Epcot’s Epic Food and Wine Festival 2010

When I found out that we would be in Orlando during the Epcot Food and Wine Festival I felt like a kid on Christmas morning.

My favorite thing in the entire world is traveling and trying the food from each place I go. Whether it be New Orleans or Italy, I am always intrigued by the authentic food of each specific place I travel to.

So to say that this day at Epcot was right up my alley is an understatement. I can’t think of many better things in life then to walk around the world in one day and try food from each country. This was a chance to let my inner foodie out and to let her run wild! Luckily I was in good foodie company.

Since it was pretty early in the morning we decided to visit Nemo first.

Walking into the World Showcase was a little overwhelming at first because there were so many booths set up, so many people, and the smell of food cooking in the air was intoxicating. The smell of onions, garlic, beef, and spices was enough to make me want to stop time and never ever leave. Every booth smelled better than the last and we honestly didn’t know where to start.

But in the midst of all the hype we got a little distracted when something caught our eye…

Meet Tim Rogerson. He is the official artist for the Epcot International Food and Wine Festival.

I am absolutely in love with his art work and want every single one!

Ok, back to the food we went.

This festival was a little different then other food and wine festivals I’ve attended. There were booths set up all through out the world showcase, and each booth featured about 2-3 dishes with wine and beer pairings. Each dish was authentic and the wines and beers were paired with the specific dish that would show off it’s best characteristics. Each dish was only about 2-3 bites and ranged anywhere between $2.50 and $6.00. The tastes of wine and sake were also small and ranged between $2.50 and $7.00, and the beers were full size and ranged in price.

Since we really didn’t know where to start we passed a few of the first countries with out even trying anything and just walked around taking it all in.

We walked through Canada, and England, and passed by a the Greece, Charcuterie and Cheese, and Ireland booths.

Have you ever seen a human totem pole?

Well now you have!

I hadn’t even started yet, and I already had my beer goggles on.

How many people can you fit inside a phone booth?

Only 4 apparently.

We finally decided to eat lunch in France. We bypassed the tasting booth and went for the real deal. However this resulted in a much larger lunch then expected because once we were in the boulangerie my boyfriend went a little crazy and wanted to order one of everything.

Are we in Paris??

We all settled on a ham and cheese baguette, a ham and cheese quiche, and a pain au chocolat with a French beer.

The baguette and pain au chocolat were ok, but the ham and cheese quiche was my favorite. Deliciously cheesy, warm, and all finished with a delicately crispy crust. We wanted to save room for all the food to come so we shared everything along with Kelly’s cheese plate.

Not quite as good as the REAL French food, but it was the next best thing.

We let our lunch digest a bit while we walked through Morocco and passed by the Spain, Belgium, and Australia booths.

A beautiful day at Epcot.

We started the true tasting process in Japan. I ordered the Spicy Tuna Roll, Chris ordered the California Roll, and we shared the Tuna Sensation, which was fresh tuna on top of avocado with soy sauce. I also had a Denemon Junmai Sake and Chris had a Kirin beer.

The sushi was decent, but the tuna sensation was…sensational. The tuna tasted very fresh, the dish was refreshing, and it was exactly what we needed after all that time in the hot sun.

I love all things sake and this one was very tasty. Slightly sweet and very smooth.

We passed through Italy but none of the cheesy heavy dishes sounded very appealing to me. But it sure was nice to be in Italy!

Chris and Kelly got gelato, but I had to say no. I’m more of a savory then sweet girl.

No offense to America, but we didn’t even stop to say hi!

We passed by the Hops & Barley booth as well. I really wanted to try this crabcake dish, but the line was way too long and it was way too hot outside. But it did sound delicious!

We finally got the hang of the festival about half way through the day, and if I were to go back and do it again, I would have us all share one or two plates at each booth so we would have the chance to try food from every single country represented. But instead we all kept getting one plate each and it started to get VERY expensive.

Our next stop was Germany where Chris and I shared some Spatzle Gratin with Ham and Cheese and an Altenmunster Oktoberfest beer. It seems we were on a bit of a ham and cheese kick that day.

The Spatzle reminded me of my trip to Germany a few years ago. It was part of almost every meal I ate there. And I miss it dearly!

And of course we had to get yet another beer in a souvenir glass. This time it was a Hefeweisen. As you can see we partook in much more beer than wine. It was just too hot for wine that day. And please know I did not drink all these beers myself. They were mainly for the boys, but I would have a few sips here and there with the food.

