CLEVELAND — A tasty tradition in northeast Ohio served some more fun after a year off due to the pandemic.
What You Need To Know
- The Cleveland Garlic Festival returned after missing 2020
- Korean food is a large user of garlic
- Area restaurants have partnered to showcase the foods
Dozens of vendors set up for the Cleveland Garlic Festival, selling familiar food finds, like garlic fries, to more unusual treats, like garlic popsicles.
The event is the biggest fundraiser for the North Union Farmers Market, an organization close to Drew Anderson’s heart.
“My mother was a chef and she actually started the farmers markets and the festival, which benefits the farmers markets,” he said. “And I was just into food.”
That interest in food turned into passion when Anderson helped found Cleveland Kitchen, a company that grew from a booth at the farmers market to shelf space in stores nationwide. They manufacture sauerkraut and other fermented foods.
“We sell in all 50 states, 11,000 stores and on every bag we sell, it’s ‘Cleveland,’ right there,” he said.
For this year’s Garlic Festival, he turned his attention to showing off his culinary skills by competing in the event’s Top Chef Garlic Grill-Off.
Ahead of the event, Anderson thinly sliced round eye steak for grilling, then marinated it overnight with a special bulgogi sauce.
“Top secret,” he said. “You gotta go to Korea House to get it. Or the Garlic Festival.”
The Cleveland Kitchen CEO said he cooks a lot at home, but admitted Korean cooking isn’t his specialty.
“There’s so much restaurants and many good chefs, so many innovators,” Anderson said. “If we can work with these people, let’s do it. Let’s keep it Cleveland.”
That’s where Christian Hanna came in. His mom owns the Korea House restaurant in Asia Town. They shared their culture and cuisine to help Cleveland Kitchen create its Kimchi.
“Kind of taught them the ways of Korean food,” Hanna said. “And, if anyone knows Korean food, which is the fastest growing segment of Asian food in the whole world right now, garlic is the key ingredient of it.”
And garlic is key in the kimchi.
“We’re actually by the end of the year going to be the largest kimchi manufacturer in the United States,” Anderson said.
At the Garlic Festival, Anderson and Hanna were excited to share their joy of cooking.
“I get no greater satisfaction than seeing someone bite into something you’ve made and enjoy it,” Hanna said.
And no matter who won the cook-off, for Hanna, spreading the benefits of the versatile vegetable is a victory in itself.
“The probiotics, helps fight mosquitos, helps with heart disease,” he said. “The real winners are the people that are here getting out in a festival setting, coming out of COVID 19, and North Union Farmers Market.”
