This Little Pig Went to Cuba: El Conchinito

A recent trip to Southern Florida accompanied by some heart-stopping pig put me in the mood for some good Cuban roast pork or lechon. Cuban isn't a real strength of Southern California, and I've never been a huge fan of the much loved Versailles, especially their pork. For a while I've been eyeing the popular (porkular?) El Conchinito on Sunset in Silverlake, so I thought I'd finally give it a try.

The only thing I can say to sum up is that El Conchinito (literally, the little pig) is a flavor explosion. The lechon, roasted with huge amounts of garlic, is crispy and juicy and fatty and wonderful in every way. It may be a bit too greasy, certainly moreso than the Florida lechon I had, but if you get the sandwich (pan con lechon), which is really just the pork on bread, the grease is absorbed into the bread creating a wondrous porky, garlic bread.

The fried yuca is also excellent, consisting of perfectly fried yuca pieces (underfrying of yuca is a common crime) topped with another dollop of fiery garlic sauce. This is the burger and fries of cuba and Conchinito does it proud.

The Sandwich Cubano, a traditional Cuban sandwich of roast pork, ham, pickles and mustard, was good, but I would have liked to see more roast pork and more pickles on it. Lechon is definitely the thing to get here.


El Conchinito
3508 W Sunset Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90026
(323) 668-0737

Whiskey Wednesday: Budget Booze - Ancient Age

Continuing our series of whiskies in the $10 range, we move to Frankfort, Kentucky where the distillery now known as Buffalo Trace used to be the Ancient Age distillery. Even with the name change, Buffalo Trace still produces the old namesake Ancient Age, a three year old Bourbon in the $10 range. There is also a ten year old version, known as Ancient Ancient Age, but it is only marketed in and around Kentucky.

Tasting

Ancient Age Bourbon, 3 years old, (distilled by Buffalo Trace) 40% alcohol ($10-$12).

This Bourbon has a soft nose with some juniper and rye spice. Lots of rye early in the palate, then lots of sweetness as the rye recedes, but a nice spicy finish. The flavor profile is similar, though somewhat sweeter than the standard Buffalo Trace label Bourbon with its prominent rye notes.

This is another fine budget whiskey in the $10 range.

The LA Gelato Tour

Recently, I've been in a gelato phase, lapping the stuff up like a thirsty mutt near a puddle. I've also been downing my share of affogato (gelato doused with espresso). Obsessive that I am, once I got the gelato jones, I had to try a broad swath of SoCal gelato and write it up.

Before we start, a brief note on the distinction between gelato and ice cream. Generally, gelato uses more milk and less cream than ice cream, so it actually has less fat. Because it is churned at a slower rate than ice cream, gelato also has less air whipped into it than ice cream. The rich, thick characteristic comes from the lack of air, not from added fat. Traditionally, gelato did not have eggs in the custard base, which ice cream generally does.

That being said, as a practical matter, there is a lot of murkiness in the distinction. Many people simply consider gelato to be an Italian style of ice cream and judge it based on presentation (e.g. laid out on trays rather than in tubs) and aesthetic rather than anything technical. I pretty much just went with places that called their product gelato. Note that I did not include Scoops on Heliotrope here since I believe they call their product ice cream, but hey, you all know Scoops rocks anyway and I was after places that were new to me.

Not every place offered an affogato but I tried to have one at each place that did (though I did miss one). The beauty of the affogato is that the rich espresso melds with the gelato and forms a heavenly coffee ice cream float. When done well, it is a beautiful gestalt of flavors, halfway between a solid and liquid but filled with flavor. When done poorly, it's a scoop of ice cream sitting in a cold puddle of coffee, a sad affair to say the least.

As I am wont to do, I've broken the contenders out into tiers to rank them.


