Whiskey Wednesday: Born in the USA Part 9 - A.H. Hirsch

Some myths are so ingrained in the collective psyche that no matter how many times you issue corrections, no matter how often you try to set the record straight, the myth endures. These are not just urban legends told in gullible emails, but factual contentions that are wrong but constantly quoted, even in newspapers and on TV news programs that should know better.

So, it is always worth repeating that you cannot see the Great Wall of China from space, that Nixon did not win the debate on radio and that Bourbon does not have to be made in Kentucky.

So where else is Bourbon made if not in Kentucky? It's made in Virginia, New York and Indiana, among other places. And it used to be made in Pennsylvania. More precisely, it used to be made at Michter’s Distillery in Schaefferstown, Pennsylvania. The distillery, one of the last remnants of the booming mid-Atlantic whiskey industry, closed down in 1991. The remaining stocks were purchased by Preiss Imports, and once those are gone, that will be the end, for now, of Pennsylvania Bourbon.

There are several bottlings of Hirsch, but we will be trying the easiest to find in California, the 16 year old reserve with gold foil cap. As the product of a closed distillery, it is expensive, and the price is likely to keep rising. I was able to find this one for $170 at Wine & Liquor Depot in Van Nuys, which is about as cheap as I've seen it (you'll pay almost $100 more at some places).

Tasting

A.H. Hirsch, 16 year old reserve - Distilled 1974, (gold foil) 45.8% alcohol.

This is a beautiful and unique Bourbon. It is smooth, with a lot of vanilla; it's not too sweet, almost Cognac like. In the finish, you pick up some wood, which is accentuated with a drop of water. This is another wonderful Bourbon that I keep coming back to.

If you've got it in your budget, get some of this stuff before it's gone.

It Takes a Kitchen: The Village Kitchen

I don't know that many people would consider the stretch of Beverly around Union, just west of downtown, to be a village, but village or not, they are putting out some great food at the Village Kitchen.

The Village Kitchen is a storefront cafe founded by the Good Shepherd Center for Homeless Women and Children. The cafe, which is open for breakfast and lunch, is staffed by recently homeless or imprisoned women who are learning the ins and outs of cooking and learning it well.

The Kitchen offers an assortment of sandwiches, salads and baked goods which daily specials. They have a commitment to natural, made from scratch food. Best of all, the food is great.

Among my favorites have been a sausage sandwich with nicely stewed onions (a gourmet take on the NY red onion sauce you get on street dogs) and a salmon blt with a big chunk of salmon, excellent bacon and homemade mayo. I also enjoyed the grilled chicken sandwich and the giant Thai beef salad, an extra healthy rendition of the dish you can find all over nearby Thaitown. This version has mesclun mix, mango, avocado, big hunks of warm, marinated beef and a nice lime-garlic dressing.

The desserts are also fabulous. The red velvet cupcake is more died-red than it should be, but has a good flavor. The chocolate cake, while it had a great buttercream frosting, was much too dense.

While there are a few chairs outside, Village Kitchen is largely a take-out lunch business (along with a small breakfast menu that I have yet to try). It's, quite simply, one of the best things to hit this neighborhood in years. So give it a try.

Village Kitchen
1667 Beverly Blvd. (east of Union)
Los Angeles, CA
(213) 235-1487
Hours: M-F 6:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.

What, No Prize? Long Beach Caramel Corn

Flavored pop corn is almost always disappointing to me. Cheese corn isn't cheesy enough and kettle corn smells better than it tastes. Caramel corn may be the most disappointing of all. It tends to be sweet and sticky, but with no real caramel taste. In fact, I hadn't really had a caramel corn I liked until I stopped by the Long Beach Sunday Farmer's Market last weekend.

As you know if you are a regular reader, I'm a farmers market junkie. So spoiled by farm-fresh produce am I that I will seek out farmers' markets wherever I am. So when I was visiting Long Beach this past Sunday, I stopped by the market at the Long Beach Marina, just off 2nd Street, right before you hit PCH. It was a goodly sized market. The produce and prepared goods were pretty standard LA farmers' market fare.

As in many markets, there was a kettle corn stand doling out free samples. Without thinking, I sampled some caramel corn. This was not your average caramel corn. The popcorn was dark brown and had the true flavor of caramelized sugar. It was only marginally sticky and didn't get caught in my teeth. I can't finish a box of Cracker Jacks, but I couldn't put this stuff down. The small sized bag was $2.50 and was enough for the whole family to snack on.

The only thing missing was the prize.

