FoodFash

Adventure Begins in the Kitchen

#FBZFest Taste Pavilion

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While coming down from being all sorts of chocolate wasted, we headed over to the next official festival event, the Taste Pavilion. We were greeted at the entry with colorful macarons and reminded-at-first-bite that the belly could handle no more sweets. Even though there were loads of baked goods ahead of me, I had to pass them up – I was on a savory mission.

I was able to snap photos of most of the food that saved my life my favorite samples of the day. The Asian pork sliders were equally as cute as they were delicious. And they were a total reminder of how badly I want to order a slow cooker so I can satisfy my super strange pork cravings the homemade way!

The most interesting sample I tasted was from a West African catering company located in San Francisco. The vegetarian square of bean goodness was different than anything my palate had ever come across. It was cozy, flavorful, and fresh. And it gave me the inspiration to research Nigerian cuisine for future experimentation on le blog.

My favorite booth, for many a reason, was Alaska Seafood. Not only were their dishes AMAZING (see above and below), but I was able to run into Greg of SippitySup and give him big hugs. Also at this booth was a blogger that I’ve been wanting to meet, Kristy of The Wicked Noodle. We talked about their recent adventure to Alaska and ate more than our fair share of seafood samples. It was good times for sure!

And then we hit a wall. A full-of-yummy-food-must-get-to-our-hotel-room-and-put-on-sweatpants wall. Jessica, Devon, and I mad-dashed to our hotel room and did just that. We changed, watched the Gators whoop some Gamecock butt, and rested up for the gala.

Chocolate Wasted

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After the farmers’ market extravaganza, DailyBuzz Food guided a few pre-selected bloggers over to TCHO for some chocolate factory touring. The kid in me imagined the tour to be a cross between Willy Wonka and Mouse Trap, but the adult-me balanced those expectations with thoughts of something super industrial. In reality, the tour was a solid mix of both. Really.

The factory didn’t look like much from the outside, but as soon as we entered our senses were heightened by bright, bold packaging and the overwhelming scent of chocolate. Almost immediately, we were hair-netted up and prepped for our info session. And then our tour guide, livelier than any Wonka character, enthusiastically gave us a history lesson on both chocolate and TCHO.

It was beyond refreshing to hear how socially responsible and proactive a company could be.

“The true test of a man’s character is what he does when no one is watching.” – John Wooden

The reality is, most people probably don’t care where their chocolate comes from as long as it tastes good. When deciding between Brand X and Flavory Y, the quality of life of the cocoa farmer behind the bar probably doesn’t scratch the surface of the mind. But nonetheless, it was refreshing to see how this company decided to build itself before anyone was watching. And if they put that much effort into the secondary things, imagine how much effort goes into the primary thing – the chocolate.

After the informational, we were off to the primary thing. We sampled everything on their chocolate spectrum and were even given the opportunity to taste the latest and greatest that TCHO has to offer. We learned about how we should eat chocolate (slow and steady wins the chocolate race!) and what spirits each of their chocolates should be paired with. And we even learned how much chocolate it takes to get chocolate wasted, cause we all left the factory in a weeee chocolate coma with glazed chocolate eyes.

Thank you TCHO and Dailybuzz Food for such a wonderful morning!