Oct 16, 2012
16 deep-fried foods available at the Texas State Fair
The Texas State Fair is going on right now, and many of us — for both geographic and gastronomic reasons — are unable to enjoy its many culinary offerings. Fortunately, redditor getsomeawe came through with a visual tour of some of the fine, fried options at the fair this year.
He ranked what he tried on a scale of thumbs-down to (one lucky winner of) two-thumbs-up. Here are his photos and tasting notes with the foods ranked from worst to best…
Bubble Gum
Thumbs down :( It was a sickening sweet, gooey mess. The “gum” is really marshmallows. Our second place for prettiest in show.
Beer
Thumbs down. :( I was told to put the “ravioli” in my mouth as one piece to get the “beer” taste that never came. It was just dry, slightly yeasty bread. The sauce there is cheese sauce.
Picnic on a Stick
Thumbs down :( This was bbq chicken, tater tots, and pickles battered and deep fried. Sadly, the whole affair was horribly dry.
Mac and Cheese Slider
No Thumbs :| What you can’t see is that there is a very small and very dry beef patty under the fries. The idea is deep fried mac & cheese square there, the beef patty, the waffle fries (and a bit of ketchup) all in a bun. That said, the Mac & Cheese was really good – the rest not so much. They should omit the “slider” stuff.
Cheese
No Thumbs :| Was hoping for cheddar cheese or a blend but it was mozzarella in a corn dog batter. Not the worst thing but did not meet my expectations.
Snickers
No Thumbs :| I love Snickers but melting it all together with funnel cake batter on the outside and powdered sugar was not an improvement. Somewhat tasty but too sweet.
Mashed Potatos
No Thumbs :| A true meh. For being “loaded” the only thing I could taste was the faux bacon
Cookie Dough
Thumbs Up! :) Really fantastic. It was the best warm chocolate cookie you’ve ever had. Crazy sweet though so I could only do 2 bites.
Guacamole
Thumbs Up! :) As someone who is very picky about their guac I was very surprised I liked this. The crunchy outside, the smooth center, the perfect salt balance. Ignore the ketchup – did not enhance.
Ice Cream
Thumbs Up :) and our personal winner for prettiest in show. It tasted like one of those pink Snoballs but cold and creamy. In short, tasty awesomeness.
Jalapenos
Thumbs Up! :) The dipping sauce was ranch dressing. I liked that they were sliced O style instead of the whole pepper.
Twinkie
Thumbs Up! Not as sweet as I feared it to be, the center of cream and fluff kinda mixed together and became a new deliciousness.
Apple Pie
Thumbs Up! :) ERMERGAWD – so good!!! I will dream about these pies. Warm and gooey, sweet and chewy. Loved it!
Chicken Skin
Thumbs Up!!! :) YESSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!! The best worst-thing-for-me I’ve ever eaten. I could die happy now.
Jambalaya
Thumbs Up :) This was the 2012 Big Tex winner and it was indeed a winner. Rice, chicken, tasty sauce and a bit of sausage all fried in a ball. The only bad thing was the price – it was $4 for the one ball. Other foods usually were 2 balls for that price.
Butter
2 Thumbs Up!! :) Best in Show, Best in Show!! So take a little cube of butter, batter it and freeze it. Then batter that some more, fry it and put garlic butter on top. BHAM! The best garlic knot you’ve ever eaten. *drool*
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I think I gained 10 pounds just from reading this post.
As a Texan, I feel compelled to inform the readers that many of us do not feast on such meals ever, much less on a regular basis. Nay, as much to the contrary of what you may have heard, we are similar to the rest of the nation, except with the most booming economy you will ever find in this recessed nation.
I dunno about most booming economy. Can you beat North Dakota’s 3% unemployment rate?
http://www.davemanuel.com/historical-state-unemployment-rates.php
That is impressive. However, many Texans’ experiences speaks volumes. I bought a house in September 2007 (right before the bubble burst) for $151,000. I sold it 2 years later in the midst of the recession for $160,000. Most people were taking hits, while many homes in Texas were holding their value, or still going up. The only businesses that closed in our city were chains, like Linens-N-Things, and Circuit City.
Win! (And I’m from Oklahoma!)
Oops. My “win” is meant for Andrew. :)
The hell we don’t eat like that. Fried Guacamole is the shizit.
I want to move back to Texas.
I had the fried snickers at the Fair last week and I thought it was amazing!! So much better than a normal snickers. If anything, i thought the frying made it not taste AS sweet as a normal snickers, the breading soaked up some of the chocolate.
That being said, I agree with Andrew. Most of us never eat these things. In fact, the snickers was the only fried food I’ve ever eaten at the fair and I only decided to because everyone else around the country makes such a big deal out of it. I thought I should at least try something.
At the SC state fair last year, we tried the following:
Fried Butter: incredible; seasoned with cinnamon instead of garlic
Snickers: too sweet
Oreo: great!
Reese’s cup: too sweet for me
The fair also had Fried Kool-Aid. Didn’t try it. Maybe this weekend!
say no to the fried kool aid… it’s not worth it
You missed the fried peaches and cream in The Dock, the Hot Beef Sundae, Krispy Kreme Burger and Deep Fried Burger in Lonestar Roadhouse in the auto building. The deep fried burger had fried cheese, french fries, fried pickles and fried green tomatoes on it. Hot Beef Sundae was a huge hit with us. We also like the Donkey Tail from Ruth’s Tamales – a hot dog wrapped in cheese, wrapped in a flour tortilla, fried, then covered with chili and onions.