James O. Fraioli - The Best Recipes from Americas Food Festivals

Table of Contents

Welcome to an exciting bookpart cookbook, part traveloguethat will take you across America to visit some of the best food festivals held annually throughout the country. And on the journey, you will discover a prized collection of delicious, mouthwatering recipes, all crafted by winning festival participants who are gracious enough to share their favorite dishes with you.

Food festivals began to emerge in American cities and towns as far back as the early 1900s. They served to delight the palate and boost local economies, and at the same time pay tribute to new foods being introduced to the region.

One such famous food and festival made its mark in early American history: the delectable cherry. The early settlers brought this wonderful fruit, with its ruby-red color and tangy taste, to America in the 1600s. Later, cherry trees became part of the gardens of French settlers as they established such cities as Detroit and other Midwestern settlements. In the mid-1800s, modern-day cherry production began, particularly in Michigan, where the climate proved to be ideal for growing cherries. By the early 1900s, the cherry industry was firmly established in Michigan, and production soon surpassed other major crops. To celebrate Michigans explosive cherry harvest, a festival originated from a small spring ceremony known as the Blessing of the Blossoms. Eventually, the celebration grew to what is better known today as the National Cherry Festival in Traverse City, Michiganthe Cherry Capital of the World. Every July, the National Cherry Festival puts on a grand event, welcoming thousands of cherry lovers to celebrate Michigans luscious fruit and to dine on endless cherries in a vast array of dishes.

Like Michigans National Cherry Festival, many of Americas food festivals have a similar history. Whether its the cherries from Michigan, the catfish from Mississippi, or the peanuts from Alabama, food festivals celebrate and promote the arrival of a particular harvest or a states culinary specialty.

Food festivals also represent community pride, reflected by the hundredsoften thousandsof visitors who join festival volunteers and representatives to pay tribute to the states featured food while raising funds to support local schools, churches, charities, and other community organizations.

Like the food itself, American food festivals come in all sizes, colors, and shapes. Some festivals are one- or two-day affairs that are free of charge and orchestrated on a rural street or behind a restaurant or local churchmore of a local party than a food festival. One such festival is the National Hot Dog Festival in Columbus, Ohio, which happens to be home to the Worlds Longest Hot Dog, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. At this festival, a handful of residents gather in July for the chance to participate in a hot dog eating contest and a hot dog cooking contestand sample plenty of mouthwatering hot dogswhile strolling through the festivals classic car show and listening to live music.

Other food festivals, meanwhile, are designed to become extravagant gala affairs that consume city block after city block and last anywhere from 3 to 10 days, drawing tens of thousands of gourmands from across the globe. In fact, many of these notable food festivals are the headline attraction in their state, where visitor attendance and revenue far surpass any sporting event or museum in town. Case in point: the Gilroy Garlic Festival, one of the largest food festivals in the United States, held annually in Gilroy, California. On average, the Gilroy Garlic Festival attracts more than 125,000 people, who arrive in droves to sample such diverse creations as garlic ice cream and garlic french fries. Attendees can also enjoy multiple stages filled with musical entertainment, a Great Garlic Cook-Off, celebrity cooking demonstrations, a childrens play area, arts and crafts, and many interactive displays. A Queen of Garlic is also crowned yearly. More than 4,000 volunteers from over 160 nonprofit groups make the Gilroy Garlic Festival possible. Its reported that more than 3 million people have attended the festival since its inception in 1979.

Like the National Hot Dog Festival or the Gilroy Garlic Festival, American food festivals often feature much more than just food. While attending a festival, expect to find parades; fitness runs; competitive races; car shows; beauty pageants; the crowning of a festival queen; arts and crafts booths; food-related products for sale; and plenty of cook-offs, bake-offs, and eating contest opportunities.

So what are you waiting for? Turn the page and begin your gastronomic journey into the culinary world of Americas food festivals. Youll discover a long list of award-winning recipes guaranteed to make you smile along the way.

I would like to thank my acquisitions editor, Paul Dinas at Alpha Books; Nadine Saubers for her outstanding research assistance; all the food festivals who kindly contributed to this book; my literary agent, Andrea Hurst; and my wife, Cindy, for her continued support.

Kona, Hawaii
November
808-326-7820
www.konacoffeefest.com

The annual Kona Coffee Cultural Festival, Hawaiis oldest food festival and the only coffee festival in the United States, is celebrating 180 years of coffee tradition on the picture-perfect island of Kona. During the 10-day event held every November, 18,000 visitors enjoy more than 50 festival events, including coffee tastings, parades, a Miss Kona Coffee Pageant, farm tours, art exhibits, an international marketplace, outdoor concerts, a golf tournament, and exciting Kona coffee competitions.

Watch as competing baristas go cup-to-cup during the Kona Signature Cup. The competition showcases Hawaiis talented baristas in a lively, timed event as they set out to create the best original beverage featuring Kona coffee. A panel of four judges critique each drink based on presentation, preparation, taste, and appearance. The public can also vote for their favorite barista.

Another festival contest worth catching is the Kona Coffee Picking Contest, which attracts coffee pickers of all levels of experience. Visitors and residents alike have the opportunity to tour the palatial coffee farms that serve as stunning backdrops as competitors try their hand at picking only the reddest Kona coffee cherries during a 3-minute competition.