I mentioned below that the strictures around alcohol levels in the bourbon distilling and aging processes may come off as a little esoteric to the non-specialist. I suppose they will, however you are about to become a specialist in whiskey distillation, so that shouldn’t frighten you. Read on! All distilled spirits start out as beer, […]
READ ONMore than any other, the thing that makes Bourbon unique is that it’s aged in newly-made, charred oak barrels. But why are they charred, and who ever thought to do that? It wasn’t whiskey-makers in Kentucky, it was Cognac makers in France. For indeed Cognac is the only other spirit in the world that is […]
READ ONIn order to legally call a whiskey “bourbon”, it must meet a small but important set of criteria. First, it must be made in the United States. Next, it must be made from a mixture or at least 51% corn (the fermenting “mash” can be up to 100% corn, legally). It must be aged in […]
READ ONI had always been told it originated in Bourbon County, Kentucky, and that anything called “bourbon whiskey” has to be made there. Not true. Very little bourbon is actually made in Bourbon County. Did bourbon originate there? Probably not. No one really knows where the name “bourbon whiskey” actually came from. One story that’s gained […]
READ ONThose of you who drop in daily may have noticed I didn’t do too much blogging on Friday. The reasons were twofold: 1) I had the day off and was feeling lazy, and; 2) I spent a good chunk of the afternoon attending a lecture on whiskey making. No, I’m not going to put up […]
READ ONCharlotte Russe sounds like a fancy Continental dessert, and it is. So how improbable is it that for a time — from about 1900 to 1960 — Charlotte Russe was one of the most popular street foods in New York. Of course it differed quite a bit from the classic version. “Charla droosh”, as interpreted […]
READ ONI hesitated at first to do Bavarian cream because I’ve had so many bad experiences with it. No, not making it. Eating it. For Bavarian cream is a much abused substance in the baking world. So often it has so much gelatin in it that it comes off like JELL-O pudding. Thankfully, pastry chef Laura […]
READ ONThat’s right, and it was invented by a Frenchman. At least, so it’s said, by Antonin Carême himself. So the story goes, Carême created his own charlotte after seeing the baked version in England, where he worked for a time starting in 1815. On his return to Paris he produced an unbaked version he called Charlotte à la Parisienne. But that shortly changed when he accepted a position on the staff of Tsar Alexander and relocated to St. Petersburg, and it’s been charlotte russe ever since.
Is it true? Who knows? But it makes for a good story.
READ ONLike “cake”, the term “charlotte” can be a bit hard to define, as there are so many different types and styles. They aren’t really pastries as such. Rather, they bear a much closer resemblance to bread puddings and trifles. Like trifles, they’re usually prepared in deep molds. They can be either baked or unbaked. The […]
READ ONBribe my two little girls to clean up their room, that’s what. I couldn’t believe the mess in there this morning! Who do they think I am, the butler? Sorry, I just had a brief attack of Middle Aged Dad. Make a charlotte is what I think I’ll do. My challenge will be to figure […]
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