Food & Wine Festival 2009: The Final Round

well, here we are: the Food & Wine Festival finale. another year of tasty treats is in the books.

Athens, Greece
Spanakopita. Kourtaki Mavrodaphne of Patras.

i started off with something i had been eyeing since my first round. did not disappoint. flaky pastry. cheesy spinach filling. somehow managing to be both light & satisfying at the same time. what really intrigued me, though, was the wine. we've discussed how i feel about red wines. this had very little "fuzz" to it. and it was sweet. i could taste a lot of cherry & plum (and believe me when i say that if *i* can taste a flavor in a wine, it is In Your Face Obvious) and then it finished with something...slightly spicy/peppery. it totally caught me off guard. i did a little research when i got home & learned that this wine is frequently compared to a port--which i also am not typically fond of. so chalk one up for not drawing conclusions based on generalization.

Mexico City, Mexico
Mousse de Piña y Coco.

yum. yum. yum. yum. and yum. the mousse was pineapple but it was subtle and very vanilla-creamy too. and toasted coconut on top? delicious.

Shanghai, China
Happy Lychee.

oh this made me happy all right. ;-) seriously. i felt a buzz about halfway through (the cup is bigger than it looks!) but then it went away...and came back again after i got home & found myself slightly silly & more than a bit sleepy. it was interesting. sweet but...not. and it tasted somewhat like pears. i don't know. i am not familiar enough with lychee to know if that's the comparison.

Paris, France
L'ait au Chocolat Creme Brûlée.

this right here? was chocolate-y goodness. nice crispy layer on top. and underneath tasted just like chocolate milk. it was a little cool in temperature but considering it felt like i was standing on the surface of the sun, the coolness was welcomed. actually, come to think of it, it may have been served the proper brûlée temperature, but comparatively felt cool. =P

Munich, Germany
Nuernberger Sausage on a Pretzel Roll. Blue Slate Riesling.

i'm pretty sure i don't need to tell you what a sausage on a roll is like. it was good. i knew it would be. that's why i got it. but if you've ever eaten at Biergarten in the Germany Pavilion at Epcot, and you've had the pretzel rolls...well, then you know how much better the sausage became. (in case it isn't crystal clear: i *love* the pretzel rolls, and that may or may not have weighed heavily in this selection making my list.) the Riesling was good; it was the recommended wine for the sausage. it wasn't a sweet one, but crisp & dry. i wondered how it would go with the spiciness of a sausage but it was just right.

Cork, Ireland
Warm Chocolate Lava Cake with Bailey's Ganache.


this. this? was worthy of being the final Festival 2009 taste left in my mouth. if the brûlée was "chocolate-y goodness" then this was chocolate-y perfection. i can't be certain, but i thought i heard angels singing. i actually had to include two photos because i think the only thing that can top warm chocolate cake with Bailey's ganache is that gooey creamy chocolate center. i scraped every last crumb off that plate with my fork.

and now i am already looking forward to what Food & Wine Festival brings in 2010.