LIFF Chicken Wing Competition: WingFest 2011

A few months ago I received a phone call from Cecil Hillier of Family Shows Canada. They were talking about while the past two years the Ribfest has had a wing competition, they were thinking of experiment and see about having a wing competition at the London International Food Festival. Since I think any showcase of wings is a good idea, I said sounded good and I was happy to judge. Shortly after, WingFest was born. (just to clarify, I had no hand what so ever in the creation of WingFest, I just thought the concept was great!).

WingFest 2011 was a competition among three vendors battling for the title of Best Wings. Simple, but such an honour.

The judging took place on the Sunday at 3pm. I had been asked to be there at 2pm and I was excited to see a big table set up for the judges.

Since this was a test run for the festival, I was told it wasn't going to be as large in scale as Ribfest, and that there would only be two 'celebrity' judges; myself, and Bill Paul, London's Town Crier and Laff Gaff entertainer. Bill and I got to talking and it was great just chatting it up with him.

The other 9 judges were to be selected from the audience. They simply had to fill out a ballot, and their names were drawn out of the pile. A lot of people submitted ballots, with at least two names being drawn but not available so we kept calling names until 9 people were up at the front.

Above is the 2011 WingFest Judges

As judges we filled out some paperwork . . .

And there was a scoring card. The Hilliers asked me to go over the score sheet with the judges and explain to them what to look for when judging wings. Each vendor was serving up two types of wings: a 'regular' wing and a 'spicy' wing. There were three main components for the judgement: Taste, Texture and Tenderness each out of 10. Several people had questions about how to judge and I had a lot of fun being the expert!

The Judges in all their glory!

Above were the three vendors: Sal's, Hank Daddy BBQ and Ring-A-Wing. They were all set up sepperately from the LIFF in 'Winger's Row'. A beautiful sight to see at a festival.

After going over the rules, some opening statements and being given refreshments (Beer[Mill Street], Water, pop, whatever we wanted), it wasn't long before they were bringing out the wings to be judged. Here are the notes I took:

NORMAL WING

#1 - A little crispy, very sauce. Sweet but slightly spicy with pepper and  flakes visible in the sauce. Good wing, good start.

#2 -  Red glaze. Hint of BBQ smoke - is there an Asian influence? reminds me of a Peking Duck. Sticky, slight crisp skin. Very tasty - something different and I like it.

#3 - Very crispy, dusted in flour skin - slight spice, but very slight sweetness. Classic hot sauce and almost Buffalo sauce-like. Also good.



 SPICY WINGS

#4 - Breaded in flour - very crispy. Not wet (sauce absorbed into breading). Traditional 'hot wing' : was a medium heat level for me but I think others are finding it hot enough. Good solid hot wing.

#5 - BBQ spicy wing. Must be a follow up to wing #2. There is a slow burn, but its building into a good heat. Warms the whole mouth. I think an extract is used to boost heat. Heat and flavour here.

#6 - Breaded and deep fried and the sauce is thick. Just like #1 except more heat. I like the sauce and I like the wing.

I have to say I was impressed with all the wings. The competitors brought their A-games and scoring was difficult. In fact in the end all the scores were not far off from each other. I was glad that each competitor had two different categories to compete in so that they could show off their talents. No matter who won, I was going to be happy, because these were some good wings.

Michael, Hillary, Bill the Town Crier and myself post judging.

And the winner was . . . 

Hank Daddy's BBQ!

Like I said, it was very close and I thought the whole event went really well. It was an honour to be a judge and to get a lot of attention from the festival.

To learn about some post wing wingery, see the Vendor's post next.

Trip to LIFF 2011 -- LIFF 2011 -- LIFF 2011 WingFest Vendors

LIFF 2011 Wing Vendors (and after judging wingery)

After judging I decided to go chat with the vendors. I had some good wings and wanted to thank them for the wings.

First up I went to Sali's. I told them I had been one of the judges and while they didn't win, they produced some fine chicken wings. I asked if Sali's was a restaurant or a just the traveling vendor, and was informed they used to be an establishment but were now doing the trailer thing. 

I stopped by Ring-A-Wing, who won last year's Ribfest wing competition. They were not happy about losing and didn't understand how they lost. I said that the voting was very close and that they had an excellent product. I wish Ring-A-Wing was in T.O. for sure.

The winner of WingFest 2011 was Hank Daddy's BBQ from Maple Ontario. Owner Frank Caputo came up to me at the judges table and said something to the effect of  "I hear you like your wings hot . . . come see me later because I have something special". Sounds good to me!

I came over to talk to him and he told me about his wings, and that while he couldn't do heat competitions at this festival, he normally has a "Fire Wing Challenge" where a challenger eats 15 wings in 15 minutes with no drinks or wipes, and if they survive, get a picture, t-shirt, name on wall of flame and bragging rights. Frank told me he didn't have his waivre or anything here with him, but if I wanted to try a few of the wings, he'd whip up a batch. Not one to say no to free wings or a heat challenge, I was honoured and excited.

The wings came out and looked fantastic. I immediately recognized them from the competition, but it was clear that these wings were much hotter. I asked how he made his unique wings, and he told me they were rubbed and then smoked for several hours. Then they are tossed in the deep fryer and then sauced. This was a great idea because while I like the flavour of smoked wings, they are always soft and the texture is not my fave. But this method allows for levels of flavour and a crispy skin. Brilliant.

