I'm psyched to take a brief break from my "West Virginia's Tastiest Town" travels to judge this year's re-imagined indoor/outdoor Taste-of-ALL Charleston, taking place from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. this Saturday at Four Points by Sheraton and Haddad Riverfront Park.
During the course of this event, fellow food writer Judy Grigoraci and I will once again team up to sample everything we can get our hands on in an effort to pick this year's winning dish for the "Delmer Robinson Food Critics Award."
I took a sneak peek at the full festival menu and am happy to see many of my favorite restaurants signed up to share their culinary goodies with hungry guests - places like Adelphia, Black Sheep Burrito, The Block, Bluegrass Kitchen, Bridge Road Bistro, Dem 2 Brothers, Fusion Teriyaki Grille, Ichiban, Mi Cocina De Amor, Recovery Sports Bar and more.
Plus there's a new place called Buffalo Creek & Gauley Grille Co. that piques my interest, as well as treats from Ellen's Ice Cream, Holl's Chocolates, Kona Ice and Sugar & Spice Pastry Shop.
I'll visit every last one of them, I promise you that. But in no particular order, here are the top dishes I'm most excited to sample this year:
n Almond gazpacho, plus matcha tea-broth mussels with coconut, ginger and Japanese peanuts (Black Sheep Burrito)
n Braised short ribs with orange marmalade (The Block)
n Pimento cheese spring rolls (Embassy Suites)
n Lobster roll with Appalachian ramp stew (Four Points by Sheraton)
n Guinness stew, plus sausage and kale tortellini soup (Big Joe's Bar & Grill)
n Grilled tortilla stuffed with wild pollock, cod, citrus vinaigrette slaw, sunflower seeds and cilantro-lime aioli (Stuff It)
n Cajun sweet potato fries with beer-cheese sauce (Berry Hills Country Club)
n French fries topped with pulled pork, ghost pepper cheese, bean salsa and chipotle crème (Buffalo Creek & Gauley Grille Co.)
n Blueberry buttermilk pie bites (Bluegrass Kitchen)
You'll probably see me in line at any of those stations above, so please come up and say hello - and tell me which dish gets your vote for this year's best taste!
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Meanwhile, that same day down at the State Capitol, the annual Vandalia Gathering celebration of all things Appalachia (music, crafts, storytelling - food!) will host two baking contests that are open to the public.
An anything-goes pound cake competition always brings a host of recipes that elevate the traditional cake with add-ins like different flavorings and spices, fruits, nuts and herbs.
The second category changes every year and this year will celebrate family cookies. Organizers are looking for those memory-making cookies that have been in families for generations, or new variations where younger bakers put a twist on recipes from the past.
Anyone interested in participating can register from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. that day at the Culture Center State Theater. Judging starts at 2 p.m. and winners (receiving cash prizes) will be announced soon after. All cakes and cookies left over will be offered as prizes during a cake walk in the Great Hall that afternoon at 3:45 p.m.
For more information on contest rules, judging criteria, prizes and more, contact the West Virginia Division of Culture and History at 304-558-0220.
Contest organizers asked me to help select this year's winners, but I'll already be judging this year's Taste-of-ALL festival at that same time. Too much food, not enough time.
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My search for West Virginia's Tastiest Town continues this Sunday, with a complete wrap-up of my delicious visit to Parkersburg. From craft pizza and beer to doughnuts, I ate well in the Ohio River Valley.
Read all about it in the Sunday Gazette-Mail Life section. Next up after Parkersburg: Fayetteville, Huntington and our big reveal of the winning city!
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If you'd like to see some of the world's top eaters in action, several of them will be competing right here in Wild and Wonderful at the sixth annual "Pepperoni Roll Eating World Championship," also this Saturday at the West Virginia Three Rivers Festival in Fairmont.
Sanctioned by Major League Eating (yep, a real governing body) the 10 minute, all-you-can-eat competition will pit some of the world's top-ranked eaters battling for their share of nearly $9,000 in cash prizes. The competition begins at 8 p.m. at Palatine Park downtown.
During last year's event, Matt Stonie, the world's top male competitive eater, set a new world record by downing 34 pepperoni rolls in 10 minutes, besting the previous mark of 33. (Can you imagine?) Miki Sudo, the top-ranked female competitive eater in the world, came in second - and will be back to try to dethrone Stonie this year.
The West Virginia Three Rivers Festival takes place each year on the Thursday, Friday and Saturday prior to Memorial Day, near the point where the Tygart, West Fork and Monongahela rivers meet. For more information, visit www.wvthreeriversfestival.org.
Major League Eating, the world governing body of all stomach-centric sports, conducts more than 80 events annually, including the Nathan's Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog Eating Contest in Coney Island, New York. More than 8,000 contestants travel the country to compete in food-chugging events each year.
Can you imagine?
Steven Keith writes a weekly food column for the Charleston Gazette-Mail and an occasional food blog at http://blogs.wvgazettemail.com/foodguy/. He can be reached at 304-380-6096 or by e-mail at wvfoodguy@aol.com. You can also follow him on Facebook as "WV Food Guy" and on Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest as "WVFoodGuy".