This year, Disney is swinging for the fences with the Epcot International Food and Wine Festival. At the returning booths, the dishes that are repeats from previous years are almost all better than they have ever been. At the new booths like Forest & Field, the Disney food team is trying out bold new flavors that sometimes turn out to be home runs and sometimes strike out, but we're excited to see them making bold choices.
😐 Autumn Chili with Bison, Lamb, Pork Belly, Root Vegetables, Jalapeño Cornbread, Smoked Cheddar, and Crème Fraîche (NEW)
We had mixed feelings about this dish. We loved the unusual spice choices for this autumn chili – it tasted more like the spice blend you'd use for dishes like pumpkin pie and thanksgiving dressing than what you'd find in a traditional Texas chili. Unfortunately, the bison and lamb give this a slightly gamey flavor and the pork belly adds a lot of grease. You can even see the grease pooling along the edges of the bowl in the photo – it was really fatty. That said, we loved the sweet jalapeño cornbread and the creaminess of the crème fraîche and we enjoyed the unexpected flavors from the fall spice blend. If you're okay with a little game and a lot of grease, it's worth giving a whirl, but it was not our favorite.
👎 Pumpkin Mascarpone Ravioli with sage-brown butter, pecorino cheese, and hazelnut praline (NEW) 🧀
The pasta on this one was surprisingly dry and tough. It's possible it may have been under a heat lamp for a bit too long and would have been better fresh from the pot. The second problem was the pumpkin mascarpone filling, which had a very mild flavor and didn't bring much of an upgrade to the leathery pasta. The bright spot was the sage brown butter and hazelnut praline. These were delicious and could have made for a phenomenal dish, but they weren't enough to save the mediocre ravioli.
👍 Burrata with seasonal fall fruit, spiced pecans, apple purée, and fig vinaigrette (NEW)
This was far and away our favorite from the booth. Be sure to get a bite with everything because these flavors blend beautifully. You've got the creamy richness of the burrata, the bright crunch from the pomegranate, the sweet warmth of the spiced pecans and the fruity sweetness of the apple and fig – but the star is the surprising addition of the vinaigrette. It's that contrast of flavor that makes it so delicious. This is the perfect recipe to steal if you're planning a fancy cocktail party this fall.
It looks like they are pushing a lot of “Fall flavors” (Unofortunately it’s not my favorite season for food haha). Does it seem more than usual?