Rittenhouse Rye, and particularly, Rittenhouse 100, their 100 proof version, seems to be all the rage lately, gaining more write-ups than many other, better known ryes. The distillery seems to be positioning it as the poster child for the rye revival.
Produced by Heaven Hill Distilleries, Rittenhouse is a Kentucky straight rye which purports to be a "Pennsylvania style" rye (its name presumably comes from Rittenhouse Square in Philadelphia). As I've noted before, prior to prohibition, rye distilleries dotted the mid-Atlantic seaboard, particularly in Pennsylvania and New York.
At 100 proof (50% alcohol), this rye packs a slightly greater punch than either the Sazerac or Old Potrero I reviewed over the last few weeks. The enhanced alcohol marries well with the rye flavors to give this whiskey a good balance. Your first taste will be the alcohol and then the rye floods in. Rittenhouse lacks the subtlety of the Sazerac and the intensity of the Old Potrero, but overall, it's an enjoyable whiskey.
To sum up: Another fine rye.
Rittenhouse 100 seems to be fairly available in LA liquor stores and is very affordable, clocking in at around $20, so check it out.
Next Wednesday: Sazerac 18 year old rye
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Sunday, August 12, 2007
Hidden Gem: Shanghai Restaurant
Located on the second floor of the giant San Gabriel Square mall on Valley Boulevard in San Gabriel, Shanghai Restaurant seems to have escaped notice of the food writing world, but I love it, and most everything I've had has been good.
Shanghai cuisine, in my experience, is some of the most intricately flavored food around. The Shanghai sauces, often dominated by anise, can have a dense, sweet taste, almost like a licoricey black mole or a lighter, more refined taste. At Shanghai Restaurant, pork ribs or baby eel (though the eels seem to have disappeared from the menu) come slathered in these dark, anise scented sauces.
Xiao long bao (XLB to those in the know), or soup dumplings, are a popular Shanghai treat that has caught on in the US. They are made by filling dumplings with meat and jellied broth. When the dumplings are steamed, the broth melts so that the meat is suspended in a pool of delicious soup. When you bite in, watch out; if you aren't careful, you will get a lap full of piping hot broth. Shanghai Restaurant has good XLB stuffed with a mix of crab and pork, though they are not quite up to the par of the famous Din Tai Fung in Arcadia.
My favorite dish is the shen jian bao, wondrous pan fried pork buns topped with black sesame seeds and scallions with a nice XLB like broth that squirts out when you bite into them. I could just sit and eat these things all day.
Last time we visited, the waiter chastised us for ordering too many dishes with flour and suggested some dishes to provide balance. One stand out was a cold spongy bean curd with mushrooms and peanuts. The bean curd was served in the anise sauce, which it absorbed completely. The dish, which admittedly didn't look like much, was surprising addictive.
Good stuff!
Shanghai Restaurant
140 W Valley Blvd, #211
San Gabriel, CA 91776
(626) 288-0991
Shanghai cuisine, in my experience, is some of the most intricately flavored food around. The Shanghai sauces, often dominated by anise, can have a dense, sweet taste, almost like a licoricey black mole or a lighter, more refined taste. At Shanghai Restaurant, pork ribs or baby eel (though the eels seem to have disappeared from the menu) come slathered in these dark, anise scented sauces.
Xiao long bao (XLB to those in the know), or soup dumplings, are a popular Shanghai treat that has caught on in the US. They are made by filling dumplings with meat and jellied broth. When the dumplings are steamed, the broth melts so that the meat is suspended in a pool of delicious soup. When you bite in, watch out; if you aren't careful, you will get a lap full of piping hot broth. Shanghai Restaurant has good XLB stuffed with a mix of crab and pork, though they are not quite up to the par of the famous Din Tai Fung in Arcadia.
My favorite dish is the shen jian bao, wondrous pan fried pork buns topped with black sesame seeds and scallions with a nice XLB like broth that squirts out when you bite into them. I could just sit and eat these things all day.