FIRST TIER

Bulgarini Gelato, Altadena. I'm happy to report that the hype surrounding this Altadena gelato shop is well deserved. Tucked away in a run down strip mall anchored by a Rite-Aid and a Kragen on East Altadena Drive, just west of Lake, Bulgarini was my favorite gelato. The best flavors here were transcendent in both flavor and texture, particularly the olive oil yogurt, a fluffy, light as air tart frozen yogurt with a smooth olive oil taste topped with olive oil. It reminded me of some sort of olive oil foam you might get at Bazaar. The day I visited there was also a beautiful sheep milk and parsley gelato with madeira. Also excellent were the regular chocolate and the lemon cream. The Florentine chocolate, a chocolate with sea salt, had a nice chocolate flavor but was a bit too salty to have more than a bite.

Affogato is an off menu item at Bulgarini but they do make it. The one I had was very nice with a nice crema on the espresso and good proportions, but although they said it was an item they served, they asked for instruction on how to do it correctly. It was nice enough, but I would stick to the excellent gelato at this place.

Bulgarini Gelato
749 E. Altadena Dr.
Altadena, Ca. 91001
(626) 791-6174


Gelato Bar, Studio City. The biggest surprise in my gelato tour was how well this relatively unsung gelateria compared to the others. Owned by Gail Silverton, sister of Nancy, Gelato Bar offers innovative (though not overly weird) flavors that are bold without being too sweet. Their gelato is a perfect textural, specimen, rich and creamy with a dissolve in your mouth quality. It's neither as innovative nor as transcendent as Bulgarini but it is perhaps more what I think of as traditional gelato (at least in my American experience) done about the best way it can be done. My favorite flavors here were the chocolate sorbetto, stracciatella (chocolate chip), mango, ricotta and Veneziana (candied orange peel with chocolate).

The affogato at Gelato Bar was the best of the bunch. Made with a perfectly pulled Ecco Cafe espresso, whipped cream and Valrhona cacao nibs, the Gelato Bar affogato shows the importance of proper espresso preparation in the dish's composition. Gelato Bar makes a great espresso with a thick head of crema which blends perfectly with the scoops of gelato, creating that lovely synthesis that is the affogato. Why this place hasn't entered the pantheon of great LA gelatos is beyond me, but you owe yourself a trip.

Gelato Bar
4342 1/2 Tujunga Ave
Studio City, CA 91604-2751
(818) 487-1717


SECOND TIER

Pazzo Gelato, Silver Lake. I'd been looking forward to this popular Sunset Boulevard shop, but unlike Bulgarini, it did not live up to the hype. While I liked the milk chocolate, which had a Mexican chocolate spice to it, the flavors, in general, were too sweet, not intense enough and generally lacking in excitement.

The pazzagato, Pazzo's version of the affogato, got points off for using canned whipped cream and too much gelato. It's tempting, I'm sure, to load the cup up with gelato for the affogato, but moderation is part of the key. Too much ice cream turns the espresso cold and gives you the aforementioned cold puddle of coffee. And while I love Intelligentsia espresso in cappuccinos, it's too tannic for affogato, which really calls for something darker. The popularity of this place leads me to have serious questions about hipster tastes.

Pazzo Gelato
3827 W Sunset Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90026
(323) 662-1410


THIRD TIER

Al Gelato, Beverly Hills adjacent. This was another disappointing one for me. I'd heard a lot of praise for Al Gelato, on Robertson, but it simply didn't live up to the hype. The issues were similar to Pazzo Gelato: unexciting flavors, too sweet and a texture that lacked the rich and creamy qualities that I crave, and was even a bit icy, which is a cardinal sin of gelato. Al Gelato makes an affogato, but I didn't get to try it.

Al Gelato
806 S Robertson Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90035
(310) 659-8069


Hollywood Gelato, Los Feliz. Hollywood Gelato, on Hillhurst in Los Feliz, was simply uninspiring. The flavors were too sweet and the gelato was icy. It lacked the rich and creamy qualities that make a great gelato. Apparently they are not doing so well as they have scaled back their hours fairly severely. They didn't have an affogato on the menu.

