This Bizarre Food Combination Is Being Celebrated At An Upcoming Denver Festival

Food festivals can be a time when foodies explore food trends, new foods, or rub elbows with their favorite celebrity chefs. Other events serve as celebrations for a given National Food Day, a harvest, or they can simply be an excuse to have a few more beverages. On October 16, a special food festival is coming to Denver and it might take an iron stomach to handle this food and beverage pairing.

As reported by Food & Wine, writer Jake Browne presented a challenge. In his tweet, Browne conducted a poll for the "worst food/drink pairing" and said if 1,000 people voted within the timeframe, he would host an all-you-can-eat/drink festival based on the winning pairing. The four food/drink pairings were eggs and red wine, chowder and Jägermeister, pickles and banana daiquiris, and olives and butterscotch. While Eat This, NotThat! has discussed unusual food pairings, like peanut butter and pickles or blueberries and steak, the reality is that there can be unlikely flavor combinations that work. But those ideas are often rooted in traditional concepts, like salty and sweet. Browne's food combinations sounded more like an episode of "Fear Factor" than "Good Eats." Still, only one pairing could reign supreme and garner its own special food festival. 

Thus, it's time to shuck all caution to the wind and buck up for an herbal shot in the stomach. (Of course, a side of antacid might be needed the morning after.)

While some people are willing to push flavor boundaries, Chowdermeister — to be held in Denver, Colorado on October 16 — might be the event that makes food festivals jump the shark. The festival celebrates the combination of chowder and Jägermeister, a food pairing no chef has ever willingly put on a menu. According to the festival, it is the first (and maybe last) chowder and Jägermeister food festival. Tickets start at $25. Participating chefs and menus have yet to be released, but the focus is on the most unlikely seafood and spirit pairing.

Although the event stemmed from Jake Browne's Twitter poll, the first-time festival has garnered a lot of interest, including an endorsement from its head judge, Josh Scherer, the host of "Mythical Kitchen." As reported by Food & Wine, Scherer said, "Against all odds, and against God herself, I've spent years cultivating an audience uniquely suited to the combination of party liquor and dairy-based soup, I'm sorry. Or you're welcome. I'm not really sure anymore." That sentiment seems to be driving this event. Is the food pairing a dare, a challenge, or simply a reason to see how many Jägermeister cocktails can use buck and clam in creative puns? Even though this festival might seem like it is pushing food boundaries beyond many people's comfort zone, the reality is that food is meant to spark conversation, be engaging, and sometimes not take itself too seriously. After all, someone had to be the first person to milk an almond or put bananas in ketchup.