Last time we visited, the waiter chastised us for ordering too many dishes with flour and suggested some dishes to provide balance. One stand out was a cold spongy bean curd with mushrooms and peanuts. The bean curd was served in the anise sauce, which it absorbed completely. The dish, which admittedly didn't look like much, was surprising addictive.
Good stuff!
Shanghai Restaurant
140 W Valley Blvd, #211
San Gabriel, CA 91776
(626) 288-0991
Thursday, August 9, 2007
Summer Cheese Plate
This summer cheese plate was perfect for a July evening before a pasta dinner. All items were purchased at The Cheese Store of Silverlake.
Starting from 12:00 on the plate and moving clockwise:
Gerome Munster, soft French cow cheese.
French Munster is one of the classic cheeses of France. This Gerome Muster hails from Lorraine. Don't confuse French munster with the bland American muenster with its orange rind. French Munster is a much more powerful and flavorful cheese, a washed rind cheese that is soft and gooey. It's pungent, but this one was pleasantly so without reaching the highest of stink. It had a slightly porky taste which made me think it would go well with prosciutto or a good salami.
Piave, hard Italian cow cheese.
Piave is in the Parmigiano Reggiano family of cheeses. It hails from Northern Italy and has the look, texture and taste of Parm, but with a sweeter and more nutty flavor. When you take a bite, you immediately get nuttiness and then you get a white-wine/fruit flavor. This was a great munching cheese but would do well over pasta or a salad as well.
French Goat, raw goat milk cheese.
I can't say I can faithfully recreate the name or producer of this aged French raw milk goat cheese, but it had a very subtle taste for a goat cheese. You don't get any of that petting zoo/barnyard taste that it typical of aged goats. The thick, pasty center typical of chevre, was surrounded by goo, which comes form the aging process. While I liked this cheese, it could stand some more aging to increase the goo to paste ratio.
Stinking Bishop, English cow cheese.
Ah, the Stinking Bishop, the cheese that revived a comatose Wallace in the Wallace & Gromit movie. When I think of English cheeses, I think of the wonderful Cheddars, Cheshires and other firm cheeses or the glorious blue Stiltons. Stinking Bishop is decidedly un-English, having more similarity to a French Epoisse or an Italian Taleggio. Like those cheeses, it has a high stink; this is what people mean when they talk about cheese that smells like old sweat socks. But as with a good Epoisse, the smelly bark is worse that the tasty bite. The cheese itself, while strong, has a smooth, complex flavor. Every bite is a revelation, salty, creamy, dreamy. Stinking Bishop is a magnificent cheese, try some soon, but keep in mind that it is not for the faint of heart.
This was a great cheese plate. All of these were winners, though I was less excited by the goat than the other three. They were served with a Robert Mondavi Riesling, which went particularly well with the Piave with its fruit and nut flavors.
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Whiskey Wednesday: Buffalo Trace Comes to California
I'm taking a break in my series of rye tastings for this exciting announcement.
The good folks at Hi-Time Wine Cellars in Costa Mesa have announced that they will be carrying the excellent Buffalo Trace Bourbon, the signature bottling of Kentucky's greatest distillery.
This is the first time I have seen any retailer in California carry this most excellent bourbon. You may recall that in order to get a bottle, I had to con a friend from Tennessee to get me some. No more must we lovers of great bourbon act like we live in the prohibition era. The complex bourbon with the rye kick will be available in Orange County for the very affordable price of $20.99 for a regular-sized bottle (less than my friend paid in Tennessee). And a good thing too because, as you can see, my bottle's getting low.
Buffalo Trace Bourbon: Go get some!!
Next Wednesday: Back to Rye with Rittenhouse 100
Sunday, August 5, 2007
A Cheesy Post
Another one of my food obsessions, and there are many, is cheese. Having grown up in cheese rich Sonoma County, California, I've been eating great cheese for many years but seriously obsessing over it for about the last ten. When it comes to cheese, my tastes are totally eclectic. My very favorites tend to be runny, stinky French cheeses like Epoisse, but I also love blues, goat and sheep milk cheeses, cheddars, hard cheese, etc., etc. And no flavored cheese please.
And keep in mind that, while I like very stinky cheese, (and I'm talking old, gym sock stinky, scooped up from the floor of the petting zoo stinky), I also appreciate mild cheeses and will try to review a selection.