Immediately I could smell the heat in the wings. I'm pretty sure some level of spice extract is used. I was given some gloves to wear, which I normally wouldn't bother with, but considering I was eating these standing up with only port-a-washes nearby, I figured I should. I also got nervous about eating something super hot out like I was, but I dove in.

These wings were awesome. First off, they had a good burn. I mean these were a level above suicide for sure. My stomach grumbled from the heat, and my lips were on fire. But despite that there was still so much flavour. The smokey wings, the sweet but savoury sauce. Saucy, crispy - these wings had so much going for them. 

The wings were great, and in the future if I get the chance I am totally doing the Fire Wing Challenge. A great product and I really think this is how smoked wings should be done.

Trip to LIFF 2011 -- LIFF 2011 -- LIFF 2011 WingFest  

London International Food Festival 2011

Started in 2008, the London International Food Festival has grown bigger and bigger each year. This year the festival was testing out having a chicken wing competition and asked me to come to town. How could I resist?

Hosted in Victoria Park in London Ontario, this festival focuses on food from all over the world.  It's over now, but it did take place from June 24-26.

I explored the festival on the Sunday taking in all the people walking around. There were young and old, families and singles, teens and 30 somethings. Lots of people had food in their hands or trinkets from the non-food vendors.

There were several stages with different cultural performances and concerts to entertain people all over.

It was busy in the park, but not as crowded as it gets at Ribfest, which meant you had room to walk around.

There was a midway there too (mostly for kids). There were also activities like free mini putt or the "Walk on Water" which was a cool pool where you get into a bubble, get zipped in, and then roll around the pool like a hamster in a ball. I didn't try it, but I wish I had one. Oh I wish I had a pool too.

I was super impressed with the variety of food to try and related vendors. Lets take a look: Make your own beer, the Super Slicer, cookie desserts, mini-donuts, Cake by the Slice, Nachos and Corn Dogs, Fudge, Fresh cut fries. Ok so the first batch was a lot of carney food. Let's keep looking.

Vietnamese, fajitas, kettle corn, Greek, Chinese, waffles, more Vietnamese, hot sauces, sausages.

Slushies, churros, lemonade smoothies, popcorn chicken, more waffles, wood oven pizza, burgers, tacos . . .

Caribbean, Indian, Korean, ribs, Nicaraguan, crepes . . . and a lot more. I got tired of taking photos after a while!

As you walk along the park all you see is the above: ice cream, grilled corn, pulled pork on a plate, and people just eating in general. The smells fill the park and I think anyone can find something tasty to eat. Listening to people around me, the hardest part was choosing where to go. 

So next summer if you want to travel the world without having to get a plane ticket, drop into London next summer and dig in.

London International Food Festival

Victoria Park, London, Ontario.

canadasbiggestparty.com

Trip to LIFF 2011 -- LIFF 2011 WingFest -- LIFF 2011 WingFest Vendors

VIA Rail to the Festival

So not only did the folks at Family Shows Canada ask me to be a judge at the wing competition at the London International Food Festival, they also sprung for me to go to London. And I got to go first class, which was a first for me.

My journey started at Union Station in Toronto. I immediately felt privileged and important walking past the long line of people who had been waiting a long time - some standing, some sitting on the floor - and entered the Panorama Lounge. There I was offered complimentary drinks, newspaper, internet access etc. After taking it easy for a bit, we were allowed to pre-board the train before everyone else. I was feeling fancy.

First class (or business class) was pretty nice with it's big comfy seats, curtains on the window, and lots of space (in the isle, the seats, the luggage storage). I had no one sitting beside me the whole way. Before we pulled out of the station the attendants had already been around asking what I wanted to drink. I passed on the booze and just had a cup of cola.

I pulled out my laptop and logged on to the Internet. I was watching a movie, working on the blog, chatting on  Twitter and staring out the window at the beautiful scenery.

With my drink came some snacks. They offered pretzels or a kind of trail mix. I could have had both, but I just went with the mini pretzels.

A little while later the super friendly attendants brought my menu for supper:

Appetizer
California and smoked salmon
sushi rolls served with pickled ginger.
 
 
Penne Caprese
served with rosé sauce and a roasted
Calabrese vegetable blend.
 
or
 
Roasted Salmon with Honey and Coriander
served with red pepper and corn relish, brown rice
with scallions and a romanesco vegetable blend.
 
or
 
Beef Carbonnade
served with rotini pasta, peas and carrots.    All meals are served with a selection of bread. 

Dessert
Praline Cake

I skipped on the appetizer (not a huge fan of sushi). They brought out a steaming hot towel that smelled like lemon (very refreshing). I ate my bun pretty quick (fairly fresh). They offered me wine (red or white) but I stuck to water. I love the little water glass.

For dinner I chose the penne. I expected something terrible, but it wasn't bad. It was very cheesy and was not completely void of flavour. If only they served wings . . .

The desert was Praline cake. This was delightful. And then more offers for beverages. By the time I was getting off the train, they were offering these little chocolate cups that I missed, but looked really good.

I have to say, this was the first time I have taken long distance public transit (normal train, bus etc) that I didn't want to get off. I was so comfortable, the staff treated me royally and it will make it very hard to go back to any other way of transportation. 

Thanks Cecil Hillier for the tickets!