mini-vacation

So, Becki and I took a couple of days off this week and had nice, long, four-day weekend! It’s been awhile since we’ve been able to get away—just the two of us—so we got a motel room in Orlando and did something we’ve always wanted to do—the Food & Wine Festival at EPCOT.

Now, we’ve done this “casually” before, meaning that we’ve walked it and poked our heads into a couple of different seminars (this is where we were, with our friends, Paul & Becky Schryer, introduced to the joys of Chocolate Bock beer, but I digress). But we’ve always wanted to “eat our way around the world”, so to speak, and never had the cash or time to do it. This year was different, and we had a great couple of days doing just that.

So, without further comment, here is a list of where (and what) we ate, along with my scientifically precise rating (1 being gross, 10 being heavenly in all aspects):

- Italy: Pizza with Fennel Sausage, Bell Peppers, San Marzano Tomatoes and Mozzarella. This was a solid 4. Just OK. I liked the thick crust, but the rest tasted like something I could get anywhere—like Sbarros, for instance.

- Germany: Spaetzle with Creamy Mushroom Ragout. I give it a 7. Loved the sauce and the ‘shrooms. The Spaetzle was a little dry, but I liked it. Also tried the Debriziner Sausage and Sauerkraut in a Pretzel Roll. This gets a 6. Really, it was just a sausage on a roll with Sauerkraut. Nothing special, although the meat was cooked perfectly for a sausage and I enjoyed the pretzel roll.

- China: Pork Pot Stickers. 8. We both liked these a lot. Not too tender, not too crisp, with a yummy sauce. Great stuff.

- India: India Rice and Coconut Pudding. I can’t rate this one as Becki tried it. It smelled OK, though. She seemed to like it, although she said it tasted like it had Sprite in it. I don’t believe that’s a staple of Indian cuisine.

- Spain: Papas con Chorizo (Potatoes and Spicy Sausage). 8. Not enough potatoes, but that’s my only complaint. They’re not kidding when they say spicy.

- Ireland: Broxty Potato Pancake with Bacon chips and Kerrygold garlic and herb butter. This one gets a high 9. Outstanding, innovative dish. I could have eaten lots more. But I had to save room…

- Mexico: Chilaquiles (Baked Tortillas with Chicken and Cheese). The only reason I give this a 6.5 is because they slathered it with a green chile sauce, which I generally don’t like. It was OK, as were the tortillas themselves.

- Dominican Republic: Dulce de Coco (Coconut Flan). This one is a 7.5. I actually don’t like Flan that much, but this was a very rich and sweet taste--it was hard to put down.

- Canada: Canadian Cheddar Cheese Soup. Let’s put it this way…I had 3 separate helpings. One of which I walked all the way back through the park for. Easily the best food I had at the Festival. 10.

- France: Quiche au Fromage de Chevre (Goat Cheese and Sun-Dried Tomato quiche). I was really looking forward to this one, but it was a bit of a disappointment. Dry crust, and I had to search for the goat cheese. 5.5.

So, if you’re keeping count, that’s 10 different countries (not counting our normal Japanese lunch stop and a dinner of Fish and Chips in England). That sounds impressive until you realize there are 28 stations to try, each with at least 3 samplings. Looks like we’ve got more work to do…we’ll update with the new dishes...

For now, I guess it’s time to hit the gym again!