Checking out Zestfest 2009 in Fort Worth

by Travis Bush

I'm glad I didn't miss this year's ZestFest at Will Rogers Auditorium in Fort Worth, and thanks to a random ad I was reminded of the three-day event just in time to catch Sunday's festivities. As you can see, the rain didn't keep the culinary masochists away.

One of my first stops on the "torture your mouth" circuit was the good folks from Hula Hotties Cafe, bringing Hula goodness to Cowtown. Very nice people and nice initial burn to get the party started.

My next stop was for a sample of the Garden Fresh Gourmet guac. I have to say it was rather bland so we were off to find something hot.

Deb's Delights had some good bread and butter pickles. My companions thought their pickled jalapenos were lacking in the heat department, which isn't a problem for me necessarily. I think sometimes pickled jalapenos can be hot enough to detract from the other flavors on a savory plate of Mexican food.

The Bella Diavolo Sauce was probably the first one that really got me. The bottle Extreme Heat set my mouth on fire and definitely raised the bar.

Nice folks at the Puff Taco Daddy's booth, but I was disappointed with their verde sauce. The green chile sauce is like the holy grail for me. I may be spoiled with the homemade variety I eat regularly, but I was on the lookout. For me, a good green chile sauce has to be a complement to the rest of the food. I don't like one that tastes vinegary or too salty. Those two flavors will ruin a good verde every time.

JAC'S Tailgaters had interesting dips. The chipotle and the spinach dips mixes were quite tasty. One might not think a dried spinach mix would be very good, but it was flavorful and would be excellent for parties.

This was a new feature for ZestFest 09. Several Texas vodka distillers were there including DeLos, which is Dallas' first and only vodka distillery. The DeLos girls were serving shots straight up, or with your our choice of cranberry or Sprite.

Trini Mike's had some interesting sauces. The Original Flavor was my favorite. Creamy and sweet and plenty hot!

These guys were interesting. "Home of the Sweetheat" with their all fruit salsa and habanero thrown in for the kick, Big Orson makes some good stuff ... Very tasty and I brought some of the Mango Habanero home. Even the hottest one wasn't unbearable. I'm thinking it will go nicely on some thick pork chops.

The "EXECUTION STATION" was about right. Even Ca John's cheese dip put a hurt on you. Their Jolokia is no jokia!

Big Fatty's rocks! They had the best rub I tasted all day. It was good on the beef, which I believe they won for in the People's Choice Awards and it was great as a peanut mix. I had to wait a few minutes after the peanuts.

DEFCON Sauces probably had some of the hottest stuff out there. The Habanero Horseradish was insane, but I could see eating it with a nice steak.

The Stagecoach Salsa Company seemed to be a family affair and I like that. Someone went back several times for the buffalo jerky. Ahem!

Dread Head Chef had some very interesting fruit salsas. And right by him is the Wy's Wings. Their hot wing sauce was about the last hot thing I ate at ZestFest. We tried their hottest hot wing sauce and it was excruciating. My buddy Dwayne said it best, "OK now I'm choking." One would think that after burning your taste buds and assaulting the palette all day, a little wing sauce would be trivial, but no. I pretty much put us off trying much else, but instead sent us scurrying to the nearest beer stand for some sort of relief. We ended up buying some anyway.

The ladies from Austin won big! The Fruit-A-Rita new addition was making what amounted to wine slushies with eight flavors of alcohol goodness.

I would have expected the guys from My Favorite New Mexico Foods to be at the top of my list for the green chile sauce, but no. They actually placed for best BBQ sauce, which was good. Not too sweet and not spicy enough to detract from the meat flavor.

The Royal Pepper Company had some interesting food. I especially liked the dark chocolate that had black pepper in it. Very distinct taste.

Vern's is the best! Based out of Kingwood Texas, this man knows how to make some salsa verde! Not at all the vinegary, too salty stuff that I found to be the case at many of the booths. Needless to say, this was one of our other purchases that day.

The Hot Sauce Depot folks were having a great time.

Mike's Seasonings had great spice rubs. He was just handing out samples on your palm ... mmm ... tasty delicious hand!

And one mustn't forget the photo op with Miss Texas. Gawd bless that girl!

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