Around the World--Food and Wine Festival 2006
Over the course of a long afternoon, my DH and I sampled almost every booth at the Food and Wine Festival. There were a few booths that we sampled at other points in our tripespecially the booths serving full sized drinks, such as the hops and barley market and the champagne stand. We did get there at some point, though, so our reviews are included here.
Our plan for tackling the F+W festival was as follows:
1. Take your time!
2 Drink lots of water!
3 If you dont like it, dont eat it/dont drink it!
4. Share everything!!
For food, we rated it CHOMP IT/CHUCK IT. For wine, DRINK IT/DUMP IT.
Here is what we tried, country by country, with notes.
New Zealand:
Kiwi and Custard Roll: I am allergic to kiwi, so only John tried this. He said: Not too bad, but not my cup of tea either. Very strong kiwi flavor. Rating: CHUCK IT. Monkey Bay Chardonnay: This was pretty good, not too oaky. Rating: DRINK IT.
Argentina: Grilled Beef Sirloin with Chimichurri: I dont eat red meat, so asked John for a review. Answer: Erm..chomp, chomp
yum! The potatoes with it are very peppery. I was actually surprised that he liked this, as the beef was well done, and he is a medium rare kind of guy, but there you have it. Rating: CHOMP IT. Bodegas Salentein Malbec: We both really enjoyed this, not too thin like some of the other reds we tried at F+W: Rating: DRINK IT.
Mexico:
Chilaquiles: HUGE portion, with just a bit of a kick, corn tortillas layered with chicken and green chile sauce, topped with sour cream. Rating: CHOMP IT (well not all of it if you expect to get around the world!) LA Cetto Chardonnay: Very light, surprisingly quaffable. Rating: DRINK IT.
Chile:
Sauteed Corvina: Excellent sautéed white fish in a slightly spicy sauce of tomatoes, capers, and olives. The corvine reminded us of snapper. One of the only dishes we wanted to go back for refills on. Rating: CHOMP IT. Santa Rita Reserve Chardonnay: Nothing special, but acceptable Rating: DRINK IT.
Scandinavia:
Grilled Salmon Tartare: Very mediocre. The salmon tasted canned, not grilled, and was all hashed up like tuna salad. Rating: CHUCK IT. (No wine sampled at Scandinavia)
China:
Pork Pot Stickers. I dont eat pork, so asked John for a review: Yum! Very tasty! Better than our local Chinese restaurant! Me: We never order Chinese food. John: Oh
still tasty though! Rating: CHOMP IT. Hua Xia Cabernet Sauvignon: We bought this just because we did not realize that China made Cabernet Sauvignon, so wanted to try it out of curiosity. Rating: Well, it was interesting, anyway! Rating: DUMP IT.
Thailand: Mango & Tapioca Dessert Soup: Yum! This tastes just like a mango lassi. I was expecting the big boba-style tapioca balls. Instead, the soup had rice-like grains. It was good anyway. Rating: CHOMP IT.(No wine sampled in Thailand. They werent offering Thai wines, so were deemed irrelevant for our purposes.)
South Africa:
Durban Chicken with Mealie Pap. Aaah, Durban Chicken. Two years ago, I had the most amazing dish at the Food and Wine Festival. Spicy Durban Chicken on a sugar cane skewer. A large, lusciously juicy and spicy piece of meat, I ate this chicken every day we were at the festival. The recipe was not in the F+W booklet, so I asked an Epcot person to email it to me. She said she would, but it was an empty promise. No recipe. Imagine my delight when I saw this dish on the 2006 F+W slate. All week, I knew it was there, but I did not eat it. I was busy. I would smell the spices when I walked by the South Africa booth and smile, knowing what a treat I was in for when I finally had the time to savor that amazing Durban chicken.
Well. This years Durban Chicken was a complete disappointment! Not spicy at all, gristly, chewy meat instead of the succulent piece we had before, and served with an insipid honey-mustard sauce. What happened?? The mealie pap it came with was OK. Rating: CHUCK IT!! Kanu Chenin Blanc was nice and light, OK to drown my sorrows in. Rating: DRINK IT.
Australia:
Shrimp on the Barbie: We thought this shrimp was pretty good, with a crunchier, more pleasing texture than the shrimp we tried at the Florida booth. The grilled vegetables that came with it (onions, zucchini, red pepper, and squash) were nicely cooked and tossed in a slightly sweet vinaigrette. Rating: CHOMP IT. Rosemount Traminer Riesling: just average. Rating: DUMP IT.
Octoberfest:
Debrizinger Sausage and Sauerkraut in a Pretzel Roll: John ate this, as I dont eat pork. His review: Tasty
I like the pretzel roll. The sauerkraut is too watery, though. Rating: CHOMP IT. Vegetable Strudel with Remoulade Sauce: I tried this while John ate the sausage. It was awfully bland, and the puff pastry was super greasy. Rating: DUMP IT. (No wines tried in Germany, we still had wine from another booth.)
Italy:
Timballo alla Penne e Capri (Eggplant Timbale with Pasta and Ricotta): I love Italian food, so was really looking forward to this. I guess I should not have gotten my expectations up, because we did not like it at all. The tomato sauce was too sweet, the eggplant was greasy, and worst of all, it was served cold. Rating: CHUCK IT. Castello di Querceto Chianti: Thin and insipid chianti. Yuck. Rating: DUMP IT.
