Food & Wine Festival 2011: Round One

It's here! It's here! I am beside myself with excitement. I've been looking forward to this since the last one ended and it is *finally* here.

The 2011 theme is Passport to a World of Flavors.

And this year, they have a cranberry bog!

As the photos show, though, it was glaringly bright. And let's be honest, the delicious smell of food was beckoning me. I made one full circuit of the World Showcase, snapping photos of the booths and menus, and then it was time to get down to business. I made a beeline for...

SCANDINAVIA
Swedish Meatballs with Lingonberries.

I have to tell you, I have no idea what a lingonberry is, but they taste like a cross between grapes & cranberries (at least to my taste buds). They were a pleasant complement (or is it compliment? I looked it up, and even now, I am still unclear which I want to use. I am pretty sure I chose the right one... I digress. You get the point.) Anyway, they were a pleasant complement to the meatballs, which were not at all dry and were very well seasoned. The berries added a just little bit of sweet-tartness.

I have to pause here to say how pleased I am with the booths' creativity this year. No more plain little uninspired huts. They are actually themed to the countries they represent! I love it!


I was equally pleased with the theme of...

GERMANY
Goulash Soup. Selbach-Oster Estate Spatlese.

I am the first to tell you that I have zero idea what I'm doing when it comes to pairing wines. However, the menu didn't offer a pairing with the soup, so I was on my own. I expected there to a be a little zip-a-dee-do-da (hey, we *are* at Disney World) to the soup--I was correct--so I went with a light, sweet Spatlese, instead of the Riesling, to which I would normally gravitate. It worked perfectly!! The sweetness tempered the zing of the soup, which was a tomato-based broth with some peppers, tomatoes, potatoes and beef. The only thing missing would have been some nice crusty bread with some butter.


After some pondering, and some  wandering back and forth between several countries, I decided on...

 MOROCCO
Harissa Chicken Roll.


I have *no* idea what was inside it, other than the obvious chicken, but it was mildly spicy and very tasty. The outside was crisp but not at all oily. I have to admit, I was really excited that they brought a new dish to the Morocco booth. I haven't been crazy about some of the past offerings (either I tried them and just didn't care for them or they didn't appeal to me at all), but the chicken roll gets a definite thumbs up! 


I decided to call it a day, with just enough room for a little something sweet from...

BELGIUM

Guylian Belgian Chocolate Seashell Truffles.

They actually come packaged in a little box, which I heard some guests complaining about, but I was perfectly fine with that. I mean, it is still Summer here in Florida, no matter what the calendar says, and the chocolates needed to be kept on ice to prevent melting. The boxes provided an additional layer between both the ice and the server's hands, so by the time the truffles were in my possession, they were still perfectly intact. (They did start to melt at first touch to my fingers though, which only reaffirmed the decision to serve them boxed.) The truffles were adorable, very well detailed and *so* tasty. I nibbled them in a quiet shady little corner of the France pavilion, perched on a stone wall.



It was a good initial round of the Food and Wine Festival, one of the very few ways in which Disney can be even better and happier than it always is. I can't wait to get back at it this coming Saturday for Round Two!