As an insurance guy, especially one that works a lot with life insurance, I probably shouldn't be talking about all of the wondrous foods that I plan on trying or HAVE tried at the California State Fair.
But... I still will. Hey, just watch your cholesterol the rest of the year and have a day off! Or do your life insurance health exam, and THEN eat something deep-fried. It's that easy!
If you're planning on attending, allow me to give you a bit of a guide. Now, not all of these will still be available, nor will it be from the same vendor necessarily, but I imagine things will be pretty much the same if you can still find 'em. From my own archives, I bring to you, the last 10 things I've eaten at the California State Fair, in order from worst to best:
#10: Deep-fried White Castle Cheeseburger - Terrible. Just terrible. By far, the worst fair food I've ever eaten. And I wanted to like it so badly! It's deep-fried! It's a burger! What could go wrong? The answer? Everything. It was a hot, mushy, soggy, tasteless mess.
#9: Deep-fried M&Ms - This should never have happened. Again, it just didn't work. I expected individually fried M&M's. A bite-sized treat, right? Wrong. It was a big clump of them stuck together, and it was exceedingly difficult to ear.
#8: Hot pastrami grinder - I wanted to like this, but the meat was terrible. Super-fatty. Not a good pastrami sandwich.
#7: Deep-fried brownie - Nothing too special here. Much better deep-fried options are around. This was just sort of middle-of-the-road. Also, I felt bloated after I ate it and it limited me from eating OTHER wonderful things.
#6: Chocolate-covered bacon - Surprisingly non-toxic! This has the whole sweet and salty deal going on, and it works surprisingly well. However, there is a bit of a bacon aftertaste, and that, combined with chocolate, is a little odd.
#5: The Tornado Potato - Very cool looking item. It's basically a full potato that's spiral-cut and fried on a large wooden skewer. I had the chili version, and though it was difficult to eat (I bit down on the skewer once or twice and chili was flying everywhere), it was quite tasty!
#4: Deep-fried cheesecake - THIS is a good fit for the whole deep-fried trend. It's hot on the outside, cool and creamy in the middle and it just works. It usually has a drizzle of chocolate sauce or raspberry syrup or something, and the whole package is delicious.
#3: Funnelcake - A fair classic for a reason. Delicious mess of deep-fried goodness, smothered in sugary stuff. It's a mess, and it will kill a diet and clog your arteries, but it's worth it. Get some fruit on the top and pretend it's good for you!
#2: Deep-fried Snickers - The best of the deep-fried crop. It's roughly still the size of a Snickers, but one bite shows you that it's completely changed within. A hot mess of chocolate, nuts, caramel, etc, since it pretty much totally melts on the inside. It's an explosion of flavor! If you can, get it freshly fried.
#1: The Fat Darrell Sandwich - This one doesn't get a lot of press, but it should. It's a sandwich with either chicken strips of deep-fried finger steaks, fried mozzerella sticks, french fries and the sandwich fixins, all in one crazy sandwich disaster. I last ate one of these a year ago and I'm STILL thinking about it. There really is no reason that this should be quite so delicious, but all of the flavors somehow work together. Awesome.
Expect this list to be updated shortly! If you have anything that you think I need to try before I head to the fair this week, please do let me know! I'm happy to sample based on your recommendations.
2 comments:
We probably missed it, but I totally did not see a Fat Darrell when we went to the fair. Which makes me sad. It sounds sooo good! We're not going to get another shot at the fair, so you'll have to enjoy one for me.
When we went last year, SweetPea & the Monkeys split a lion burger. They said it was strange & kinda dry. There aren't a lot of options for vegetarians. However, MonkeySee & I had frozen, chocolate dipped cheesecake. On a stick (because it's The Fair). It was really good, but definitely a shareable item. We each had our own and that was a lot. Even for a teenager. I don't remember seeing the deep fried cheesecake, but Del Taco (shut up) has fried caramel cheesecake bites that are VERY good. Which is why I totally don't go there, anymore.
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