After years of trying, a local restauranteur has secured a spot in the largest craft beer event in the Southern Interior.
Mark Mudahy will cook for thousands at Penticton’s Fest of Ale coming up on April 10 and 11 at the Penticton Trade and Convention Centre.
“I’ve tried for many years to get in as a vendor,” he said recently during an interview at the Review office. “I’ve only gone as a spectator. It was crazy busy there was lots of food and beer.”
Mudahy owns MJs Pizza and Caribbean Food and has been making his own sauce for more than 14 years.
For the last two years he’s been making a spicy jerk sauce using a Penticton brewery craft beer as the base.
Mudahy uses a craft beer produced by The Tin Whistle called Black Widow to create the sauce.
“It’s a spicy, hot spicy seasoning. It’s hot,” he said.
Mudahy said because of the paring with the brewery he was able to secure a spot inside the convention centre for Fest of Ale.
His menu for the event, which attracts more than 4,000 people over the two days, includes jerk chicken using the black widow sauce with Caribbean coleslaw and a coco bread dinner role.
He will also be taking a selection of Jamaican patties including spicy beef, spicy veggie and mango barbecue.
Mudahy makes other sauces including his Jamaica 911 hot sauce.
The sauces can be purchased at his store in Keremeos or the The Tin Whistle brewery and other select locations in Penticton.