Whiskey Wednesday: Born in the USA Part 8 - Four Roses Single Barrel

Next in our series on American whiskey is something new on the California scene. Around fifty years ago, Four Roses was a major US Bourbon brand. Then, parent company Seagrams stopped distributing it domestically. For half a century, Four Roses was enjoyed in Europe and Japan, but was virtually unknown in the US. That changed in 2002 when Japanese beer giant Kirin purchased the distillery and made the decision to start releasing it in the US. Since then, Four Roses has done a slow roll out. They started in Kentucky and are now present in six states. A few months ago, the first bottles arrived on the shelves in California. (If you are interested in a more detailed history, Chuck Cowdery has an excellent piece on the distillery in the October 2008 issue of Whisky Magazine).

Four Roses has three expressions available in California: Yellow Label ($20), Small Batch ($35) and Single Barrel ($40). I picked up some Single Barrel, probably the most admired of the collection.

Tasting

Four Roses Single Barrel, 50% alcohol.

This is magnificent stuff. Refined, subtle, no blast of alcohol or sweetness. There is a lot in there: caramel, wood, a little bit of acid that adds to the complexity. With water, I taste vanilla and citrus (like a creamsicle).

This is great Bourbon with a unique flavor profile. Another one to add to the list.

Smoke and Gas - Korean Faceoff

There seems to be an assumption among those who frequent Korean Barbeque that charcoal barbeque beats gas. I can understand that. There is something authentic about real charcoal. There's the scent of the coals, the red embers that fly up from the grill, the smell that stays on your clothes for the rest of the day. But in terms of taste, charcoal is overrated.

It's true, my favorite BBQ, Park's, uses charcoal, but one of my other favorites, Dong Il Jang, uses gas. Soot Bull Jeep, probably the most popular Korean BBQ place among non-Koreans, is famous for their sooty charcoal, but I've always thought their food was overrated. I get that charcoal imparts a good smokey flavor, but it's less important than people give it credit for.

Suhrabal, at First and Western, is a temple of charcoal. In most BBQ houses, the coal is already in the table's barbeque pit, waiting to be lit, when you sit down. At Suhrabal, after you order, the waiter brings a tray of burning red coals and places it in the table's pit; it clanks and bangs as it goes down, sending up waves of smoke and embers. (The liability insurance for this place must be through the roof.) The waiter then places grills over the pit and, after it warms up, places the meat. It's a fun and slightly scary ritual.

For all the smoke and fire of Suhrabal, though, the food is nothing special. The kalbi is a bit too fatty for my taste, and the seasoning is pretty run of the mill. Ross Gui is not as good as the beautifully marbled meat at gas-powered Dong Il Jang.

So while charcoal can impart some good flavor, don't write off gas or automatically bless charcoal. Eat and learn.

Park's Barbeque
955 S. Vermont Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90006
(213) 380-1718

Dong Il Jang
3455 W 8TH St
Los Angeles, CA 90005-2517
(213) 383-5757

Suhrabal
100 S Western Ave. (at First Street)
Los Angeles, CA 90004
(213) 388-1975

A Fly New Blogger in Town: Flypnay

Food blogs breed like bacteria on a bacon-wrapped hot dog, but every once in a while one pops up that is worth noting. Flypnay is in its infancy, but already has some great entries. It focuses on eating good by eating well, emphasizing home cooking of healthy but good food and eating around California.

You can tell that the author is a food lover gone straight. Heck, who else would come up with a healthy version of loco moco. A longtime Californian who's lived in Hawaii and Texas, flypnay promises a healthy take on the good stuff, with a special emphasis on Asian Pacific cuisine. (Pinay is slang for Filipina, and her use of "fly", despite it being 20 year old slang, still indicates she is hipper than I am). She also has a sweet tooth (always a plus in my book) and promises loads of book reviews.

Check it out!

Whiskey Wednesday: Born in the USA Part 7 - Rock Hill Farms

In Episode 7 of our ten part series of American whiskey tastings, we visit yet another offering from the Buffalo Trace Distillery. (I promise the remaining tastings will not be Buffalo Trace whiskies). Rock Hill Farms is a much loved single barrel Bourbon featuring that other pride of Kentucky, horses, on the label. (Thanks to my daughter for use of her horse for our photo).

Tasting

Rock Hill Farms, Single Barrel Bourbon (Buffalo Trace), 50% alcohol ($34.95).

This is a nice, very drinkable Bourbon. It has a good Bourbon flavor, fairly sweet, overall a very straightforward drink. I can't say, though, that it excites me as much as it has some others. I find it too sweet, with the alcohol coming too much to the fore and masking any complexities. There's not much in the way of wood here and not much subtlety, though I do get the tiniest bit of smoke on the finish.

It's definitely not in the same league as Pappy or Parker's, which I reviewed earlier this series, but at about half the price of those bottles, it's certainly a good buy.