Hollywood Gelato
1936 Hillhurst Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90027
(323) 644-3311


TO SUM UP

Best Gelato: Bulgarini with honorable mention for Gelato Bar

Best Affogato: Gelato Bar

Gin for Whiskey Lovers: Genevieve Genever Style Gin

My dad, who came of drinking age in the early 1960s, is an old-fashioned gin-drinker. His drink of choice is a "martini" with gin and two olives; no one even bothers to whisper the word vermouth. I've never had much of a palate for gin. In general, white spirits don't do much for me, and I dislike flavored white spirits in particular. I like my liquor with some age and oak on it: whiskey, brandy, reposado and añejo tequilas, you know what I mean. But that was before I discovered Genever Gin.

When people speak of gin, what they usually mean is London Dry Gin, which is essentially a juniper berry flavored vodka, Absolut Juniper, if you will. Two hundred years ago, though, another style of gin was predominant. Popular in continental Europe as well as the US, this gin was known alternately as Dutch style, Genever gin, Geneva gin or Holland gin. As cocktail writer David Wondrich recently pointed out in Malt Advocate Magazine, whereas London Dry Gin is an herbally enhanced vodka, Genever gin is an herbally enhanced whiskey. This caught my attention as it characterized gin as a brown spirit, albeit a flavored one.

As with many antiquated spirits, Genever Gin is making a comeback. I was excited to learn that one of my favorite distilleries, Anchor (makers of the excellent Old Potrero Rye Whiskey as well as Junipero Gin) makes a Genever style gin known as Genevieve. Genevieve is distilled in a pot still from a mash of wheat, barley and rye malts (i.e. whiskey, though unaged), with various flavoring botanicals. The resulting spirit is but a distant cousin to Tanquery and its ilk.

While the nose of Genevieve has definite gin characteristics, there is a softness to it, a perfumey quality with, yes, some grain notes. Its flavor is more understated than the thundering juniper notes of a London Dry, and there is more than juniper doing its work in this gin. I pick up a bit of anise and other herbal notes, similar to one of the more herbal Absinthes like St. George. In any case, this is a far cry from the stark London Drys that we all are used to.

How should you drink this new and exciting spirit? Over ice is the best way to absorb its unique flavor profile, but I most enjoyed a slightly adjusted version of the traditional gin cocktail suggested by Wondrich, which is essentially a gin old fashioned.


The Genever Gin Cocktail

Muddle one sugar cube with 3-4 dashes of Angostura Bitters and a splash of water until the sugar is dissolved. Add two ounces of Genever gin. Fill glass with crushed ice and stir until chilled. Garnish with a lemon twist. Note that this only recently rehabilitated drink meets the traditional definition of cocktail: a drink containing spirit, sugar, water and bitters.

The sugar, bitters and lemon accent and complement the herbal notes of the gin, and the added sweetness gives it a refreshing quality, making it the perfect cocktail for a sweltering summer day in Los Angeles. I would take this over a traditional gin and tonic any day of the week.

Wondrich suggests using Fee's Whiskey Barrel Aged Bitters instead of Angostura, which gives the drink a nice, spicy cinnamon kick, though on balance, I think I prefer the Angostura.

Anchor's Genevieve goes for around $30. The only other Genever gin I've seen available is Bols which is in a similar price range.

Oh and my dad? He can't take the Genever style gin, so I'll still keep a bottle of Tanqueray just for him.

Whiskey Wednesday: Budget Booze - Ten High for Ten Bucks

Tom Moore Distillery, previously known as Barton Brands and recently purchased by Buffalo Trace, does great things with cheap booze. Known and loved for Very Old Barton in Kentucky, the distillery's biggest problem is that not much of their whiskey makes it out of Kentucky.

One of the few budget brands from Tom Moore that make it out west is Ten High. A Bourbon, Ten High usually weighs in at $10 or less so it definitely falls into the budget category, but at a mere 40% alcohol, it doesn't have the punch of some of the stronger versions of Very Old Barton.

Tasting

Ten High Bourbon (distilled by Tom Moore distillery), 40% alcohol ($10 or less).

The nose is a bit harsh, but then there is some caramel and even some wood. With the first taste this is unmistakably a Barton Bourbon, sweet but with some real depth and complexity. Beneath the sugar, there's polished wood and spice and savory notes as well.

