Festival Food: Interstellar Rodeo

I attended the Interstellar Rodeo music festival for the first time last weekend, as I was covering the event for a couple of publications. Like at most of Edmonton's festivals, food played a role. Food trucks were organized in several areas in the ampitheatre in Hawrelak Park and included some food choices that were new to me in this sort of venue.

The vegetarian chili pot pie with a corn bread crust from The Pie Eatery was the perfect combination of spicy and sweet. The zesty, rich chili was balanced by the sweetness of the crust. There was some cheddar in the crust making it non-vegan. Interesting, The Pie Eatery is operated by the same people who do Smokehouse BBQ.

No festival is complete for me without some kind of fried potato. In this case it was the crisps from Drift. The combination of seasonings on the thin chips was definitely a step up from simple salt. The dipping sauce was also incredible - I could do shooters of it.

Speaking of potatoes, the roasted ones from Kitchen by Brad (Brad being local chef Brad Smoliak) were small, tender, local, and delicious. A great alternative to fries. The generous dollop of sour cream added creamy richness.

The Mercury Room brought vegan fare to the fair (sorry about that - I couldn't resist), and the perogies were a hit. I had the potato-filled ones (mushroom and sauerkraut was the other option), which were served atop a bed of greens and covered in vegan sour cream, fried onions, and sauerkraut. As someone who generally does not like sauerkraut, this was fresh and not overpowering. The "sour cream" was the best part - it definitely did not taste like sour cream. It was more like a non-dairy tzatziki, but it added needed moisture to the dish.

I went back to The Pie Eatery for something sweet. The pecan pie proved they know what they are doing. Pecan pie is not just pecans on top of a butter pie. Here, the pecans were integrated in a filling that included raisins and chocolate. I just wish I had a stronger fork - mine was too flimsy to stand up to the dense filling and hearty crust.

Filistix was offering a variety of rice bowls. I had the green lentil vegetarian bowl, which also featured a variety of vegetables atop rice, with their signature slaw. I had a half portion and it was large enough. The full portions were simply huge (and also rather price at close to $15). The bowl was filling, flavourful but not spicy, and definitely a healthy option. Although I normally love the slaw, I actually did not think it went well with the flavour combination in this case.

For a light supper on the Sunday, I had the chaat papdi from The Spice Rickshaw. Crispy samosa strips covered in yoghurt, red onion, chutney, and seasonings. Very flavourful, and very wet. I thought the serving could have been larger for the price ($7) but it was refreshing.

I ended where I began: The Pie Eatery. Their tarts of mini-versions of their sweet pies, and I had a chocolate peanut butter one. The centre is thick, gooey chocolate, while the peanut butter is baked into the soft crust. A win if you are a fan of this combination.