Larkspur – In the days of jellies sandals and friendship pins, the Colorado Renaissance Festival was about the only place to chow down on a big, barbaric drumstick.
Some say this meal on a bone is second only to Thanksgiving dinner in popularity among turkey dishes. But in the 29 summers the puffy-shirt parade has inhabited this big hill between Denver and Colorado Springs, ye olde turkey leg has turned up in other seasonal settings.
Even so, an event like this – where whistling wenches, jigging minstrels and jousting gentlemen wander the grounds in period dress, and crowd members encourage vaudevillian shenanigans by donning kilts and banshee costumes of their own – seems best-suited to a utensil-free feast like the jumbo turkey leg.
That could be why the Festival sells between 60,000 and 70,000 turkey legs a year, according to producer Jim Paradise Sr. “It’s kind of our signature item,” he says.
People tend to tackle this food that could easily be a favorite of Hagar the Horrible by turning the drumstick on its side and sinking their teeth into its meaty mid-section. Jim Paradise Sr. has another idea:
Start the drumstick from the top to make the most of its glossy, smoked skin. And any salty, ham-tasting meat goes best with a beer, he adds.
King’s Ice is another reassuring Renaissance Festival staple. It can take 20 minutes for this Italian Ice snow cone atop a fresh, frozen orange to soften. Scraping the ice with your teeth, then nibbling the sugar-soaked fruit, is dessert heaven on a hot, dry day.
But big food is the cornerstone of the Colorado Renaissance Festival, a place where kids in feathered hats walk away with fudge-y clown faces after discovering chocolate-dipped cheesecake-on-a-
stick, and shirtless, barrel-
chested men like Sgt. Anthony Florez devour several steaks-on-stakes in one day’s visit. For good reason. The savory, spiced and grilled flank is served at a tender medium-well.
Food might be the top draw here but shopping is close behind. The two pastimes converge at “Brother Paul” West’s Garlic Festival Foods booth. West preaches “the gospel of garlic” during the Renaissance Festival while wearing a weathered leather top hat and tie-dye tights. When he’s not doing a comedy show on one of the nearby stages, Brother Paul talks with customers about the history and medicinal uses of garlic, then teases their taste buds with samples of garlic marinades, salsas and jellies. “We’re just trying to figure out how garlic got the rap for causing bad breath,” he says.
The village fudge shop is the place to find coffee-can-
sized chocolate and pecan turtles, and makes for an excellent pit stop before galloping away from the Renaissance Festival. The big turtle-on-a-stick is the kind of handy candy you tell yourself to save for later until sugar siren pummels your will power. My giant chocolate lolly lasted about as long as the drive from Larkspur back to downtown Denver. It’s a good thing the Renaissance Festival runs through the end of July.
Staff writer Elana Ashanti Jefferson can be reached at 303-820-1957 or ejefferson@denverpost.com.
