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The Oinkster Moves Close to (My) Home

 

What could be better--much, much better--than winning the lottery? The answer is, having the new Oinkster open 5 minutes from where I live. (By the way, that DEAD sign in back has nothing to do with the restaurant, which is very much alive.)

 

As soon as the Hollywood location was ready, I made the 5 minute drive in order to get the famous Oinkster pastrami sandwich. As you can see (above), it's packed to bursting with meat, and also Gruyere cheese, red cabbage slaw and caramelized onions.

 

The mustard that came with it was so good that I could have spooned it up like soup. Chef/owner Andre Guerrero, who was there that night for the soft opening, said it's a house blend of grainy Dijon mustard, hot Dijon mustard, yellow mustard, horseradish and mayonnaise. Don't miss it.

 

If you order Belgian fries (above), you'll get aioli to dip them in, but the mustard is good with the fries too. 

 

The pork adobo sandwich (above) has so much going on it doesn't need anything extra.  There's already garlic aioli inside, along with a pork burger patty topped with adobo made from cubed pork butt braised with garlic, soy sauce, vinegar, black pepper and bay leaf. On top of that is pico de gallo seasoned with a dash of fish sauce. The bun is Filipino pan de sal.

 

Drinks on tap that night were Qupe Chardonnay and the 1903 lager from Crafsman Brewing Company in Pasadena. But you could also have a pale purple ube shake and many other things, all listed on the menu above.

 

The Oinkster Hollywood,  776 Vine St., Los Angeles, CA 90038. Tel: (323) 536-9248.

The Place for Great Goat Biryani

If you need a goat biryani fix--and who doesn't, now and then--go straight to Bangla Bazar.

This restaurant in Little Bangladesh is renowned for its biryani--an innocent looking pile of rice (at top) that explodes with a wild rush of seasonings--big, dark cardamoms, thick cinnamon sticks, bay leaves and tiny hot chiles to fire up your mouth if you accidentally bite into one. 

And then there's the goat--bony, gamy and so much more interesting than the alternative, chicken biryani. Check out what else is in the counter (above). There will be other goat and chicken dishes, perhaps a fish curry, vegetables, samosas, curry puffs, sweets, and a dispenser of hot chai.

Bangladeshis around you will be eating with their hands, but plastic cutlery is available if you haven't mastered that technique.

The serving of biryani is huge. Get a vegetable on the side, perhaps eggplant tinted with turmeric (above), and you'll have  enough to satisfy a big appetite or to share with a friend, at a price so modest you'll want to make eating at Bangla a habit.  

Bangla Bazar & Restaurant, 4205 1/2 W. Third St., Los Angeles, CA 90020. Tel: (213) 380-4070.

A New Guide to Burmese Cooking

There's a great new book that will teach you how to cook Burmese food. And don't be intimidated. Burmese may sound exotic, but it's more doable than you might expect.

Along with food, you'll find history, culture and arresting photographs in "The Burma Cookbook: Recipes from the Land of a Million Pagodas" (River Books) by Robert Carmack and Morrison Polkinghorne. 

The two authors live in Sydney, Australia but were in Los Angeles for a launch party at the home of Anne Willan, founder of La Varenne, the cooking school in France. In the photo above, Willan is flanked by Carmack, left, and Polkinghorne.

The party was great fun, and the food was so good that it was not possible to leave without a copy of the book.  Beautifully designed, it's a work of art as well as a cookbook. Read more about it, and about the party, in this post for L.A. Weekly's Squid Ink.

All the food was delicious, but the dessert won my heart--a nutty, rich semolina cake (top photo) studded with tiny Burmese flags. Here is the recipe:

RICH SEMOLINA CAKE
From "The Burma Cookbook: Recipes from the Land of a Million Pagodas" 

2 cups semolina, coarse or fine
1 1/2 cups coconut milk
1/2 cup butter or oil
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup golden raisins
3/4 cup finely chopped toasted cashews
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 eggs, well beaten
1 tablespoon poppy seeds, preferably white

Toast the semolina on a baking tray in a hot oven for about 10 minutes. Stir or shake occasionally so it browns evenly.

