There were also 3 music stages where people could be entertained after purchasing items at the Garlic Mercantile or perusing the wares at the 61 vendor booths. If your feet needed a rest you could sit and enjoy some great food under one of the five shade tents. To cool off you could walk through either one of the two rain rooms. For the young there was a Children's Stage, a Teen Zone and a Children's area.
But for me the best entertainment was watching the famed Pyro Chefs at the open end of Gourmet Alley. Living dangerously, these volunteers took turns hoisting giant 45 pound skillets over gas grills to prepare scampi in dramatic (and dangerous) fashion. Their "flame-ups" are legendary.
The kitchen fire principle of not attempting to extinguish an oil fire with water is at work as the skillets are inverted on the grill and super-heated, quickly flipped over and given a generous pour of olive oil until the oil is smoking hot. Then cautiously the watery "fish" is dumped into the pan creating lots of flames that are exacerbated when the skillet is shaken over the heat. The resulting effect, the "flame-up"
puts on quite a show for the crowd as the flames leap and dance high overhead as additional ingredients are added and cooked. Garlic, pesto, tomato sauce, oregano, parsley and lemon juice are then stirred into the mix. And in less than 3 minutes it is ready to serve to eager customers.
And P. T. Barnum thought he had sole claim to The Greatest Show on Earth."
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