So, here is a brief introduction to prepare you to join me on my cheesy journeys, which I will be reporting here, interspersed with my usual rantings and ratings.
Where can I buy cheese in Los Angeles?
There are two LA temples of cheese:
1. The Cheese Store of Beverly Hills
2. The Cheese Store of Silverlake
Both of these are excellent stores with knowledgeable staff and great selections. Beverly Hills probably has the best selection but also the highest prices, though none are cheap. I find the Silverlake store, which was started by CSBH graduates, the most accessible (as well as the closest to me) so I frequent it the most often.
In general, a good cheese store should give you lots of individual attention. Cheese stores should cut to order and offer plenty of samples (except for small rounds). If you can't taste it, don't buy it!
If you walk into a cheese store and see chunks of pre-cut cheese in plastic wrap, turn around and run screaming. Long term storage in plastic wrap allows moisture to permeate cheese and can cause a dreadful ammonia odor. This is why buying cheese at supermarkets, even high-end "gourmet" supermarkets, is risky.
How should I serve cheese?
When serving a selection of cheeses for a party or cheese plate, I try to get a variety. A good rule is a variation of the old wedding adage:
In other words, mix it up a bit.
Be sure to serve cheese at the proper temperature. One of the biggest cheese mistakes is serving cheese too cold. Most cheese should be served at a cool room temperature. Unless your place is sweltering (like mine is now), take the cheese out of the fridge the morning you intend to serve it and let it warm up through the day.
I always serve cheese on good, crusty bread and usually have some accompanying snacks, such as olives, various cured meats, gherkins, figs or apples and pears. Different cheeses pair well with different foods, so the accompanying food will differ based on your cheese selection, but make sure it's good quality stuff. Good cheese should be served with good bread and good food.
How should I store cheese?
Practically every cheese book or cheese monger around will tell you that plastic wrap kills cheese, that cheese should be wrapped loosely in wax paper, if at all and that if a piece of Saran touches your cheese, it will be ruined.
Now this is partially correct. As noted above, long term storage in plastic wrap does kill cheese and leads to excess moisture and ammonia. But, in terms of home use, plastic wrap is really the best way to go. For most fine cheeses, you aren't going to be aging them at home or storing them for months and months, so slip on some plastic wrap and put them in the fridge. You can use wax paper, but your entire fridge will smell like cheese, and you will regret it when you bite into that piece of cake or chocolate pudding you've been looking forward to and think, hmm it tastes a little...goaty.
Where can I learn more about cheese?
The best book around about cheese is Steve Jenkins' Cheese Primer. Jenkins is a cheese fanatic on a crusade to turn Americans on to the glory of good cheese. While the book is a bit out of date, especially with regard to American cheeses, it is a great introduction to cheese and gives descriptions and buying guides for the classic cheeses of Europe. There is no better handbook for the beginning cheesehead.
Cheese articles to come:
Pairing wine and cheese, or not
Cheese from my hometown
Cows and Goats and Sheep, oh my!
And a myriad of cheese reviews.
And keep in mind that, while I like very stinky cheese, (and I'm talking old, gym sock stinky, scooped up from the floor of the petting zoo stinky), I also appreciate mild cheeses and will try to review a selection.
So, here is a brief introduction to prepare you to join me on my cheesy journeys, which I will be reporting here, interspersed with my usual rantings and ratings.
Where can I buy cheese in Los Angeles?
There are two LA temples of cheese:
1. The Cheese Store of Beverly Hills
2. The Cheese Store of Silverlake
Both of these are excellent stores with knowledgeable staff and great selections. Beverly Hills probably has the best selection but also the highest prices, though none are cheap. I find the Silverlake store, which was started by CSBH graduates, the most accessible (as well as the closest to me) so I frequent it the most often.
In general, a good cheese store should give you lots of individual attention. Cheese stores should cut to order and offer plenty of samples (except for small rounds). If you can't taste it, don't buy it!
