2021 Food Olympics - Event #3 Frozen Appetizers

 

For Event #3 I bought and ordered some frozen appetizers from Omaha Steaks, Whole Foods and King Soopers.  We found 8 appetizers representing 6 different countries.  Then over the last couple of months we tried them out one at a time.  After we tried all of them, we ranked them 1-8 and awarded medals.

The first thing we tried were the 2 appetizers from Omaha Steaks both representing the US.  The Filet Mignon Pastry Bites were really good.  

They were like mini pot pies with beef and a few veggies in a little pastry cup.  These got out ahead on the leader board quick and weren’t about to move anytime soon.  Next was the Gourmet Franks in a Blanket these were pretty good as well.  

They were little all beef hotdogs with puff pastry wrapped around with a hit of Dijon mustard.  These were good just not as good as the filet mignon bites.

Then we followed up by eating the appetizers from Whole Foods.  The first one was another US contestant the Jalapeno Cream Cheese Small Bites.  

These were little triangles filled with a mix of cream cheese and other cheeses with diced fresh jalapeños.  It was similar to a jalapeño popper but with a different outside shell and diced jalapeños that were fresh and not pickled.  They Had a decent amount of heat.  These I thought were just better than the franks.  Next, we tried the Tres Latin Foods, Chicken and Cheese Pupusas.  pupusas are a typical food in El Salvador.  These particular ones are made in Boulder, CO.  

They had a chicken, bean and cheese filling inside a masa patty.  They tasted like a bland enchilada with no sauce.  They were much better if you added some salsa.  This was definitely the worst appetizer yet.  Next up was the Sukhis potato Samosas our Indian contestant.  

These were also triangles These had a crispy pastry like outside and filled with peas, potatoes, and Indian spices.  They were very good on their own. The box also includes a cilantro chutney that was kind of like a salsa which made these samosas even better and into the silver medal spot for now.

Next up was the Brazi Bites Brazilian Cheese Bread.  

These were bread balls with a lot of cheese.  They were pretty good and would go good with anything.  Not the best appetizer but also not the worst.  After this was the Spinach & Cheese Spanakopita representing Greece.

 

These had layered phyllo dough that kept breaking off with feta and spinach.  They were excellent, I really enjoyed them.  They just beat out the Indian samosas to get into solid medal position.  

Then we finished up with South Korea.  We tried the Bibigo beef and vegetable mandu that we found at King Soopers.  

These were basically like Chinese dumplings or potstickers but a little larger.  They were filled with a lot of bulgogi beef and a few veggies carrots, onions, cabbage, and a few glass noodles.

And as the last contestant the Bibigo mandu takes the gold dropping the Omaha Steaks filet mignon bites to silver, the Greek Spanakopita to bronze and the Indian samosas out of the medals.

Gold South Korea Bibigo beef and vegetable mandu

Silver United States Omaha Steaks filet mignon bites

Bronze Greece Whole Foods Spanakopita