"minnesota state fair" news and stories

Like most state fairs, at Minnesota's you can make a meal (or even more) out of things served on a stick. There are your corn dogs, of course, as well as drumsticks, cotton candy, and popsicles. You can even get bacon-and-cheddar mashed potatoes on a stick.

But this year, as Minnesota Public Radio reports, there's something new being served up vertical: camel.

"It's the food of kings," Jamal Hashi tells MPR. A native Somali, Hashi runs Safari Express, a food stand in Minneapolis, but he's currently manning the eatery's outpost in the International Bazaar section of the fair.

Served kebab-style, Hashi's camel tastes a lot like bison, he says. "It's a very, very lean meat...it's high in protein, and it doesn't have any of the gamey taste you would imagine from other game meats."

"Tonight Show" host Conan O'Brien can rest easy knowing he's really made it in show business now that he's been recreated in bacon and white chocolate.

"I've long dreamed of this, but I never thought I'd see it happen," O'Brien said Wednesday as he unveiled the 200-pound bust on his program. While he said it was a gift from the Minnesota State Fair, Slashfood has learned that isn't exactly the truth behind the tasty tribute.

The bust was actually commissioned by a meat company, No Name Premium Meats, in St. Michael, Minn., a fair official told us Thursday.

In a lot of areas around the US, late August and early September are State Fair season, and while we're sure that there other exciting activities going on all over the fairgrounds, we Slashfoodies pretty much just care about the food.

Same is true for Belly du Jour, who made a trip to the Minnesota State Fair and created the first-ever (we think) video catalog of all the fair foods on a stick, the third and final episode of thier series on fair foods. Sure, we've seen corn dogs, kebabs, and even desserts like a wedge of cheesecake on a stick, but who knew you could eat macaroni and cheese or spaghetti on a stick? Don't worry, not everything is artery-clogging - I think I saw some fruit in there somewhere.

The video log is after the jump, and in full filmmaker style, Belly du Jour even has their outtakes!