Justin told me the smell coming from the Singapore booth was intense so we all shared the Coconut-Braised Beef Rendang with Jasmine Rice. This was probably the worst thing we had all day. We agreed the beef was dry and the rice was undercooked. It had a lovely coconut taste and certainly had potential, but just didn’t cut it.

By this time we were stuffed, tired, and sore from all the walking we had done the last couple of days. So we sat down and made a game plan for the rest of the day.

We passed by the South Africa booth on our way to China.

I would have liked to try something from South Africa, but I was just too full!

Sight seeing through China was fun and then we were off to ride some rides.

But wait…something smelled really good at the South Korea booth and we had to try it out. Chris and I shared the Lettuce Wraps with Roasted Pork and Kimchi Slaw. The meat was tender and sweet, and the kimchi gave it a nice crunch and some heat. The Romain lettuce wrap added a freshness element and extra crunch as well. I have a soft spot for lettuce wraps.

Ok, now back to the game plan.

We headed out of the World Showcase to ride Soarin’ which we had fast passes for. This was a much needed break and none of us wanted to get up out of our seat when the ride was over. But we had so much fun ahead of us so we got ourselves back out there.

Since we wanted to try everything there was left we decided to divide and conquer.

First up…Chile. Chris and I had the Shrimp Ceviche with the Concha y Toro Sauvignon Blanc while Kelly and Justin ordered the Pastel de Choco (Beef and Corn Pie) and the Montes Cabernet Sauvignon.

The ceviche was really spicy and kind of bland, but the tamale was incredible. The corn was sweet, and it complimented the beef really well. I wanted to trade.

Then we headed back to China where we tried the Black Pepper Shrimp with Sichuan Noodles. Probably the best thing I had all day.

The shrimp was coated in something that gave it a slight crunch and the noodles had a nice soothing flavor to them. They just slid across the tongue. We washed it all down with a refreshingly light Tsingtao beer.

On our way back to China we passed by a lot of food. Decisions Decisions…

Desserts and Champagne, Brazil, Argentina, and Puerto Rico. I wish I could have tried it all, but there is only so much one person can eat.

We stopped at Norway to look around, ride the ride, and pretend we were Norweigen.

Then we were off to Poland where we all shared the Kielbasa and Potato Pierogies with Caramelized Onions. This dish was the second best thing I ate all day.

One bite was all I got, and all I needed to make my mouth very very happy. I was so content just eating the wonderful taste of sweet onions mixed with cheesy dough and spicy keibasa while watching the sunset.

Our last and final stop of the day was Mexico.

I have to say my favorite countries in Epcot are Japan, China, and Mexico. We all shared the Tamal de Pollo (Chicken Tamales with Green Tomatillo Sauce, Queso Fresco and Sour Cream, the Taco de Chilorio (Corn Tortillas filled with Marinated Pork Sinaloa-style topped with Fresh Avocado sauce and Red Onion), a churro and a frozen Passionfruit Margarita. I’m more of a traditional margarita girl so I only had a sip of this, but I was all about the food. It was really spicy but full of flavor.

Then I convinced everyone to take the boat ride with me through Mexico.

We resisted the tequila bar even though it looked like a blast, and decided to scope out seats for the fireworks later.

Side Note-This is what too much food and beer will do to you.

Successful, we found the most perfect seats on the patio of a Mexican restaurant and were right on the edge of the water where the fireworks would be displayed.

The fireworks show was probably the best I’ve ever seen and made me evaluate my life and all the things I’ve been fortunate enough to do. It was not only a fireworks show but also fire, music, and a movie that shows you pictures from all over the world on a globe which sits in the middle of the water. It was incredible.

It is obvious this day was a blast, and I couldn’t see myself doing this with any other group of people. We are a group that has traveled the world, we are a group that loves to try different foods, we are a group that loves culture, and we are a group that enjoys each others company. It was literally a day I will NEVER forget.

Just makes me want to travel that much more! Maybe next year I’ll get to travel outside of the US.

Here’s to hoping! Cheers!

Have you ever been to the Epcot Food and Wine Festival? If not-you must go!

Tagged as: Epcot, Epcot 15th Annual International Food and Wine Festival, Food around the world, Tim Rogerson