Food

Epcot's Food and Wine Festival 2016

7:02 AM

Disney's Epcot held its annual Food and Wine Festival.

Five years ago, I experienced the Food and Wine Festival at Epcot. It was an amazing experience as you get to try a variety of foods from around selected countries around this world. They had a Pumpkin Mouse Trifle that was a phenomenon. But I'm not here to talk about the Food and Wine Festival of 2011, I'm here to talk about the Food and Wine Festival of 2016.

When you first walk in through the doors to Epcot, you're greeted by Spaceship Earth and underneath that is the display for the Food and Wine Festival. You'll have to walk to the Pavilion to get to the Festival.

Once there, you can pick and choose where you want to start your food adventure. Since I knew we were going for the Food and Wine Festival, I ate a very light breakfast. We nabbed our first ride before it opened, the Three Caballeros boat ride in the Mexico Pavilion. From there, we headed off into a presentation of China. After we got a few attractions out of the way, it was time to go and sample some food.

Our first food stop was China. We were quite hungry by that point, well, I was. The one thing you have to remember about the Food and Wine Festival, they plates are small. It is the proper serving size, not the American serving size in which is triple the amount we're supposed to eat and the dishes run between $5 and $9 dollars a piece.

In China, we tried the Beijing Roasted Duck in a Steamed Bun with Hoisin Sauce. Michael tried it since I'm a vegetarian. I had a piece of the bread, green onions, and the hoisin sauce. His verdict on the Roast Duck, it was good, however, not as spectacular as he would have hoped.


I tried the Black Pepper Shrimp with Garlic Sauce. The shrimp, I gave to Michael. The noodles were delicious and very flavorful. But as you can see, the plates are small. It's the perfect size since you're able to sample the food and not leave feeling fun that you can't sample other plates.


We moved on to the German Pavilion and there, we nabbed some dessert. An Apple Strudel with Vanilla Sauce.


Our next stop was Italy. Michael was still wanting some food as the Roast Duck didn't quite satisfy him. In the Italy Pavilion, we tried the Spezzatino all Toscana con Polenta: Tuscan-style Stew with Carrots, Mushrooms and Crispy Polenta. 

We both liked the stew. Although it had some shredded beef on it, I was able to pick around it and eat the polenta, mushrooms, carrots with a small amount of sauce.


Since that was Michael's dish .... very meaty. We headed off to the Morocco Pavillion. There, I had one of the phenomenal dishes, the Spicy Hummus Fries with Cucumber, Tomato, Onions and Tzatziki Sauce. The hummus fries were delectable. It was firm and the small bits of veggies and Tzatziki sauce made the dish lighter and it cut down the grease. This is the dish I will try to replicate when I get home, just as I did with the Pumpkin Mouse Trifle five years ago.


By this time, Michael was already full, but I wasn't. So off to Brazil we go and I try the Pão de Queijo: Brazilian Cheese Bread. This bread is light and fully. It might not be quite cheesy as American Cheese Bread, which is slathered with tons of butter and cheese, this is has a light cheese flavor. Another dish to try to replicate after the holiday is over.


At this point, you're probably wondering if we're, I mean, "I" am ever going to stop. The final dessert was our last stop and we've been debating on whether to head to the France Pavillion and have some Crème Brûlée Caramel Chocolat: Caramel and Chocolate Crème Brûlée topped with Caramelized Sugar or head on over to Ireland for some Warm Chocolate Pudding with Irish Cream Liqueur Custard.

The Irish won over the French and we were off to get some warm chocolate pudding.

The picture of the pudding didn't quite do it justice since the sample they gave us almost fell flat compared to others whose chocolate cake held up.

The dish was reminiscent of a lava cake. The inside was very chocolatey, warm and gooey. The sauce cut down a the chocolatey of the cake which evens out the flavor throughout the cake. It was definite heaven for a chocoholic like myself.


All in all, the visit to Epcot was a success. If there is one advice I can give you when you visit the Food and Wine Festival at Epcot next year is not to expect to try everything in one day. It takes two days to sample everything in the park. We've only visited one day. Five years ago, we did two days and we were able to sample everything.





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