Food & Wine Festival: Round Four

whoa. here we are on Thursday & i haven't shared Round Four yet, with Round Five a mere two days away? for shame! let's get right on that. because there's lots to share. the 70s from Round Three disappeared & the crowds along with them. heat = fewer people to navigate through & i made up for the crowd-shortened previous circuit.

Hops & Barley
Boston-style Crab Cake with Cabbage Slaw and Remoulade.

a perfectly yummy starting point. delicious little crab cake over crunchy slaw & that remoulade? packed a lot of zippy punch. pure deliciousness which i devoured in the shade of a tree, sitting on the wall of a planter. and i didn't even have to fight people off for a place to sit!

Krakow, Poland
Kielbasa and Potato Pierogie with Caramelized Onions and Sour Cream.

by no means something new for my tastebuds but some things are way too yummy to pass up. i really just couldn't resist, even though kielbasa & pierogies are something i often cook myself.

Chopin Raspberry Chiller.

but this little cup of heaven? i sipped this as i meandered about. (i had this beverage last year too & was beyond thrilled to see it making an encore appearance in 2009 too!) i wish i could do justice to how tasty this little treat is but... i'm afraid it just isn't possible. it's thick but not *too* thick. almost the consistency of a slushie or slightly melted sorbet. definitely not liquidy. and you cannot taste the vodka at all. it's just refreshing raspberry heaven in a little glass.

Desserts & Champagne
Strawberry Shortcake.

i am guessing you don't need to be told what strawberry shortcake is. i am a little picky when it comes to shortcake. i like the cake part to be sponge cake or pound cake or angel cake. i do NOT like it to be a biscuit. so i was a tad skeptical when i got it but braved the first bite. this was not a biscuit but what tasted like a vanilla cupcake only with the slightly heavier texture of a muffin. and fluffy whipped cream. and sweet strawberries. and a dusting of powdered sugar. and it was good.

Buenos Aires, Argentina
Grilled Beef Skewer with Chimichurri Sauce and Boniato Puree.

enough of these foods with which i am familiar, right?? when Michelle made her tasty trip around the world, she insisted that i must try the beef skewer. (i believe the consensus from Michelle & Ron was "tasty meat. on a stick.") and that i needed to request the chimichurri sauce on the side. (it came on the meat, by default.) two thumbs up for this recommendation! the meat was, indeed, tasty (and on a stick). but the star of this dish? the boniato. the what-huh, you say? the boniato--the color & texture of a potato but the slight sweetness of a sweet potato. it was all pureed & had some garlic (maybe?) mixed in, and was yummy on its own. but then you add in that chimichurri & just wow. the flavors popped in your mouth. it had some kick but not an outrageous amount. very very delicious. and if you had tried to get near my plate to poach anything, i would have been forced to poke you with my skewer. (Dawn doesn't share food! just like Joey--and if you don't get that reference, i may have to re-evaluate our friendship. heh. i kid, i kid! but really...someone knows that reference, right?)

Montreal, Canada
Maple Sugar Candy. Château des Charmes Vidal Icewine.


i needed to wind up my trip with something sweet. but i was also kind of full, so it needed to be little. maple sugar candy! candy is little! and some cool Icewine. both were quite wonderful on their own but if you combined the flavors in your mouth? they blended to taste like honey! i think it is so cool that you can combine two distinct flavors and they come out tasting like something completely different all together! (yes, easily amused. i know.) i also couldn't decide which of the two photos i liked better, so you get both. ;-)

two days til my next trip around the world. this was the perfect way to whet my appetite!