Style Weekly
Thursday, October 6, 2011
All You Can Stomach
Five must-try foodstuffs at the State Fair.
Posted by Robey Martin on Thu, Oct 6, 2011 at 12:53 PM
I get why people are excited about fair food. Where else can you find the kitchen sink fried and served with powdered sugar? Serious food-interested people eat here. And by serious, I mean, those people who like fun, deep-fried Kool-Aid (ugh) and fun. If you can't beat 'em, here are five ways to join them.
1. Sirloin Tips: Big, chopped pieces of self-marinating sirloin ($5 for the kids' meal) roasted then sautéed in 10-year-old cast iron with butter and "secret seasonings" -- this doesn't sound like fair food. Get involved. Get the mushrooms.
Where: Pickle Barrel Sirloin Tips. Across from the Farm Bureau building.
2. Pumpkin Funnel Cake: Why go basic when you can go pumpkin? Why limit yourself to just to cinnamon when you can have nutmeg as well? A flat, crispy and greasy pumpkin muffin. No really, why?
Where: Wilson Enterprises. By the King BMX stunt show.
3. Hot Fried Frog Legs: That burger patty slapped between two donut halves is so last year, and that pork parfait is uh, parfait-ed pork. So how about some spicy fat frog legs ($5)? Don't worry. They don't taste like chicken.
Where: Porky's. By the Thrill Pit.
4. Fried chicken on a stick: Everything is better on a stick, especially if it's a large piece (dark meat, please) of chicken ($7) soaked in Big Drew's Cajun seasoning, floured and deep-fried. No need for the roll.
Where: Cajun' Cookin'. Outside the Farm Bureau building.
5. Chimney Cakes: A Transylvanian street snack? Yes. Rolled around a wooden spoke and then baked, this pastry ($5) tastes like something your mom would make if she were Romanian, a little tangy and a little sweet. Flavors include chocolate walnut and cinnamon.
Where: Chimney Cakes. Next to the Thrill Pit.
Comments (3)
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Sirloin tips are overrated. The meat is grizzly, undercooked. Mushrooms spongy and tasteless. Nasty. Glad I only went for the kid's meal.
like
dislikeThe $5 kids meal was an absolute steal. It was a perfect meal after walking around the fair and riding the rides all afternoon. The steak had such a wonderful flavor, the mashed potatoes reminded me of home cooking and the mushrooms were to die for.
The pumpkin funnel cake has haunted my dreams since I had it. This was my first and second funnel cake ever, but the pumpkin flavor was perfect and it was everything I hoped it would be.
I only had a sample of the chimney cake because I was too stuffed to eat anymore by the time I found it, but that sample left me wishing I had left some room to eat another dessert. I plan on going back to the fair this year and trying this and the chicken on a stick. Both of which I'm upset I missed out on my first time around the fair, but you can only eat so much amazing food in one day.
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