Community Corner

Eating My Way Through A Taste of Edmonds

As a judge at today's "Taste Off," I had the chance to sample of variety of fare -- and help pick the favorites.

A Taste of Edmonds kicked off today with the annual "Taste Off," in which a panel of judges samples and rates the fair's food. The panel typically includes civic leaders, local foodies, members of the media, and more.

As editor of Edmonds Patch, I was fortunate enough to be given an invite to be a judge. What better way to spend Friday lunch hour than nosh my way through festival fare?

Since so many vendors submitted entries in the contest, the judging panel was divided in two. Half took on entrees, and the other half side dishes. All of us would come together to rate desserts.

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Having been assigned mains, I decided my strategy would be to take one or two bites of each item, and thus make sure I had room for everything. You'll understand my reasoning when you consider the list of entrees placed before me: a Vietnamese banh mi sandwich, a shrimp and scallop crepe, a piece of pizza, a Polish Philly sandwich with peppercorn sauce, two different plates of ribs, a Vietnamese combination plate, a halibut fish taco, and piroshki with smoked salmon and cream cheese filling.

Whew! I tasted everything and did not dislike a single dish. My favorites, I decided, were the seafood crepe (from Crepealicious), the banh mi sandwich (from Pho Cyclo Cafe), and the halibut fish taco (from Truly Med). The judging panel apparently agreed with me, as the main dish award went to Crepealicious.

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While I didn't get to sample the sides, my fellow judges rated the sweet corn from Corn Roasters as Number One. They also sambled soba noodles, bacon wrapped dates, Greek fries, pizza, crab and shrimp chowder, garlic feta bacon baked potato, and coleslaw.

Though none of us needed it, we then moved on to dessert. As someone with a definite sweet tooth, I was in heaven. I couldn't decide which I liked more: the strawberry crepe with homemade caramel and whipped cream or the fresh fruit smoothie. We also sampled wedding cake flavored shave ice, apple pie, cheesecake on a stick, and frozen custard.

Though my vote went to the fruit desserts, the custard won out in the end. Judges picked the salted caramel cashew sundae from Peaks Frozen Custard for Best Dessert.

All of the judges may never need to eat again....or we may just need to return to A Taste of Edmonds tomorrow to re-live our favorites!


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