In a large saucepan over medium heat, combine coconut milk, butter or oil and sugar, stirring until dissolved. Slowly add the semolina, stirring constantly so that lumps do not form, about 5 minutes. Keep stirring until the mixture just begins to bubble. Add raisins, cashews and salt.

Lower heat slightly and keep stirring for another 10 minutes. This mixture gets very stiff, but not unmanageably so; the batter will come away from the pan sides.

Remove from heat, quickly beat in eggs, mixing well, and transfer to a buttered, deep 8-inch square baking dish. Sprinkle with poppy seeds. Bake at 325 degrees for 25 minutes, or until set. Insert a knife or toothpick in the center to test if it is done; the knife should emerge clean.

Cool in pan for several hours or overnight. Serve at room temperature. Cut with a sharp knife into small squares, diamonds or wedges. If desired, top with coconut flakes or raisins soaked in sugar syrup. Makes 8 to 12 servings.  

Note: The photos for this post were taken by Yakir Levy.

Celebrating Sri Lankan New Year

The kitchen at the Dharma Vijaya Buddhist Vihara, a Sri Lankan Buddhist temple in mid-Los Angeles (above), was filled with home cooked food for a Sunday afternoon celebration.

The occasion was Sri Lankan new year, which takes place in mid April. Traditional for this occasion is  milk rice (above)--rice with a delicate coconut flavor because it is cooked with coconut milk and water.

The rice is eaten with spicy condiments such as the chile sambol above. 

Here is a plate of milk rice with onions on the side. All of the food was vegetarian.

This container of pickled fruit was so big it had to be set on the floor. The women are mixing diced mangoes, pineapple and green apple with chili powder, mustard powder, pepper, salt and vinegar.

The drink of the day was a blend of finely cut fruit with orange juice.

Crisp rosettes called kokis (above) were made with coconut milk and rice flour.

Sweets included small chewy oil cakes (above).

The traditional Sri Lankan butter cake (above) was there too.   

The sumptuous date cake above also contained raisins and almonds. The dates colored it brown.

When the meal was finished, the cooks lined up for a round of applause. 

Look who also attended the party.

A Rare Chance to Taste AmByth Wines

 
You won't find wines from AmByth Estate at public tastings, because owner Philip Hart (above) simply won't pour any more. It's costly and a waste of time, he said. What really discourages him is tasters "who don't give a rat's xxxx."

Nevertheless, Hart poured last week at République, not for thirsty imbibers off the street but for the Return to Terroir annual portfolio tasting. This was a small media and industry event, and the distributor had already purchased the wines, so there was nothing Hart could object to.

AmByth's production is too small for indiscriminate pouring. Only 50 cases were produced of the 2010 PlayGround, a Mourvedre-based Rhone field blend that was one of seven AmByth wines at the tasting (above). The most plentiful wine, 1550 cases, was the 2011 Priscus, a white blend.

Located outside Paso Robles, AmByth is unusually interesting because it is not only organic but certified biodynamic. That's as natural as you can get. The vineyards are dry-farmed; homeopathic teas serve as fertilizers, and no additives or other wine-making tricks are allowed. Only native yeasts are used and the wines are not fined or filtered.  "I truly don't manipulate the wines," Hart said.

He's started using clay amphoras from Italy for fermenting and aging and will eventually have 16 of them, ranging in size from 300 to 800 liters. "Hopefully, the effect is neutral," he said. 

At the tasting, Hart poured the first amphora wine, the 2012 Amphora Rosé, a blend of Grenache, Mourvedre and Counoise (above, center). "This is not a super light quaffing wine. It's a red wine," he said. The 2012 Priscus will be the next amphora wine.

The only grape Hart is not interested in growing is Zinfandel. Yet he offered a fruity 2011 Bailey Zinfandel at the tasting. The grapes did not come from his property but from an organic vineyard on the west side of Paso Robles. That vineyard has since been de-certified, so Hart did not buy grapes there after 2011.  

Except for the Zinfandel and a Grenache, the wines he presented were blends. Most sell for $45. The Zin and the Amphora Rose are $35. Although Zinfandel "is not my favorite grape," he's proud of this one. "It will be great in six years," he said.