OUT TO EAT

12 delicious eats to try at Dig IN

Liz Biro
liz.biro@indystar.com
Duck confit "short rib" on fresh watermelon from Mesh on Mass at the 2014 Dig IN: A Taste of Indiana, a farm-to-fork celebration at White River State Park.

When 48 chefs gather to shake pans, it’s hard to know where to start. That’s the number of cooks enticing us at Dig IN: A Taste of Indiana noon to 5 p.m. Aug. 30 at White River State Park in Downtown Indianapolis.

The huge festival spotlighting locally grown and crafted food and drinks pairs each cook with an ingredient from an Indiana farmer or food producer. Tickets cost $45 at www.digindiana.org or call (317) 454-8516.

These are the dishes I’ll get in line for first.

1. Goose with the Golden Egg

One World Catering in Bloomington served my favorite dish last year. It was annatto-marinated pork shoulder roasted in banana leaves and served with roasted poblano polenta and tequila-spiked pickled vegetables. This year, look for a saffron-pickled egg with Smoking Goose salumi, raita (an Indian yogurt and herb sauce) and Tulip Tree cheese tuile (a cheese crisp made by melting cheese in a skillet).

www.oneworldcateringandevents.com

2. Pork carnitas

One of my favorite Indianapolis-area chefs is Omar Guzman at Cobblestone Grill. I featured him in 2014 as a sous chef to watch. He has since been named executive chef at Cobblestone Grill. Guzman is from Oaxaca, Mexico, land of the seven moles. His Mexican food is authentic. Don’t miss his pork carnitas (pork braised in fat) with avocado mousse, sweet corn relish and cilantro tomatillo salsa. Tomatillos are slightly tangy members of the gooseberry family.

www.cobblestonegrill.com

3. Barbecue goat

The marshmallow makers at 240Sweet in Columbus also run the catering operation Artisan Foodworks. Chef Alexa Lemley recently impressed me with her Decadent Macaroni and Cheese at the 2015 Indiana State Fair Ultimate Macaroni and Cheese Recipe Cook-Off, where I was a judge. She won the contest. For Dig IN, she pairs barbecue goat with a sweet corn cake.

www.artisanfoodworks.com

4. Pork belly

Just when you think you can’t stomach another pork belly dish, here come Brad Gates Catering & Events with one you can’t resist. Chef Brad Gates worked for Wolfgang Puck and New York’s Union Square Hospitality Group, which runs the Big Apple’s famous Union Square Café. For Dig IN, he unites sweet corn gnocchi with grilled Fischer Farms Pork Belly, blistered Anaheim peppers and Traders Point Creamery Fleur de la Terre cheese.

www.bradgatescatering.com

5. Wagyu meatballs

If you don’t know Joseph Decuis chef Aaron Butts by now, Dig IN is your chance to catch up with the top-flight Roanoke cook. Joseph Decuis is a restaurant/inn/farm that raises its own Wagyu cattle. The heavily marbled beef is premium. Butts was one of five chefs who recently cooked an Indiana dinner at the James Beard House in New York City. Check his Wagyu meatball bahn mi (a Vietnamese sandwich) with Mangalitza pork pate spread (Mangalitza is a Hungarian breed of domestic pig prized for its rich, fat-marbled meat), fermented cabbage, pickled carrot, kohlrabi, jalapeno and homemade hoisin sauce on French bread from Proper Pastry, also in Roanoke.

www.josephdecuis.com

6. Elk

Dig IN is a great place to find foods you never knew were produced in Indiana. One of them is elk from Carley Elk Farm in Atlanta, Ind. The Oceanaire Seafood Room chef Neil Andrews plans to serve roasted elk with corn and pickled jalapeno.

www.theoceanaire.com

7. Lamb and beer

Russell Sheep Co. in Eaton raises hormone-free lamb that Union 50 chef Thomas Melvin turns into serrano chili-spiked sausage. Better yet, he braises the sausage in beer.

www.union-50.com

8. Chicken and Its Lunch

Chef Craig Baker of The Local Eatery & Pub loves nothing better than tasting events and food competitions. Despite the long hours of preparing for thousands of people, he is always fun and friendly. His sense of humor shows in Chicken and Its Lunch, incorporating cured, braised and grilled chicken drumettes on polenta and bacon root vegetable gravy.

http://www.localeateryandpub.com

9. Asian brisket

Everyone does barbecue brisket. Ho-hum. Chef Jeff Ford, of J. Ford’s Black Angus fine dining restaurant in Terre Haute, tucks brisket into Asian steamed buns with pickled chilies, honey ginger scallion mayonnaise and cilantro greens.

www.jfordsblackangus.com

10. Chile-braised duck

Get to Oakley’s table early. Chef Steven Oakley’s always delicious food goes fast. This year he puts Maple Leaf Farms duck in a red chili braise and then pairs the meat with a scallion masa pancake and lime cilantro crema.

www.oakleysbistro.com

11. No ordinary cola

Bea’s Soda Bar is new to Dig IN this year. Billed “a mobile retro soda fountain,” it serves hand-crafted sodas made with local and natural ingredients from a vintage travel trailer. Try the Honey Blossom Crème Soda made with local honey from Sweet Life Honey Farm in Huntington.

www.beafizzy.com

12. Simple corn

Tulip Noir is a happy little restaurant you can sneak into for a fresh bite and time with your thoughts. The chilled sweet corn buttermilk soup on chef Conner Hinderks’ Dig IN menu epitomizes the restaurant’s feel. As I read the title I can almost taste the dish.

www.tulipnoir.com

Call Liz Biro at (317) 444-6264. Follow her on Twitter @lizbiro, Instagram @lizbirodish, Facebook and Pinterest.