As both a food writer and a lifelong Cincinnatian, my heart skipped a beat this year when I got an email to judge Taste of Cincinnati. I remember my immediate thought: “The longest-running culinary festival in the U.S. wants ME to be a judge?”
The popular festival began in 1979 and has been chugging along every Memorial Day weekend since. Like every other Queen City resident, Taste of Cincinnati is closely associated with holiday memories for me, so I took the invitation very seriously and signed up to judge every single category on both days.
One problem: I’m not a very big man, and I don’t eat a lot. My ex often told me that my “eyes were bigger than my stomach.” I’ve been described as “rail-thin” by some and was once told that if I turned sideways I’d be imperceptible. Needless to say, panic set in last night as I realized I’d have to eat 48 different dishes in a single morning and afternoon today. But somehow, someway, I made it through without skipping any dishes…