EAT! Vancouver

I have a bad habit of, when I've attended an event, waiting until I've uploaded the photos before blogging about it. Sometimes, like with this one, I upload the photos and find out that I didn't have half as many as I thought I did, or any really super good ones. Deb has a few from this event but I need to just blog this before it becomes *really* old news.

Saturday, May 24th I met Deb at her house in Vancouver and we took skytrain to BC Place where the sixth annual EAT! Vancouver, Everything Food and Cooking Festival was taking place. I had been once before, with Robert, in 2005 (before I started blogging) We had a blast and I've always wanted to get back. For various reasons, it didn't happen until now.

Deb was a perfect festival "partner". She's adventerous when it comes to food, she appreciates quality products and nifty gadgets and she's comfortable either working the show floor together or separate. The picture of her is when she was trying an oyster.

It's hard to capture the event in words. It's a delight for all the senses though. You get to taste a wide variety of food. Most of the booths have samples that they served up at no charge. Everything from chocolate and home made marshmellows to curries, smoked salmon, tomatoes, different friut juices and anti-oxidant drinks, sausage, chips, ice cream and everything in between. You can also buy food tickets and many of the local restaurants had booths set up where you could buy samples of their menu. The idea of course is to familiarize yourself with different places so that you go visit them later.

The smells are incredible. The curries had the strongest smells but as you'd walk down the aisles, something else would grab your nose and tempt you. It's wonderful :D

For the eyes, there is tons to see. Everything is vying for your attention. The monkey looking things left are completely made of chocolate!

The Food Network, Celebrity Stage has shows going on all day. On the left in this picture is Iron Chef, Rob Feenie. I didn't stay for very long but it's fun to hear what they have to say.

Deb did humour me by attending a seminar by the Canadian Dairy Foundation on CHEESE. We sampled seven different cheeses and learned about their properties and about pairing them with fruits, breads and wines.

There was a section dedicated specifically to pet food and while Deb visited the vendors there, I sampled some wines in the Tasting Pavilion.

Throughout the day you are collecting samples, literature and other bits from the different displays. When you first walk in they give you a bag with items in it (like the rice, tooth past and razors). This is a picture of all the "loot" I cam home with. I told Deb "it's better than Halloween!"

There is an admission fee for the event but if you get a chance to attend, I highly recommend it.

And the best part? I found out that in September they're holding EAT! Fraser Valley!!! I can't wait!