Folk Fest Food - Version 2014

I spent most of this past weekend at the Edmonton Folk Music Festival. In addition to enjoying some great music, I also enjoyed some great food. In some ways, I find the Folk Fest has the best selection of festival food. Here is a look at what I consumed.

I was thrilled to find out that Padmanadi had a booth at the Folk Fest. I had a plate of vegan ginger beef with rice, and added the lemon prawns. This was a very satisfying lunch.

Although I pack plenty of water with me, other cold beverages are very welcome, like this refreshing lemonade from Lemon Heaven. I don't find it too sweet (someone contemplating buying some asked me) and you get plenty of ice which melts down into cold water.

Another Folk Fest regular item for me is the veggie Pad Thai from Numchok Wilai. The tangy sauce is not too spicy at all, although I could have done with some more tofu.

A frozen treat that I can rationalize as bring somewhat healthy is this chocolate covered frozen banana. I added chocolate chips as my topping. Chocolate comes from a bean. Therefore this was a serving of fruit and vegetables. Right? Right?!?!?

My ascension to the top of the hill required me to get some caffeine to keep me going. This iced cappuccino, with two shots, did the trick.

There was also a popcorn truck at the top of the hill. Sometimes, some salty popcorn is the only thing that will do. The kernels were nice and large.

I have never tried a bannock burger, so I leapt at the chance to have a veggie version from Native Delights. The patty was a rather plain soy burger, with some lettuce and tomato. The bun was the main attraction, of course - a crispy, greasy, fluffy affair that totally filled me up and removed the craving I had for French fries.

Back to Numchok Wilai, this time I tried the green tofu curry. This was definitely my culinary discovery of the weekend. Lots of tofu in a spicy, rich green curry sauce on top of a generous portion of rice, adorned with bamboo shoot slices. I could have shared - but I didn't!

Finally, from the same place as the frozen bananas, came a slice of cheesecake on a stick to which I added - you guessed it! - chocolate chips. It was quite a decadent dessert. The cheesecake was vanilla and chocolate swirl, and was as large a piece as one would get for dessert in a restaurant.

Fringe Food 2013

I spent several afternoons at the Edmonton International Fringe Theatre Festival last week because I love roaming the grounds and taking in the buskers, and also because I was part of the volunteer Multimedia Team. As far as food goes, the pickings seemed a bit slimmer than in previous years. The biggest surprise was the lack of any food trucks (other than ones used for special events).

I had to have an onion cake, with its crispy outside and soft interior. I ended up having two (on different days).

Soner's Donair is a yearly hit because the food is incredible. I had the falafel and there were at least four large balls of fried ground chickpeas, amidst the tzatziki sauce and veggies. A little messy to eat, but worth the effort.

As much as I love kettle corn, my favourite kind of popcorn is the traditional, movie-style kind. I am happy to see it available at festivals and enjoyed a couple of bags during the Fringe.

The mango chicken from Zaika is another yearly favourite for me. Think butter chicken, but sweeter. I also love the addition of a veggie samosa. I could have added naan for another couple of dollars, but the portion would have ended up being too large for me.

Who doesn't love mini-doughnuts? So soft, so hot, so sweet. Best of all, they were half price for volunteers!

Capital EX 2012: Popcorn

Capital EX 2012, a photo by raise my voice on Flickr.

Something sweet. Something greasy. Something frozen. As far as snacks went at Capital EX, I needed something salty to round things out. One of my favourite salty snacks is popcorn, and I got a large box of it for $6. While I love Kettle Corn, sometimes I just crave the basic, salty goodness of plain popcorn. It even came in a box that conveniently closed so I could take some home for later.