"state fair" news and stories

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!

At least, at the Texas State Fair it is. It's Deep-fried Coke.

Abel Gonzales Jr. flavors his batter with Coca-Cola, deep fries it, drizzles Coke fountain syrup on it, then tops it all off with whipped cream, cinnamon sugar and a cherry. Gonzales's creation won for creativity at the second-annual Big Tex Choice Awards Contest, beating out such delicacies as deep-fried macaroni cheese and deep-fried Cosmos.

Deep-fried Coke may sound weird now, weird enough to get a little Farking, but back in 1942, a cornbread-battered hot dog on a stick might have sounded weird, too. Now we have corn dogs.

The Indiana State Fair, which has been going strong for 150 years now, is a huge event in Indianapolis, where it is held every year. While some traditions, like games, animals and bake-offs are still drawing crowds, the food that is for sale - particularly the fried food - is even more of a draw. The specialty of the Indiana State Fair happens to be deep-fried chocolate-covered strawberries, though some of the other offerings included deep fried sauerkraut and the ubiquitous deep fried Twinkies.

The fried strawberries are pictured above, kindly captured before consumption by a Flickr user and looking at the pile of fried berries, topped with even more berries, chocolate and whipped cream makes it easy to see why it's a popular fair food. But is it better than funnel cake? Better than deep fried snickers bars? What about a deep fried bacon double quarter pounder?

We all know that these foods aren't exactly health foods, but you have to admit that they are hard to resist at a fair. So tell us, what is your favorite fair food? And where can we get some?