A NEPALESE JOURNEY, CONTINUED FROM PG. 17
good pasta rather than an obligatory casing for the goods within. Our chicken momo featured moist, tasty meat studded with a bit of crunchy vegetable. We ordered it bathed in a chili sauce whose flavor was distinctive and addictive: It started out sweet, even fruity, but developed a late bloom of spice on the palate. Even at a table overburdened by dishes, it was hard not to keep coming back to this one. The vegetarian momo the night we were there was filled with minced onions, cooked very soft, in an intensely flavorful blend of warm spices, almost like a savory chutney. Playing against this, the nuttiness of the ground sesame “momo chutney” dipping sauce took on another dimension: With each dumpling, we scooped up more chutney, savoring the interaction of the tender wrapper, creamy chutney and faintly crunchy, barely spicy onions. While each of the components was familiar — dumplings, onions, sesame — it was a rare treat to experience them composed into an utterly novel taste experience.
Momo dumplings with Himalayan sauce
Though hot dishes are the norm in Nepalese cuisine, one exception on Himalayas’ menu was the aalu ko achar. This was texturally similar to an American potato salad (minus the mayo), but the cucumbers were pickled in sesame-lemon paste, and hot red chilies burned away any notion of bland picnic food. A hearty hot potato dish, aalu dam, featured chunks of tender potato in a thick, chili-spiked sauce studded with an array of spices, including such treats as whole onion and mustard seeds. Himalayas was an excellent introduction to a cuisine we hope to get to know better. Our only regret is that we were too stuffed with noodles, potatoes and momos to try Himalayas’ Black Forest cake, a confection apparently wildly popular in Nepal. Still, the food of Nepal is now wildly popular with us. INF O @PGH C IT YPAPE R . C O M
18
PITTSBURGH CITY PAPER 03.19/03.26.2014
On the RoCKs
{BY HAL B. KLEIN}
SCHOOL SPIRIT New distillery operates from a Munhall schoolhouse Lee Ann Sommerfeld and Peter Streibeg are two craft distillers who dance to their own tune. While Pittsburgh’s emerging distillery scene has clustered in neighborhoods alongside the Allegheny River, their Stay Tuned Distillery occupies a former Munhall schoolhouse. And the Mon Valley ZIP code isn’t the only unexpected thing about it. After beginning to offer rye and single-malt whiskies in November, Stay Tuned released its second spirit this month: a gin called Pathogin. Pathogin starts with a base spirit — white whiskey from unsmoked barley — from Virginia-based Copper Fox Distillery. But Stay Tuned adds botanicals that have hometown roots — literally. Sommerfeld grows much of the blend in her Penn Hills garden, and Wild Purveyors’ Cavan Patterson forages for nearly all of the rest of it. Sommerfeld says the only ingredients that aren’t locally sourced are the juniper and citrus peels. “It looks like a Harry Potter experiment,” Sommerfeld says of the botanical mix. Early on in the creative process, she says, she decided she didn’t want to produce a market standard juniper-forward gin. “I’m sure I could create a gin like Bombay, but then what’s the point of that?” she says. “You could just go buy Bombay and it would be a lot less expensive.” Instead, you’ll taste anise, herbs and barks, with juniper as a faint note in the background. Sommerfeld adds that Pathogin isn’t designed for some traditional drinks, like a gin and tonic. “Why blow out all these flavors we created? Just say no to quinine,” she says. Instead, she suggests, add a dash of orange bitters to accentuate the flavor. Pathogin can be found in cocktails at Kelly’s, Social, Acacia and a handful of other Pittsburgh bars; bottles can be purchased directly by visiting the distillery. Sommerfeld plans to change the botanical blend with the seasons. For spring and summer, for example, expect that the gin will become less earthy and more floral. “I’m trying to be instinctual about it,” she says.
“I’M SURE I COULD CREATE A GIN LIKE BOMBAY, BUT THEN WHAT’S THE POINT OF THAT?”
INFO@PGHCITYPAPER.COM
810 Ravine St., Munhall. 412-206-9759 or www.staytunedstills.com