Adding Bourbon to Your Food

Had to read Chef Edward Lee's newest book titled 'Bourbon Land: A Spirited Love Letter to My Old Kentucky Whiskey, with 50 Recipes' (April 2024). The Korean-American author-chef grew up in Brooklyn, but he now lives in the Bluegrass State. He prefers bourbon over other spirits, and views it as his "culinary companion".

I'm not a big fan of bourbon. I don't mind a nip of it but it's not my favorite drink. Four Roses is quite a tasty bourbon. I also prefer them aged. If you make me drink Jim Beam or Jack Daniels with Coca Cola or something, I will smack you. Bourbon is well, okay, whiskey, if you want. To me, this is spelt as 'whiskey'. Not 'whisky'. But yes, this book about all-things Kentucky bourbon is interesting to me. 

In the book's introduction, Edward Kyung Lee said that he "found his culinary voice in Louiswille", Kentucky. It is also here where he met his wife and where his daughter was born, and where the family still lives. He runs his flagship restaurant 610 Magnolia right here, ever since, he has been cooking with bourbon in the restaurant's dishes.

And bourbon is also about the measures of my own life. I think about how bourbon has played its role at every stage. The misspent youth drinking cheap bourbon and listening to the rebellious music that defined my teenage rage. When I was old enough to go to bars, how many long nights were spent in conversation as the hours evaporated into thin air, the music, the laughter. As I get older, I consume less and drink slower, sips instead of shots, slowing time to appreciate the craft and the nuances in every drink. And as a chef, I think about the transition I have made from consuming bourbon as a libation to using bourbon as an ingredient, a tool, a luxurious gift that enhances my craft. 

In this book, the chef-author brings you on a full distillery tour of Kentucky, and even mentioned the distillery cats like Woodford Reserve's beloved Elijah, a 20-year-old orange tabby who wandered onto the distillery grounds in 1996, never left and passed away in 2014. He examines his favorite tipple and introduces recipes of food and drinks that use bourbon. There are really 50 recipes. Take your pick as to which would be your favorite. He does bother to have a short bit explaining about the differences between bourbon and whiskey, and whisky. Heh. Then he goes into its history, Prohibition, its proof and how should one use bourbon in cooking (not like you do wine).

Some foods got my attention — mostly meats and cheeses — Fried Halloumi Cheese with Spiced Bourbon Honey, Whiskey Onion Soup, Beef Tartare on Burnt Oak Planks and Bone-In Pork Chops in Bourbon Marinade with Bourbon Whole-Grain Mustard Sauce. And one more Slow-Grilled Cheese Eggplant in Bourbon Miso.

Unsurprisingly, I'm not interested in the desserts. Even the best desserts using bourbon tends to lean sweet. There are Bourbon balls, bourbon and butterscotch pudding and fig-walnuts-saffron kulfi with bourbon honey don't work for me. 

The recipes for food are also interspersed with cocktails! There's a Lapsang Souchong Manhattan, a Classic Old-Fashioned and of course there's a Boulevardier. I'm less into cocktails. I drink my bourbon straight up or on the rocks, so I appreciated the chapter on 'Women and Whiskey', and the notable women influencing bourbon and the industry. I like the feature about Elizabeth McCall, the Master Distiller of Woodford Reserve, and the second generation of her family to work in the business.

In terms of flavor, there has always been a misperception that somehow smoky, burnt and bold flavors are masculine and flora notes are feminine—whiskey is for men and wine is for women. I find this narrative to be as inaccurate as it is sexist. And I also find the conventional notion of bourbon being all smoke to be inaccurate. While the char and smoke and tobacco are the primary flavors in most bourbons, there are also fruity and floral notes that are secondly but assuredly present. 

YES. As I do. 

He also doesn't shy away from mentioning about Nathan 'Nearest' Green who was enslaved and worked for Jack Daniel as its first African American Master Distiller, but he wasn't made partner, and was given little credit. He had no share of the profits that created generational wealth for many. He noted that bourbon marketing and advertising have become more diverse and acknowledge that BIPOC consumers are tastemakers and will guide the future of the drink.

This book of recipes and how it has been written and presented is truly the chef-author's labor of love. He said it is "a love letter to my Kentucky home". I think so too.

I'll do Bourbon Salt any day. Meanwhile, Bourbon-Glazed Chicken Wings, anyone?