Kentucky Official Visitor's Guide 2018 • Kentucky Official Visitor's Guide 2018 • Food Hall Of Fame

Kentucky’s culinary headliners go well beyond bourbon balls and barbecue, and each has a fascinating story to tell about the people and places of the Bluegrass.

By now, most know that one of Kentucky’s premier delicacies – the iconic, delightfully messy, yet oh-so-satisfying Hot Brown – was invented by a chef at the namesake Brown Hotel in Louisville back in the 1920s.

This open-faced wonder layering sliced turkey, tomatoes, creamy Mornay sauce and crisp bacon over thick-sliced toast was once reserved for late-night dining after dancing, but is now widely cherished as one of the state’s signature dishes to enjoy any time of the day.

But burgoo? Considered by some to be one of Kentucky’s best dishes, this slow-cooked, well-seasoned stew is typically made with whatever meats and vegetables are on hand. In Kentucky, that’s mutton – and burgoo takes center stage at many a social gathering here, including the Kentucky Derby.

Speaking of mutton, it’s the barbecue maestro’s meat of choice in Western Kentucky, where it appears on menus at award-winning Owensboro mainstays Moonlite Bar-B-Q Inn and Old Hickory Bar-B-Que, among countless others.

In central Kentucky, Clark County is the birthplace of beer cheese – and Hall’s on the River in Winchester is a delicious stop on the storied Beer Cheese Trail.

Wait, what, beer cheese? Yep. This addictive spread is usually a mix of sharp cheddar and beer (just enough for taste and texture) spiked with garlic and other spices like dry mustard, horseradish and, sometimes, cayenne pepper.

Benedictine is a cucumber-and- cheese spread stuffed in sandwiches and canapés that originated around 1900 from restaurateur and writer Jennie Carter Benedict. Find this yummy filling in the Queen Anne sandwich at The Café in Louisville, where it’s garnished with sliced cucumber, bacon and lettuce.

Another Louisville original is Henry Bain Sauce, named for a server at the Pendennis Club, where it was first paired with beef and other meats. Pick up a bottle of this robust and zesty ketchup and sweet chutney-based sauce at Bourbon Barrel Foods’ retail shop in Louisville. (Your next tenderloin will thank you.)

Need a KFC fix? Head to the original location, the very place where a cook became the colonel of a little empire called Kentucky Fried Chicken. The legendary Harland Sanders Café and Museum are located in Corbin. And get this: goetta – that German mélange of pork, beef, whole-grain steel-cut oats, fresh onions and spices that is so beloved in Northern Kentucky – stars in several entrées at Newport’s Mokka and the Sunset Bar & Grill: Goetta Avalanche, Goetta Frittata and Goetta Grinder.

For a sweet pick-me-up, try an old-fashioned Blue Monday candy bar made at Ruth Hunt Candy Co. in Mt. Sterling. Invented by candy maker Ruth Hunt after hearing a chance remark from a traveling minister – “Every Monday I have to have a little sweet to help me through my blue Monday.” – it is pulled cream candy enrobed in luscious dark chocolate. And it is divine!

Got a yen for a sweet of a different flavor? Try a Modjeska, marshmallow pillows paired with butter and cream caramel. Named for a famous Polish actress, it can be found at Muth’s in Louisville.

But back to those bourbon balls. In a state that has millions of barrels of bourbon aging at any given moment in its distilleries, it stands to reason that these rich chocolate-coated treasures would be a cherished edible. And they have been for nearly 80 years, ever since former substitute teacher Ruth Hanly Booe perfected a recipe for blending bourbon and candy in the late 1930s.

Her recipe remains a secret, but the treats that result from it are widely available in glass cases and candy boxes at Rebecca Ruth’s in Frankfort, and elsewhere throughout the state.

Open-faced wonder layering sliced turkey, tomatoes, creamy Mornay sauce and bacon over thick-sliced toast.

A slow-cooked, well-seasoned stew considered by some to be one of Kentucky’s best dishes.

A local favorite, this is the barbecue maestro’s meat of choice in Western Kentucky,

Sharp cheddar and beer, spiked with garlic and spices like dry mustard, horseradish and cayenne pepper.

A German mélange of pork, beef, whole-grain steel-cut oats, fresh onions and spices.

A blend of bourbon and candy, these rich chocolate-coated treasures are a cherished edible.

Kentucky Official Visitor's Guide 2018 - Kentucky Official Visitor's Guide 2018

Food Hall Of Fame

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