As I think back to our first visit to Epcot’s International “Food” & Garden Festival in March, I can’t believe that Mrs. All in WDW and I had the audacity – or the courage – to tell a world-class chef that one of his dishes was way too salty! Hah! In fact, we told him that TWO of his plates were way too salty! The nerve!
If you saw it, you’ll remember that, on the last day of our first trip to the festival, we were treated to a visit from Epcot Executive Chef Jens Dahlmann. As I reported, “He asked us …
… what we liked and – ever the perfectionist, I’m sure – what we did not. Bravely, we told him that the U.K. cheddar biscuit and Germany’s potato pancake were just a little bit salty.”
Yikes!
Well, weeks later, I knew we had to give Chef Jens a second chance, so as we circumnavigated World Showcase Lagoon, we had to stop at Germany for a potato pancake. Rated a “Just OK” #16 in the Final Top 20, in my “Flash Report”, I said, “A bit too much minced onion for my taste and a little too salty. I don’t need another helping, thanks.”
This potato pancake was just too salty …
Chef Jens must have heard us (at least, I like to think it was us!) and tightened up the dish. Although we still thought the apple sauce was a little bit on the “watered-down” side, the potato pancake, itself, was much, much tastier. I still wasn’t a big fan of all that minced onion, but, in the end, it was a better offering. Having said that, I don’t think it improved its final rank.
In March, and again with people we talked to this past weekend, the U.K.’s Potato, Chive, and Cheddar Cheese Biscuit with Smoked Salmon got rave reviews. For us, our March serving was just way too salty. On our last day in The World, this trip, we ventured another helping.
As I walked up to the kiosk, I was disappointed to hear the chef call out, ‘Ten minutes on the biscuits!” But, then, I realized that my biscuit would be the first taken from a nice, fresh batch. By the time we got the warm, delectable, little bite, however, Mrs. All in WDW thought that the biscuit was slightly overdone. In spite of that, though, I have to say that the “pillowy-soft on the inside” but “crisp on the outside” morsel hit the mark when it came to taste. The salt had been dialed way back.
Rated #13, in the “Just OK” category, the U.K. did much better on this item this time around. If it had been this good when I wrote the Final Top 20, I think the biscuit would have finished as “Recommended” and hit the chart at somewhere between #7 to #9.
Let’s try this one more time!
Inside the biscuit!