No one does good, cheap booze like Barton Brands. This sip of Ten High makes me wish we could get the higher proof but still cheap Very Old Barton in these parts. Maybe Buffalo Trace will widen the distribution and bless us with some of it, but until then, you can't do much better than Ten High for less than ten dollars.

Back to the Frier: Fear and Loathing at the LA County Fair

I love the LA County Fair and head out to Pomona every year for the festivities, but this year, I am worried that the fair food at has officially gone overboard. It all dates back six or seven years ago when the first fried Snickers bar appeared at the fair. The fried Snickers bar created food-oriented media coverage that went beyond the typical corn dog and barbecue fair food staples and people flocked to the fair to check it out. That is the earliest I remember the fair being a real food destination.

The thing about the battered, deep fried Snickers bar is that it is terrific. When done well (which is not always the case), the innards melt into a mash of chocolate, caramel and nuts which soaks into the fried batter in a most pleasing way. There are several fried Snickers purveyors at the fair, but the best is the Texas Donuts stand, near the Blue Gate parking entrance. This year, the stand added a new candy bar, identified only as a Fried Reese's. Now, this was not a peanut butter cup, so it must have been one of the Reese's bars. Since I don't really eat Reese's candy bars, I couldn't really tell which one it was, but based on an internet search, I'd guess a Fast Break. In any case, it was delicious; peanut butter cream and melted chocolate oozed out into the battered covering and made for a gooey, peanut butter treat. I've always wondered why they fry all manner of inappropriate things at the fair but don't fry more candy bars. Clearly they should.

But I digress, the fried candy bar is a good product, but it started a trend of frying more and more absurd things simply to get attention. Then, they started covering equally absurd items with chocolate. Now, the fair food pavilions look more like something from This Is Why You're Fat than anything you would want to eat. It is a victory of shock value over taste.

This year, selections included chocolate covered bacon, cotton candy, pickles and Cheetos. The new fried item of note was the Zucchini Weeni [sic], a battered, deep fried hot dog stuffed zucchini. I couldn't bear to try one.



The battered, deep fried zucchini was courtesy of Chicken Charlie, the fair's most prominent fried food vendor. Charlie is the one who first brought deep fried Twinkies, Oreos, frog's legs, Coke, s'mores and White Castle burgers to the fair, as well as the monstrosity that is the Krisy Kreme fried chicken sandwich. Charlie gets a lot of publicity for his efforts, but the truth is, I've never really enjoyed anything that I've purchased from his stand. The Oreos are not bad, but most of the food is lackluster. It's high concept, low quality, and a symbol of what has gone awry in Pomona.



So what was good at the fair this year aside from the deep fried candy bars? Well, I finally stopped at the cute little gingerbread house near the farml. The warm gingerbread cake was moist and nicely spiced, but it was topped with an ultra-light tasting whipped cream. Had it been topped with a heavier whipped cream, or even better, a homemade one, it would have been great.

And Dr. Bob's ice cream is always a fair treat. I was looking forward to the soy sauce ice cream I had heard reports about, but they weren't serving it the day I went. Instead, I had some wonderful blueberry ice cream, with strong blueberry flavor and lots of mashed blueberries throughout.

Even though I've grown a bit cynical about fair food, I look forward to the experience every year, and I will undoubtedly be back in 2010 to try the chocolate covered, deep fried ostrich fillets or whatever next year's specialty happens to be.

Fair Report 2008
Fair Report 2007

Quickie: Village Bakery & Cafe

On Wednesday, I stopped by the new Village Bakery & Cafe on Los Feliz Boulevard at the site of the old LA Bread. I really liked LA Bread's sourdough boule and other breads, and luckily, the same baker is still making the same breads for the new spot, but there is a whole new line of pastries.

The maple bacon scone was delicious. The scone was flaky and buttery but not at all dry. The maple was subtle and the bacon wasn't overwhelming either, consisting of small pieces in the dough which managed to stay moist and chewy through the baking process.

I also had a blondie and an almond bar, both of which were good but not exceptional. The maple bacon scone was the real standout. They also have breakfast and lunch menus.

Village Bakery & Cafe
3119 Los Feliz Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90039
(323) 662-8600