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| Bacon is served almost any way you want it. |
What makes the food at a state fair so appealing? For some, it’s the novel approach for preparing familiar ingredients in an unusual way. For others, it’s finding food that they’ve never thought about eating before. And for many, it’s simply discovering something surprising on the fair’s midway among the throngs of people. And finally for a few, it’s observing the long lines at the food vendors and being curious about why so many people want what’s being sold.
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| Turkey legs are no longer as popular as they once were. |
Standing in the midway, I watched couples and family groups walking together and sharing their recent purchases. Whether it was sweet or savory or a mixture of the two, every craving was satisfied quickly except where the lines at food vendors were extremely long.
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| The longest line was for donuts. |
New Foods This Year
New foods at the N.C. State Fair this year were innovative concoctions of very inspired imaginations. Lines were long to order fried frozen watermelon, cookie butter frozen banana, freeze-dried marshmallows, chicken feet (baked, fried, and barbecued), and deep-fried lamb chops. Of course, old favorites were also part of the food scene again this year.
Eye-Catching
What first caught my eye was a fried waffle served on a stick. Topped with whipped cream and strawberry sauce, it also captured the attention of many others, particularly kids.
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| What can be better than a fried strawberry waffle? |
Street Corn
Street corn (elote) has become more popular each year. With origins in Mexico, it has quickly gained a following throughout the South. Grilled corn on the cob is slathered in a creamy sauce that is a mixture of mayonnaise, chili powder, and garlic. Next it is topped with cheese, chili powder, and lime juice. Then it is served on a skewer and eaten hot. Less popular was Hawaiian street corn that was served in half a pineapple.
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| Hot off the grill, street corn is slathered in a creamy sauce. |
Pickles And More Pickles
A popular food vendor was Mr. Pickles Concessions. Of course, it was not the only one with pickles on the menu. Some of the unusual pickle items were flaming-hot Cheetos pickle pizza, Nashville hot pickles, pickle fries, pickle pop (a frozen treat made from dill pickle juice), pickle soup (really!), and a pickle sub (sliced deli meat stacked on a dill pickle sliced in half that served as a bun).
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| Pickle fries were sold by several food vendors. |
Comfort Food
For me, nothing is more satisfying than banana pudding after tasting something sharp, spicy, or hot. Fortunately, there was no line at a banana pudding vendor that I spotted just in time to remove an unusual flavor from my mouth. See if you think these new items fit in the category of comfort food: Cheerwine lemonade, fried turkey leg, coconut shrimp on a stick, potatoes loaded with bacon and cheese, deep-fried cheese curds, fried fish and waffles, and a frozen banana covered in peanut butter, jelly, and nuts.
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| Banana pudding is a great way to finish a visit to the state fair. |
How many people go to a state fair just to say that they tried one of the novel foods for the first time? Creative food is clearly a reason that the fair continues to be so popular.
