One of my favorite things about local festivals is the food. (Big surprise, huh?) In addition to all those fantastically awful-for-you goodies like Elephant Ears, cotton candy and the like, many of them have food-centric events.

This weekend’s Armed Forces Day festival in Bremerton and Viking Fest in Poulsbo won’t disappoint.

On Saturday in Bremerton, as part of the city’s celebration of the armed forces, food service specialists stationed in the Northwest will engage in a culinary competition in the Bremer Center of Olympic College.

And we’re not talking about some assembly-line fare here. The competition (really multiple competitions) are split into hor d’oeuvres, sugar art display, chili cook-off, decorated cake, ribs and corn bread as well as a main “Iron Chef”-style event.

Food displays from portions of the competition will be set up Saturday morning, and doors open to the public at 10:30. No word on taste-tests. The Iron Chef competition runs from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., though people won’t be able to watch them cook because of space limitations. You can, however watch them judge the “Iron Chef” results and award presentations that follow, starting at 1 p.m..

More importantly (to me), however, will be the public tastings starting at 2 p.m.

One sad note to report is that the Iron Chef competitions for Viking Fest were canceled. But Viking Fest isn’t without its food allure. For a taste of Scandinavian fare, the Sons of Norway Lodge host a luncheon and offers baked goods and pea soup.

And of course, there’s lutefisk eating. I dusted Derek Sheppard’s photo slideshow of the lutefisk eating contest. If you’re interested in gorging on lutefisk, this year’s it’s at 2:15 p.m. Sunday.

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