Spokane Food Blog

As fall mercilessly lays its claim on the Inland Empire, many people move on to libations made for warming rather than refreshing. This often means various types of whisk(e)ies. Honestly, though, I have to say… Not that big of a fan of the Scotch or Irish or Bourbon or whatever. For me, the seasonal drink of fall is a cognac, and this is a quick 101 musing about it.

A wise man once said, “all cognacs are brandies, but not all brandies are cognacs.” In other words, a cognac is a brandy produced in the Cognac region of France. (For the sake of simplicity I will call non-Cognac produced brandies for “brandies,” and Cognac produced brandies for “cognacs” from here on out.) There are those who will say that cognacs are vastly superior to brandies, and there are those who will claim the opposite. I say why not enjoy both? Those kind of arguments are best left to people with too much time on their hands, though my personal opinion is that in general a cognac usually has a richer flavor and goes down smoother than a brandy. Feel free to disagree.

The three most common grades of cognacs are based on how long the youngest grape has been stored in the cask:

VS: Very Special. A minimum of two years. OK for drinking, but probably better in mixed drinks.

VSOP: Very Superior Old Pale. A minimum of four years. Very good for drinking. A bottle typically runs between $35-$45 here in Washington. I like the Courvoisier.

XO: Extra old. A minimum of six years, though usually quite a bit more. Expect to pay no less than $100 for a bottle. Yeah, it’s an investment not made lightly, but if you go for it, I recommend the sweet, smooth flavor of Hardy XO. It has been described as “feminine,” and I am OK with that.

There are a few other categories, though for the most part, they can be sub-categorized in the three aforementioned ones. Most cognacs have sugar and caramel added to them, though some are completely pure. These are called cognac brut, and honestly, sometimes being a purist is just asinine. (Brut is not the traditional way of producing cognac anyway, hence why the other type is known as “cognac traditional.”)

Cognacs, like brandies, are more often than not served in either snifters or tulip glasses. If you don’t have either, wine glasses are considered acceptable. Depending on the season, I usually prefer mine neat, though a couple of ice cubes works well in the summer to make it a bit more refreshing.

Fun fact: Norway is the highest consumer of cognac per capita. 20% of cognacs sold there is XO grade, whereas it’s 10% in the rest of the world.

Further reading:

• Wikipedia

• Cognacnet

Cooking with Tim a few weeks back launched me into a full on meat coma.

Tim seared a few boneless New York Steaks cut from organically fed free-range cows. (I am not sure if the three pieces were from the same cow or different cows.) I ate about 2 ounces, drank a few glasses of Merlot, and not 10 minutes later almost passed out. I felt drugged. A week later I decided I should attempt to cook steak.

In the course of my life I have cooked meat twice. The first at a city sponsored BBQ where I flipped burgers and turned hot dogs for approximately 200 people (there were no illnesses due to my cooking.) My instructions were simply to wait for the blood to rise, then flip the burger.

The second time in 2004 ended in a complete disaster at making chicken teriyaki for a friend’s birthday.

I did not want my steak to turn out like my chicken, so I found a Barefoot Contessa recipe on Foodtv.com and enlisted a meat making coach to guide me through the process. Making meat may seem simple for some of you, but for recovering vegetarians it’s a gentle learning process.

I went to a local market and bought meat from the butcher. This is a first; I have never purchased meat, let alone picked it out. Until I got home with this brown wrapped package I forgot I would have touch it. Gross! It is pink and there are white tissues or fat or something holding parts of it together. A big “t” shaped bone runs down the middle.

Very gross! Luckily I had tongs so the flesh did not have to meet my flesh. When my cow looked fully dead I stuck the meat thermometer in just to be certain.

I ate about 2 ounces and gave the rest to my meat making coach. It tasted great. I would even make it again.

If I was to separate bottled beer into two categories of quality, it would be the lesser ones with twist-off caps and those without. Generalization, I know, but there you go.

Session is my baseline go-to lager, and I place it high on the “twist-off” chart. Its mild flavor isn’t going to blow anybody’s minds, but it’s refreshing, inoffensive, and has just a hint of sweetness to it.

Let’s face it, Full Sail hasn’t set out to make anything but something that can be enjoyed for mass-consumption. You have some people over, want to serve something better than Bud or Coors or whatever, and that’s the niche Session fills just fine. Thus I give it a positive score.

You can find Session in most grocery stores and bars these days.

I have been a food lover all my life, but have up until recently never eaten meat! Now, as a fish out of water, I am stepping into a brave new world, the world of the meat-eaters.

Whether it’s learning to use a fork and knife while eating a rib-eye steak or discovering that buffalo wings and hot wings are, in fact, the same thing, I will engage in becoming a true carnivore. In fact, I will eat (or try to eat) almost anything to learn a new culture through meat.

This web site will chronicle my adventures in a world unknown to me. The world of meat.

After seventeen years of vegetarianism I decided to become a carnivore. I lost my meat-virginity to a tablespoon of salmon at Luna, followed by filet mignon at Churchill’s Steakhouse in 2007, though after that I didn’t have meat again for a year. Last month I decided to try it again, by eating a 3 oz New York strip. I liked it, even though it sent me into a meat-induced coma.

This blog section will chronicle my ventures into discovering meat, and to become a full-fledged carnivore.

Opa! is a Greek restaurant, and nothing says Santorini more than their bathroom.

The single-stall women’s bathroom seems inspired by the Sea of Crete, as shown by the blue paint covering the two-toned walls.

A framed gold mirror hangs above the bathroom sink.

Several photos of Greece are shown around the room.

This bathroom comes with all of the essentials; toilet paper, soap, and a toilet with a strong flush.

There is nothing missing from this Santorini style bathroom.

With the amount of surface-level parking lots downtown, I can’t help but wonder why more food carts don’t take advantage of them. They’re fairly common place elsewhere, and I don’t see any reason why we can’t see more carts around Spokane.

The good people at the rather fabulously named Tacos el Sol are apparently seeing things the same way, as they just opened a taco truck at 1st and Washington, on the north parking lot by the MinnOak buildings.

And like the location, the tacos are good. Possibly not quite something that will tear you away from De Leon, but El Sol has the advantage of being downtown’s only taco truck.

My lengua and asada tacos tasted liked you’d expect a good truck taco to taste: nicely grilled on two corn tortillas, topped with onion and cilantro. You have the option to add a green and red salsa, neither of which were overly spicy, but added a bit of flavor to the mix.

A fairly standard taco truck experience in other words, but how many frills do you really want from a place like this? I give them props for filling a dull surface lot with simple yet tasty food.

Tacos el Sol is located at 1st and Washington downtown.

A bathroom fit for its pizza.

The Villagio bathroom is as clean as the crust is good, and the decor is splattered just like the balsamic port reduction is overused. You will find this coed single toilet bathroom immediately off the main dining room, which is always a turnoff. However, this restroom opens wide for easy wheelchair access and has a sparkle even Mr. Clean would be proud of. Yellow toned floor tile contrasts nicely with the silver fixtures on the toilet and mop sink, yet clashes horribly with the gold doorknob and hinges.

The exposed mop sink and cleaning-products shelf could easily be covered by wood cabinet doors to make the experience more intimate, and less like a gas station stop.

A great bathroom always has a great sink, which is yet another piece Villagio lacks. Here you will find a brown glass-waterfall faucet mounted on a stock porcelain sink over a builder’s grade two-door cabinet. This bathroom is an awful attempt at a wannabe high-end look.

If you are only looking for an industrial flush in a clean setting, I do recommend the Villagio bathroom.