temple St
Los Angeles, CA 90026
(213) 484-4485

Cranky Friday

A few people have noted that my reviews tend to be positive and have asked why nothing ever get the thumbs down from me. I actually think I tend to be fairly critical, but it's true, I tend to post about places that I find delicious and exciting. I figure that's more helpful to the reader. After all, who needs to hear that Pupuseria X on Alvarado is only mediocre. The only exception I make is for places that have received lots of attention. In that case, I may post a contrarian review if I disagree.

That being said, I have a few genuine dislikes and pet peeves that I figured I would take the opportunity to air. Having had a grueling month at work, I'm particularly cranky, so I thought it was time to unleash some venom.

Vosges Chocolates.

Okay, first let's discuss the hideous bacon flavored chocolate. I know the trend is to put bacon on everything these days, and I love bacon as much as the next Jew, but ughh...it tastes like bad chocolate with Bac-O Bits...I couldn't even finish the thing and for me and chocolate, that's saying a lot.

The bacon flavor is just putrid icing on the really bad cake though. Vosges dresses their chocolate in gourmet packages and sells it at up-market venues like Whole Foods and Intelligentsia, but the truth is, it's crap. Vosges contains additives, like soy lecithin, that better chocolate makers disdain. These additives are undoubtedly supposed to make it taste creamy, but instead give it a greasy, artificial mouthfeel. They try to cover for this by mixing with strong flavors like chili and salt, but to me, that just makes it worse, and they make the flavors so strong, it creates and unbalanced mess. Yuck!


Celebrity Chefs in LA

Five years ago, you could get into nearly any LA restaurant at any time by calling, at most, a week in advance. Sona, Spago or Melisse for 4 at 7:30? No problem. But then came the celebrity chefs. Bankrolled, book writing, Today show appearing chefs who started noticing that there was life west of Vegas. You know the routine. They show up for the first month to do interviews and cook for the beautiful people after which they speed back to Manhattan. In their wake, they have given us a little bit of New York in LA, and not in a good way. Restaurants that are all but inaccessible if you're not rep'd by William Morris, reservations available before 4:30 pm or after 1:30 am and customers who have more money than taste buds. Is the food good? Who knows? Who gets in? The only good thing, there's more space than ever at Melisse. So thanks for that Mario, Tom and Gordon.


The Back Room of Dim Sum Palaces

There is no more terrible feeling than showing up at your favorite dim sum house in the San Gabriel Valley and being shown to the back room. These overflow rooms, adjacent to the main hall are the places where carts fear to tread. So far afield are they that only chinese broccoli and chicken feet are allowed in. There you sit, hungry, waiting, watching the chicken feet go by for the fifth time, wondering where the rest of the food is, dying for a pork bun, some lotus-wrapped sticky rice or any other mosel. It's a Coleridge like horror: "Dim sum, dim sum everywhere but not a drop to eat."


Boring Scotch

There are a number of Scotches which, while I wouldn't say they are terrible, are overrated and unexciting. Most of these are highly promoted Speysiders which seem to be marketing to an otherwise whiskiphobic crowd. They are fine whiskies which I can drink, but can't get excited about. Among the malts in this category are: The Glenrothes vintage series and the Glenmorangie series of finished whiskies. Yawn! (I would have added Balvenie Doublewood, but given that good ole Doc Whiskey is singing their praises these days, I will give them another chance.)


StraightBourbon.Com

One of the best sites to learn about Bourbon is straightbourbon.com. It's got a great FAQ, information on distilleries and brands (though it could use some updating) and a great forum with regular posts from distinguished whiskey expert Chuck Cowdery.

What perpetually gets in the way of my enjoyment of this site, though, is that nearly half of the posts seem to have nothing to do with Bourbon whatsoever, but instead are various right wing polemics about the myth of global warming, the right of every man woman and child to sport an uzi and the latest screed they heard on Rush or saw on Fox News.

I'm sorry, I came here to read about Bourbon. If I want to read right wing bullshit, I'll go to some right wing bullshit site...there are only, what, 35 million of those. Post something left of Mussolini on Straightbourbon and you will be called out as the Communist you inevitably are. Now, granted, the right wing posts are generally by a small minority of posters, but it gets in the way of a lot of good Bourbon information, and it's just annoying. In retaliation, I've got a mind to go to redstate.com and make 5,000 posts about the beauty of Elijah Craig 18 year old single barrel!


Michael Ruhlman

I've got no patience for this darling of the food media world. His books are overwritten and boring, as is his blog. His adherence to traditional French food is stodgy and boring. His TV appearances are, well, just boring. Please kick this guy to the curb and bring us Jeffrey Steingarten or someone who at least has a sense of humor.


Hazlenuts

There aren't many foods I flat-out dislike. In fact, about the only other one I can think of is tripe (no menudo for me thanks). But I just can't deal with hazlenuts. I hate how they grace every chocolate dessert, ruining the taste of fine chocolate with their rancidity. There is nothing worse than the pervasive smell of hazlenut flavored coffee that exudes from every pour of my body if I spend even a minute in my local 7-11. Hazlenuts are evil!! And don't even get me started on Nutella.



Wow, that felt good. I should do that more often.