If you walk into a cheese store and see chunks of pre-cut cheese in plastic wrap, turn around and run screaming. Long term storage in plastic wrap allows moisture to permeate cheese and can cause a dreadful ammonia odor. This is why buying cheese at supermarkets, even high-end "gourmet" supermarkets, is risky.
How should I serve cheese?
When serving a selection of cheeses for a party or cheese plate, I try to get a variety. A good rule is a variation of the old wedding adage:
Something old,
Something new,
Something goat,
Something blue.
In other words, mix it up a bit.
Be sure to serve cheese at the proper temperature. One of the biggest cheese mistakes is serving cheese too cold. Most cheese should be served at a cool room temperature. Unless your place is sweltering (like mine is now), take the cheese out of the fridge the morning you intend to serve it and let it warm up through the day.
I always serve cheese on good, crusty bread and usually have some accompanying snacks, such as olives, various cured meats, gherkins, figs or apples and pears. Different cheeses pair well with different foods, so the accompanying food will differ based on your cheese selection, but make sure it's good quality stuff. Good cheese should be served with good bread and good food.
How should I store cheese?
Practically every cheese book or cheese monger around will tell you that plastic wrap kills cheese, that cheese should be wrapped loosely in wax paper, if at all and that if a piece of Saran touches your cheese, it will be ruined.
Now this is partially correct. As noted above, long term storage in plastic wrap does kill cheese and leads to excess moisture and ammonia. But, in terms of home use, plastic wrap is really the best way to go. For most fine cheeses, you aren't going to be aging them at home or storing them for months and months, so slip on some plastic wrap and put them in the fridge. You can use wax paper, but your entire fridge will smell like cheese, and you will regret it when you bite into that piece of cake or chocolate pudding you've been looking forward to and think, hmm it tastes a little...goaty.
Where can I learn more about cheese?
The best book around about cheese is Steve Jenkins' Cheese Primer. Jenkins is a cheese fanatic on a crusade to turn Americans on to the glory of good cheese. While the book is a bit out of date, especially with regard to American cheeses, it is a great introduction to cheese and gives descriptions and buying guides for the classic cheeses of Europe. There is no better handbook for the beginning cheesehead.
Cheese articles to come:
Pairing wine and cheese, or not
Cheese from my hometown
Cows and Goats and Sheep, oh my!
And a myriad of cheese reviews.
Quick Picks: Kyoho Grapes
Tis the season of Kyoho Grapes, the succulent Concord-like grapes from Japan. These, robust, perfectly spherical grapes are bursting with sweet grape flavor. They have a relatively short window so get them now at various farmers' markets. I get mine at the Sunday Hollywood farmers' market on Ivar between Sunset and Hollywood.
Thursday, August 2, 2007
Square One, Take Two
Okay, so I know I just wrote up Square One last week, but I just had a dish there that I must report on.
The open face skirt steak sandwich is a tender pile of marinated skirt steak, order it rare, topped with Gorgonzola cheese and hollandaise sauce, on a bed of caramelized shallots placed on single piece of bread. The heart-stopping tastiness of this dish is hard to put into words. Rich? Sure, but delicious. I mean it's got all the food groups: Steak, cheese, hollandaise, onions. The combination of these strong flavors is poignant, to say the least. You think it will be too much, and maybe it is, but if so, it's too much of a very, very good thing. And besides, what isn't better topped with hollandaise?
Get it:
Open-Faced Skirt Steak Sandwich
at Square One
4854 Fountain Avenue
(between Normandie and Vermont)
The open face skirt steak sandwich is a tender pile of marinated skirt steak, order it rare, topped with Gorgonzola cheese and hollandaise sauce, on a bed of caramelized shallots placed on single piece of bread. The heart-stopping tastiness of this dish is hard to put into words. Rich? Sure, but delicious. I mean it's got all the food groups: Steak, cheese, hollandaise, onions. The combination of these strong flavors is poignant, to say the least. You think it will be too much, and maybe it is, but if so, it's too much of a very, very good thing. And besides, what isn't better topped with hollandaise?
Get it:
Open-Faced Skirt Steak Sandwich
at Square One
4854 Fountain Avenue
(between Normandie and Vermont)
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