As we bid goodbye to state fair season, this picture reminds us of how good trashy food can be, if done properly. We can already taste the wonderful combination of salty dog offset by a slightly sweet cornbread batter.
This home version is baked, rendering deep-fryer guilt obsolete. A side of coleslaw that looks as if it were made from real cabbage really boosts the health quotient. It's practically a food pyramid on a plate ... or at the very least, an excellent attempt at good-for-you fair food.
It all started so innocently, didn't it? Some guy speared a hotdog with a stick, dipped it in corn batter, and deep-fried it into a corndog. Now at stat fairs across the country, a corndog is just so...boring. We've got everything from deep-fried cheesecake to Coca-Cola. Remember the winning food in the Texas State Fair food competition last year? A Coke flavored batter deep-fried and served with cola syrup! Dip anything in batter, throw it into hot oil, and you could have a prize-winning food.
And it seems that every year, it gets crazier. At the Texas State Fair, which doesn't even start until the end of September, there are seven entries into the food competition, some of which are reasonable given history, like the Fried Cookie Dough (one step before deep frying an actual cookie, like an Oreo), and others that are just weird, like Fried Guacamole Bites:
Deep Fried Latte
Fried Cookie Dough
Fried Guacamole Bites
Country Pride Peach Cobbler on a Stick
Fernie's Fried Chili Frito Burrito
B.W.'s Original Fried Banana Pudding
Mama's Fried Sweet Potato Pie
Chili and Fritos wrapped inside a tortilla, fried, and served with cheese sauce? It's like people are trying their darnedest to make the most heart-stopping foods they can. Literally.
When I first read this post over at our sister site Gadling, I was visualizing some over-sized zucchini or maybe tomatoes the size of a grapefruit, but I honestly didn't expect to see anything quite like this.
Apparently, Alaska hosts a Giant Vegetable Contest every year at their state fair. As Neil points out, the sun in Alaska barely sets during the summer, and the result of the vegetables continuously receiving the benefits of around-the-clock sunlight is that they tend to grow considerably larger than in most other places. This is extremely evident judging by the picture above, which is of the 2006 winner of the Giant Cabbage Weigh-Off. Brenna Dinkel took the title with her 73.4-pound cabbage - and no, I don't even want to know how much cabbage soup that would make.
Apparently as one of the country's largest County Fairs, the Los Angeles County Fair has enough budget to advertise on television. I've seen a few of the commercials that make fun of LA's reputation, e.g. a mother and daughter shopping and asking whether cashmere comes from a boy cow or a girl cow, and one where several girls ask about cotton candy and Atkins. However, it wasn't until today that I saw this commercial that takes the cake.
The teacher asks, "Can anybody tell me what comes from a cow?"
The kids raise their hands and answer one by one: "Lattes?" "Nu-unh. My mom says non-fat half caff cappuccinos." "Iced Caramel Macchiatos?"
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?
When I first read this post over at our sister site Gadling, I was visualizing some over-sized zucchini or maybe tomatoes the size of a grapefruit, but I honestly didn't expect to see anything quite like this. 
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. 
At least, at the Texas State Fair it is. It's Deep-fried Coke.
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