Around the World...Somewhat Part 1

This is definitely not a nail polish post. This will actually be a food post. I'm not a food aficionado. I don't know how to describe textures, flavors, and etc like a top chef, but I wanted to share this post with you.

Yesterday, my boyfriend Joseph and I went to the Food & Wine Festival at Epcot. Epcot has the Food & Wine Festival every fall usually for around 6 weeks. Epcot is basically divided into two sections. There is Future World and World Showcase. World Showcase is set up in 11 pavilions each representing a different country. This is neat on it's own, but at the Food & Wine Festival they add around 20 more additional regions and countries with their own food/wine stands.

Each country has around 2-3 small dishes you can enjoy and 2-3 drinks. The food comes on small plates and they range from $3-$5, which I think is pretty reasonable. My boyfriend and I ended up sharing around 8 small plates and were stuffed by the end of it all. We plan on going back so we can try the stuff we missed, so look for part two in the next week or two.

Here is what we had yesterday! Be prepared to get hungry!

Australia
Grilled Lamp chop with Potato-Goat Cheese and Shiraz Reduction

This was the first thing we got, and it was delicious. The meat was really tender and juicy. It melted in your mouth. The Shiraz reduction was a great compliment. The potato salad was cold, it was ok. It really couldn't compete with that lamp chop. On that note, I apologize to the puppet Lampchop. You were just too good to resist.

South Korea
Boolgogi BBQ Beef with Steamed Rice and Kimchi

The beef in here was moist and tender. The sauce and spices on the beef was delicious. I cannot tell what was in it, but it was amazing (see, this is why I'm not a food blogger)! The kimchi was crisp and and fresh. It had the right amount of spice. The rice was perfectly sticky? :P

Singapore
Shrimp Cake on a Sugarcane Skewer with Singapore Noodles

I couldn't for the life me tell you what was in this, but it was good. It wasn't like your standard crab cake with little crab and lots of filler. There were full chunks of shrimp in this, and the sauce on top had a nice sweetness to it. I didn't care for the noodles they were cold.


Belgium
Steamed Mussels with Roasted Garlic Cream and a Baguette

I'm not a huge mussel fan, but these were good. The best part of this was the sauce. It was so creamy and rich. I love garlic too. I think I could of just had this sauce in a bowl with a spoon, and I would of been happy.

France
Escargots Persillade en Brioche (Snails in Garlic and Parsley Brioche)

I've only had escargot a few times. I've always had them in some type of butter sauce so they were really rich. These were a bit dry, and I know why. Those little mini bread bowls they were in soaked up all the buttery goodness. Those little bread bowls were heavenly!

Greece
Greek Salad with Pita Bread

Greek food is one of my favorites, so I'm bit more picky when it comes to this. I thought this was good. I typically hate raw onions and olives, but this tasted really nice together. It takes a lot for me to eat raw onions and olives.  It wasn't anything incredibly noteworthy though. The pita bread was well...pita bread.

Chicken Souvlaki with Tzatziki

Yes, I know what this looks like visually, but it tastes nothing like it. The chicken on here was so juicy and tender. The tzatziki sauce was the perfect texture. I like a thicker sauce. All kinds of yum right here!

Hawaii
Kalua Pork Slider with Sweet and Sour Dole Pineapple Chutney and Spicy Mayonnaise. 

When I saw the pineapple chutney my first instinct was "ewww". The onion and pineapple combination did not look appetizing. I tried it and it really was very good. The meat was moist, the chutney added sweet tang to it, the mayo added that hint of spice, and the roll it was on had a really tasty sweetness to it.

That was our delicious adventure yesterday. I've noticed as I've gotten older I'm more willing to just try things even if they are unfamiliar. I used to be one to ask for stuff without sauce or certain ingredients because I assumed I wouldn't like them. Now, not so much I'm enjoying how many components of a dish compliment and enhance the flavors of each other.

We'll be going back either next week or the week after to hit on some of the dishes we missed. I don't think you could do this festival in one day unless you spaced it out well, otherwise you'd be about ready to pop!

I hope you enjoyed this different post.

Happy Friday!