In downtown Des Moines this past weekend “The World Food And Music Festival” took to the streets, and if you ask me I’d say it was a success. Note that my declaration concerning the success of the event is not based on revenue’s or attendance. My opinion is founded purely from my experience which was phenomenal. The food was diverse, it was unique, and it was affordable. A friend and my son accompanied me and we only made it about forty feet beyond the entrance of the festival before a $1.00 blessing from Thailand drew us into a short line. Egg rolls with sweet chili sauce for each us just so we could carry on to see what was going to be the next flavor bomb for us to enjoy.
The festival showcased more than fifty vendors with flavors from all over the world, some of which I had never imagined myself trying. Others serving classics that are to good to pass up. Moving through the crowd the smells were intoxicating and the energy was awesome. Everyone was exploring new flavors, cultures, and sharing their experiences.
Next, we found ourselves in line at the vendor which stole the show for me, Heart & Seoul. I’ve only flirted with Korean food and some might be offended by that mere statement because my experience with Korean food was not Korean at all yet was a pizza which had the flavors of Korean on it. It was outstanding, but nothing compared to the likes of what I tasted here. With a short three minute wait we were served up three corn tortillas filled with marinated steak, kimchi, pickled slaw, lime crema, and cilantro with sriracha. These things were a breath of fresh air, and were three for five dollars.
There were so many choices and honestly there wasn’t one thing that I tried that I did not enjoy. from an Ethiopian dish, atkilt, which was a blend of vegetables and seasonings, to bacon wrapped dates for a taste from Italy. It was all so good. Speaking of those dates, I had not intended on trying them. I was in line to try the egg plant parmesan sandwich, but as soon as I got a look at those dates I knew that I had to have some. I remember seeing them on Formaro’s item list, and thought that didn’t sound very good. Little did I know that these things were heavenly. To me it tasted sweet barbecued bacon. It was candied bacon or something. Man, this stuff was good.
We tried alligator bites fried by Fat Tuesday the Cajun Cuisine, and sweet egg rolls from the Filipino Store which I might add make really good Siopao Pork steamed buns stuffed with flavorful meats. My son chose a massive piece of amazing three dollar pizza from an unlikely source, Bosco’s a Latin American vendor. There I ate Sancocho Ecuatoriano which was a tender and tasty treat that tasted as though it had cooked for days.
Margarita cupcakes from Cupcake Addict, Chocolate from the Dutch Chocolaterie Stam, and hot melt in your mouth donuts made on order by Uncle David’s Mini Donuts. To wash it all down we chose honey lemonade from Local-Yocals which quenched our thirst and was also fresh tasting.
To be entirely honest I left knowing that there were so many more things that I wanted to try, and I didn’t even list everything that we ate. The only problem was I didn’t have any room left to try another thing. Three days later and I’m still trying to shave the calories I consumed off. So, yes I enjoyed myself to the point of gluttony, and was impressed by everyone of the vendors selections. I could have actually spread it out and had fun with this for more than just the day. If your ever in Des Moines while “The World Food And Music Festival” is going on it is definitely worth the time. That is why “The World Food And Music Festival” is being featured on Food From The Nations.
Food From The Nations 