In a word, yum!

Hundreds of hungry Brooklynites – including the authors of this column — thronged St. Patrick’s School auditorium for the annual food-lovers’ delight, The Taste of the Ridge.

A whopping 48 local food purveyors – including restaurants, delis and bakeries – provided trays of their specialties that attendees, who paid $15 to enter the event (which is a fundraiser for St. Patrick’s), could sample to their heart’s content.

There may have been some hearty souls who managed to taste the food of every eatery without feeling stuffed; we were not among them, but we did enjoy tastes of many different foods that make Bay Ridge the culinary mecca it is.

It’s hard to pick favorites, but one of us is a particular fan of Middle Eastern cuisine, and had a blast sampling the offerings. The sesame seed-sprinkled, ring-shaped falafels, hummus and pickled turnips from First Oasis were top notch, as was the tart and savory chicken and rice the restaurant dished out.

Also terrific were the triangular spinach pies – delightfully tart and made from a yeast dough rather than filo – and addictive cheese pies served up by Sally & George.

Of course, there’s no such thing as too many spinach pies or hummus – so it was hard to resist Karam’s versions of the two, and with good reason – they were yummy, with the classic hints of tartness cutting the richness of the pastry in the former, and the chickpea puree in the latter.

But, one-trick ponies we weren’t. We dove in and came out smiling after eating our way through plates of Cebu’s tender and saucy skirt steak, whose sweetness found a delightful foil in the mashed purple potatoes and sautéed greens that completed the plate. Cebu also offered up a mean salad – a toothsome blend of chopped romaine lettuce, tomatoes, red onions and apples spiked with chunks of goat cheese.

Sofia’s served up fat, fresh Tortellini in a rich, creamy vodka sauce that was totally addictive. Their Chicken Scarpariello was also delicious, made with lemon, thyme and sausage. Gino’s also had great Italian eats, with a Caprese Salad of fresh mozz, which was like butter, strips of grilled red pepper and tomato slices perfectly seasoned with basil, garlic and olive oil. New Corner’s Chicken Francese tasted exactly how it was supposed to, with tender meat and a refreshing lemony sauce.

Chadwick’s had Roast Pork, served with sliced carrots and green beans. It was comforting and reminiscent of a classic Sunday roast. Greenhouse Café served up hearty sliced steak with potato croquette balls, a meaty, savory combo.

For classic comfort food, we also sampled Hunter’s Shepherd’s Pie and Beef Stew. Both were well-flavored, the stew a delightful mélange of tender meat cubes and vegetables, and the shepherd’s pie a compelling combo of long-simmered ground meat and fluffy mashed potatoes.

Then, there was Ho’Brah. The Mexicali-inspired restaurant offered up little cups of its guacamole accompanied by fresh tortilla chips – a classic combo that was sensationally satisfying, as was the Baja Street Corn, a half ear on a stick that’s slathered with cotija cheese and dusted with chile powder before being grilled.

Needless to say, there was also an awesome selection of desserts. Your Bakery offered up a superb crumb cake – with gorgeous, powdered sugar-dusted crumbs topping a light and tender cake.

Leske’s Bakery had several different types of layer cake. We tried the Red Velvet with Cream Cheese frosting, which was absolutely amazing, but not cloyingly sweet. The Black-and-White Checker Cake had yellow and chocolate sponge cake with chocolate frosting. It tasted just like mom made…maybe better!

The Taste of the Ridge is an amazing tradition, now 30 years young, but – for our waistlines, at least – it’s probably a good thing that it happens just once a year.

At any rate, we’re looking forward to 2014 already.