Unless you're a complete tea-totaller, it is hard to spend any time in North-Central Kentucky without getting caught up in Bourbon-mania. I have always had a fondness for bourbon and bourbon-flavored stuff, so I couldn't wait to get there on a recent business trip.
My wife and a friend ran reconnaissance for me while I was working the trade show. Then we spent our evenings trying bourbons that we were reasonably sure we couldn't get at home. On a recon mission, my wife found a place we had seen on the Food Network show "Southern at Heart". Bourbon Barrel Foods has built a business around using empty bourbon barrels (which by law cannot be used for bourbon again) to make, age and cure a wide variety of spices and foodstuffs. According to their propaganda, they are the only small batch soy sauce brewer in the United States. I think the "small batch" is the key part of that statement. Nevertheless, the soy sauce is the best I've ever tasted. It is brewed with locally grown soy beans and wheat and aged in bourbon barrels. That soy sauce is the foundation for what BBF calls "Kentuckyaki". Again, Kentuckyaki is light years beyond any store shelf teriyaki sauce I've tried. BBF also makes their own Worcestershire sauce, worthy of the price premium.
Beyond the liquid preparations that contain bourbon and/or are aged in bourbon barrels, BBF smokes spices with bourbon barrel staves, all of which I found delightful.
If you're a fan of bourbon, I suggest you visit http://bourbonbarrelfoods.com/. If you're in Louisville, visit them in person. I know my kitchen has been changed forever.
My wife and a friend ran reconnaissance for me while I was working the trade show. Then we spent our evenings trying bourbons that we were reasonably sure we couldn't get at home. On a recon mission, my wife found a place we had seen on the Food Network show "Southern at Heart". Bourbon Barrel Foods has built a business around using empty bourbon barrels (which by law cannot be used for bourbon again) to make, age and cure a wide variety of spices and foodstuffs. According to their propaganda, they are the only small batch soy sauce brewer in the United States. I think the "small batch" is the key part of that statement. Nevertheless, the soy sauce is the best I've ever tasted. It is brewed with locally grown soy beans and wheat and aged in bourbon barrels. That soy sauce is the foundation for what BBF calls "Kentuckyaki". Again, Kentuckyaki is light years beyond any store shelf teriyaki sauce I've tried. BBF also makes their own Worcestershire sauce, worthy of the price premium.
Beyond the liquid preparations that contain bourbon and/or are aged in bourbon barrels, BBF smokes spices with bourbon barrel staves, all of which I found delightful.
If you're a fan of bourbon, I suggest you visit http://bourbonbarrelfoods.com/. If you're in Louisville, visit them in person. I know my kitchen has been changed forever.
