Kosher-for-Passover gin: Bring on the martinis

In 1999, Napa Valley wine producer and entrepreneur Leslie Rudd (Rudd Oakville Estate and Dean & Deluca) discovered an old distillery just off the Silverado Trail on one of his vineyard properties. Established in St. Helena way back in 1882, the distillery was the 209^th to get a permit in the U.S. Why not revive it to make small-batch gin? thought Rudd.

And so he got the distillery going again and decided to call it simply Distillery 209. Rudd's No. 209 Gin is intensely aromatic, with citrus notes, plenty of juniper and other botanicals — the equivalent of a big, bold Cabernet. In other words, not a bit shy. It makes an intense martini and can be found behind the bar at some of L.A.’s best drinking establishments. In fact, I'm planning on sitting back on Sunday night with a dry No. 209 martini to watch the first episode of Season 5 of Mad Men.

But as of a couple of years ago, it also has a fraternal kosher twin called No. 209 Kosher-for-Passover Gin. Rudd and his "ginerator" Arne Hillesland couldn’t use the exact formulation as their original model (the cardamom used in No. 209 gin isn’t kosher, for example, nor is any grain-based spirit). Instead, after much experimentation, Hillesland managed to achieve a similarly aromatic profile by employing a slightly different combination of herbs and other elements. The kosher version is based on juniper from Tuscany, plus eight or more botanicals that adhere to kosher dietary law. These include bergamot orange from Calabria, Italy, California bay leaf, lemon peel from Spain, cassia bark from Indonesia, angelica root from Britain and coriander seeds from Romania. 

Those who keep kosher will appreciate that Kosher-for-Passover exists at all. The rest of us will appreciate it for what it is: a different, but equally valid, expression of gin. 

I can see a test martini in the near future.

No. 209 Gin, $34.99 for 750m1 bottle. No. 209 Kosher-for-Passover Gin, $37.99. Available at wine and liquor stores.

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 -- S. Irene Virbila

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Photos: No. 209 Kosher-for-Passover Gin. Credit: S. Irene Virbila/Los Angeles Times

Why are there so many kosher foods?

There are roughly 6.5 million Jews in the U.S., according to the Census Bureau, and only about 1 million of them keep kosher. So why do so many food manufacturers, such as Coca-Cola, go through a lot of trouble to rejigger their recipes to make their products kosher for Passover? The Times' health blog Booster Shots has the answer.

Sampler Platter: L.A. street food festival, giant lobsters, Bar Keeper wants liquor license and more

Gargantuan lobsters rising from the seas and enslaving the human race... It sounds preposterous, but it's a potential and very real downside of global warming, which is building bigger lobsters without increasing the world's butter reserves. Perhaps someday, when the age of peak butter has passed, we'll look back at bread baskets and flaky, golden tarts as the harbingers of doom for a society on the brink of collapse. Until then, I salute our crustacean overlords.

-- Giant lobsters from rising greenhouse gases? NPR
-- Bar Keeper in Silver Lake is looking to get a liquor license by June. Food GPS
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-- Salami and Parmesan cheese used as weapons in supermarket battle. Telegraph
-- The search for the world's perfect stove. New Yorker
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-- Learning to appreciate cognac in Cognac. Los Angeles Times
-- L.A. Street Food Festival scheduled for Valentine's Day weekend. LAist
-- Vertical Wine Bistro changes it up with new chef Doug Weston. Eat LA
-- Roaming Hunger food truck tracking site goes live.
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-- Greek, Indian, Chinese and more: Vancouver's many cuisines. Los Angeles Times
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Harissa, the ingredient essential to Tunisian cuisine

We recently wrote about Tunisian food, specifically about the way Tunisian Jews might celebrate Rosh Hashanah. An essential ingredient in Tunisian food, and one mentioned in the story, was harissa. A reader wrote to ask about it.

Harissa is a sauce based on chiles, hot but not searing. There are many varieties, but many have garlic, salt and oil. It can be used as is on a sandwich or stirred into soups, spread on chicken or as a marinade. It goes into Tunisian couscous.

Many gourmet markets and cooking shops sell it, often in tubes. You can find recipes for it in Middle Eastern cookbooks.

-- Mary MacVean

Photo: Alain Cohen, left, makes harissa for his shop, Got Kosher? Provisions on Pico Boulevard.

Credit: Christina House / For The Times

Sampler Platter: bacon-flavored beer, keeping kosher in Kabul and chewy chicken feet

  Would you pay $63,500 for dinner? One woman just did. This and more in today's food news roundup.

-- Bacon-flavored beer. New York Times
-- Keeping kosher in Kabul: Afghanistan's last Jew. Los Angeles Times
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-- Elina Shatkin

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Sampler Platter: Fatburger woes, Golden State and kosher Coke

Scoops of food news...

• After rapidly expanding in the last few years, California and Nevada Fatburger subsidiaries file for bankruptcy protection. Oregon Live. This shouldn't affect Montel Williams, who owns the exclusive franchise rights to Fatburger in Colorado. BV Newswire. But it might affect the outcome of NBCLA's "Best Burger under $5" competition.
• Colorado DMV nixes ILVTOFU vanity plate, citing obscenity concern. Colorado Independent
• Woman calls 911 over lack of shrimp in fried rice. Newsweek
• Golden State co-owner Jason Bernstein talks to LA.com.
• How Il Forno in Santa Monica has managed to keep all 32 employees during the recession. Huffington Post
• Limited batches of kosher-for-Passover Coca Cola are always a big hit in New York. New York Post
• LAist's latest recession obsession: Guatemalan market Guatemalteca in Hollywood.

--Elina Shatkin

Join us on Twitter @LATimesFood

Photo: Earvin "Magic" Johnson at Fatburger. Credit: Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times.