Sunday, July 10, 2011

Festival Foods… The Smithsonian Folklife Festival


Washington D.C. is a great spot for festivals.  You can have anything from your common traveling carnival to the Smithsonian Folklife Festival.  The Folklife Festival is a yearly event that exhibits different cultures from around the world.  So, along with learning how Columbians weave baskets or how the Peace Corp goes to developing countries to teach their people to “make something out of nothing”; essentially using the things around them like bicycles to charge cell phones, there is GREAT food to be had!


This year’s Folklife festival featured different types of foods; from Columbian, American Barbecue, and Southeast Asian Food.  Of course, my partner and I came to the festival with our stomachs ready to try some different foods.  With the heat blaring, we headed over to the Southeast Asian tent.  

 Menu for the Southeast Asian Food

After perusing the menu of what was being offered, E and I settled on a couple of different dishes.  He went with a chicken marinated in Lemon Grass with some fluffy Jasmine Rice, while I went with the pad thai, a Thai noodle dish that incorporates fresh vegetables, rice noodles, and tofu.  The food was great and had us prepared to take on the rest of the festival.


 Pad Thai Noodles
 Minced Chicken

Festivals like this are important and fun… they allow you to try a variety of foods for fairly cheap.  They also showcase different cultures that you would not normally be in contact with.  Check out how the Columbians smoke meats!

 Smoking Meats

In the case of the Folklife festival, a portion of the proceeds support the Smithsonian Institution.  When there’s a festival in town… check it out!


Onward and Upwards,
-Vince

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