Foodievents

The Heat Is On at Fiery Foods in Long Beach Next Weekend

“That’s hot.” Photo: Marcus Zorbis via Flickr

On January 14th and 15th, a travel-trained expo is taking over the Long Beach Convention Center under the name 2012 Los Angeles Travel and Adventure Show. Along with deals and shills for traversing the globe, a few foodies will take center stage, with planned appearances by Andrew Zimmern and funny guy/chef Mark DeCarlo, as well as cooking demos and a panel discussion called “Travel for Foodies - Tips, Trends, and Tools for the Culinary Traveler.” But the happening that most tempts to separate us from our nine dollar entry fee is a spicy food tasting called “The International Fiery Foods Challenge,” which plans to pit hot international dishes from a few of our local toques against one another. So, who’s carrying the fire here?

Kai Loebach of Currywurst is signed on to participate in this combination cooking demo and sampling, joined by Duo Dishes’ Amir Thomas, Tracy Augustine from Cashmere Bites, and a rep from Indonesia’s tourism board. The four cooks will prepare spicy bites from some of the expo’s represented tourism destinations, including Loebach’s German frikadelle patties, plus a picante-spin on tequila-marinated prawns, harissa medjool dates with chorizo and mascarpone, and a rendang padang beef curry from Indo that already makes us burn.

The event is open to all and attendees will be tasked to vote for their favorite spicy dish. $9 adult tickets are available online, with kids under 16 getting in gratis (figure in the cost of your own yogurt and sweatbands, though).

Any early predictions on which dish already sounds like the most fiery? We’d love to know your thoughts in our comments.

2012 Los Angeles Travel & Adventure Show

January 14-15, 2012
Saturday and Sunday: 10:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M.

Long Beach Convention Center
Halls B & C
300 East Ocean Boulevard
Long Beach, CA. 90802

The Heat Is On at Fiery Foods in Long Beach Next Weekend