Hot and Spicy Festival

The Hot and Spicy Festival was held at Habourfront Center on August 30- September 2, 2013. Even though I do not like spicy food, I did in fact enjoy this event. They had a number of tents with spicy products (and some non-spicy products) from various vendors. It was a lot of fun to walk around from vendor to vendor trying to different products that were available. I tasted a Guava Jam from a cute little vendor. It was absolutely delicious! We also tried a number of the seasonings offered by Fire in the Kitchen Spice Co. They had a selection of marinades and other seasonings. My goodness were they ever spicy!

The festival also had a "Taco Takedown" on Saturday. Chefs from six different restaurants were invited to participate in creating tacos. They were judged on the most original taco, the most authentic taco and the best overall taco. The judges were none other than individuals from the community. For $8 you got a taco from each chef and were asked the judge each of them. Some of the combinations were very interesting, such as the "octopus sautéed in a Sonora achiote & Serrano sauce with cabbage, red onions, & pineapple salsa. Although most of the tacos were spicy (it was the Hot and Spicy Festival after all) I enjoyed most of them. Our favorites were the taco from Pork Ninjas and the taco from El Catrin. We enjoyed the taco from Fonda Lola and the taco from Milagro, but not as much as the first two.



All six tacos for the Taco Takedown



The Taco Takedown Judging Card



The participating restaurants:
Pork Ninjas
Fonda Lola
Rebozos
Pachuco
Milagro
El Catrin



On the Sunday of the festival, instead of a Taco takedown they hosted a Doughnut showdown. Unfortunately I wasn't able to make it, but I'm sure it was quite interesting to see.

 

Definitely attending this festival again next year- and arming myself with some milk to help with the heat!