Henry Bain's New Albany: Finally, a genuine Bicentennial triumph.

We caught the Sunday afternoon matinee of Henry Bain's New Albany, as performed at St. Mark's. As I strongly suspected going in, the play is an undisputed high point of the "paint by numbers in shades of muted beige" bicentennial celebration we've been forced to endure in 2013.

It's worth noting that in Larry Muhammad's script, African-American characters in the year 1913 find themselves excluded from the centennial planning process, and respond by devising their own civic birthday celebration.

Was the committee of officious commissars in 2013 any more representative than those of 1913? Judge for yourself. The current century's insular group of civic pillars arguably includes more women and African-Americans, but its special bureaucratic talent has been the exclusion en masse of differing ideas and their troublesome bearers.

Seeing as NAC persists in dating New Albany's founding not from the arrival of the Scribners, but the town's legal incorporation in 1817, this means we have ample time to plan The Peoples Bicentennial, to be observed in 2017. Meanwhile, here's a snippet from the play ...

Great Day Live Video: "Henry Bain's New Albany"(WHAS)

 ... and one recipe for mimicking the famous Henry Bain sauce.

Henry Bain sauce is a sweet-sour-spicy beef sauce invented by a maitre d' at Louisville's all-male Pendennis Club in the early 20th century.

· 1 (17-ounce) jar Major Grey's chutney
· 1/2 of 9-ounce jar imported pickled walnuts (optional, see note)
· 1 (14-ounce) bottle ketchup
· 1 (11-ounce) bottle A-1 Steak Sauce
· 1 (10-ounce) bottle Worcestershire sauce
· 1 (12-ounce) bottle chili sauce
· Tabasco, to taste

Put the chutney and walnuts, if using, in a blender and chop fine or puree as you prefer (you'll need to stop and stir). Combine with other ingredients and season to taste with Tabasco.

Makes 4 pints.

Serve with hot or cold roast beef. Spread on beef sandwiches, serve with pot roast, etc. Also good served with cream cheese as a cracker spread.

Note: Pickled walnuts are recommended in the Henry Bain sauce recipe in``The Farmington Cookbook,'' but not in recipes written by former Louisville food writers Cissy Gregg and Marion Flexner.