Champagne:
Moet and Chandon Champagnes Selection: Nectar Imperial Rose: Ooh, this was good. We had a glass of this a couple of times during the trip (not on the round the world tour though, as it is a full-sized pour). Sweet without being overly so, light and refreshing, a special treat while watching Illuminations. Rating: DRINK IT.
Hops and Barley Market:
Samuel Adams Beer Selection: 11th Year Anniversary Festival Beer. Another one we had at a different time than the around the world tour, the festival beer was quite nice. It is dark in color but not heavy like a porter. Slightly fruity, we really enjoyed this beer. Rating: DRINK IT.
USA:
BBQ Pork Ribs with Grilled Fresh Corn: Another John review: The pork ribs are off the bone tender. The BBQ sauce is sweet, but I like it anyway. Quite rich. The corn did not taste very fresh, more like extended water bath. Rating: CHOMP IT (the pork that is, dump the corn.) Sterling Napa Cabernet Sauvignon. Very, very thin and disappointing cabernet. Rating: DUMP IT.
Japan:
Spicy Tuna Roll: Not very flavorful. The rice was a bit dry, and it was not spicy enough. Rating: CHUCK IT. Gekkeikan Zipang Sparkling Sake: Everyone at the Japan booth assured us that we would love this sparkling sake. They told us it was even better than regular sake. John summed it up best after his first sip: Hmm
how very
chemically. Rating: DUMP IT.
India:
Curried Butternut Squash Soup with Naan Bread. We LOVE Indian food. All kinds of Indian food. Except this Indian food, apparently. The soup was incredibly sweetit did have a hint of curry, but desperately needed salt. The accompanying naan bread was very dry and greasy, more like a pastry than naan bread. Rating: CHUCK IT. We were surprised to see wines from India, so tried both whites. The Grover Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc was a little too sweet for our tastes. Rating: DUMP IT, but the Sula Chenin Blanc was very nice and quaffable. Rating: DRINK IT.
Morocco:
Chicken Bastilla: This was very interestinga mix of chicken, spices (I think cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg, maybe cloves?), wrapped in puff pastry and topped with powdered sugar. The meat didnt really taste like anything at all, and instead became a textural foil for the spices. I would not want to eat it every day, but it was interesting to try. Rating: CHOMP IT. Ksar White was a simple, light wine that we enjoyed. Rating: DRINK IT.
Spain:
A Taste of Spain: Spanish Olives, Marcona Almonds and Chorizo. This was very much a mixed bag. The olives were nothing specialjust big green pimiento stuffed ones that you can get anywhere. The chorizo was bland. The marcona almonds were great thoughnicely oily and delicately flavored. Rating: eat the almonds, then CHUCK IT. (No wine sampled in Spain)
Turkey:
Assorted Meze - Turkish appetizer - Circasian chicken, red lentil kofta, eggplant salad: We did not care for this at all. The eggplant was too smoky, and the chicken and the lentils were bland. Rating: CHUCK IT. Kavaklidere Cankaya was much too sweet for our tastesalmost honeyed in flavor. Rating: DUMP IT.
France:
Chausson au Fromage de Chèvre (Savory Goat Cheese Pastry): This goat cheese-stuffed puffed pastry was good, but much too plain. It would have been better with some herbs and onions mixed into the goat cheese. Note that the portion was hugeyou could feed four people on this thing. Rating: CHOMP IT. Georges Duboeuf Chardonnay was just average. Rating: DUMP IT.
Great Beers of the World:
OK, I admit it, we skipped this booth. There was nothing here we had not had before, and we could not afford the extra calories.
Ireland:
Potato Leek Soup with an Irish Cheddar Crisp. BLAH! This was really bad. The soup managed to be bland, salty, watery, and greasy all at the same time. Hmm
wait, maybe it was authentic then! Come to think of it, it did taste kind of like Grandmas cooking. Rating: CHUCK IT. Guinness: Yum, Guinness. Rating: DRINK IT.
Poland:
Kielbasa and Potato Pierogies with sour cream. This was tasty. The pierogi was hot and filling and John liked the kielbasa. The dish also came with some sauerkraut. Rating: CHOMP IT. (No wine tasted in Poland).
Canada:
Mission Hill Reserve Riesling Icewine. We didnt get any food from Canada as we had already been to Le Cellier for the salmon and cheese soup earlier in the trip. We were disappointed that they did not have the Inniskillin Icewine this year. The Mission Hill didnt live up. Rating: DUMP IT.
Greece:
Spanakopita: The spinach inside the puff pastry tasted really overdone, almost stewed, and it was was too salty. One positive: the pastry was not overly greasy. Rating: CHUCK IT. Boutari Santorini: Very nice, and doesnt have the resin in it like some Greek wines do. Rating: DRINK IT.
Wild & Wonderful Florida Shrimp:
Sauteed Shrimp with Ginger and Lime: We thought the shrimp at this booth was too fishy and soft. The accompanying gingered salsa was nice, but the fishy flavor of the shrimp overwhelmed it. Rating: CHUCK IT. (No wine sampled in Florida)
Next up: Garden View Tea Room.