This Sunday’s New York Times boasts a remarkably food-savvy piece of op/art: Fairs Enough (requires registration). It’s an illustrated rundown of the most delectable fair foods from states as far-flung as Washington State, Vermont, and Texas.
From the “elegant” ham biscuit at the State Fair of Virginia to the frybread-based Indian taco at the New Mexico State Fair, the Times does a great job of running a nearly infinite gauntlet of fair food options.
An added bonus: the Times graphic is free of the penny-ante “oh, aren’t the locals fascinating” condescension that thoroughly permeated Slate’s recent feature on the Minnesota State Fair.
With its offensive colors and overlapping carnival-ride soundtracks, strolling through the midway is like taking a walking tour of one’s own headache…
Slate writer Ben Crair: have you never been a young person? Are you, in fact, an extremely angry 70-year-old man, who attended the fair in order to shake your ivory-handled cane in a trembling manner at the noisy, unsophisticated youth who seemed to swarm the grounds?
Attending a fair and then complaining that the midway is full of “offensive colors” is like going to an NFL football game and complaining that the fans are loud. Yes, the fans are loud. It’s a football game. And yes, the midway will have “overlapping carnival-ride soundtracks.”
McDonald’s will also sell hamburgers, and the sun will continue to be yellow.
After just visiting the local California State Fair no less than 2 days ago (Saturday), I can attest that there is nothing quite like a “country fair” cinnamon roll and a “hot dog on a stick” corn dog on a warm summer day. I save up all year for these treats as a cinnabon or corn dog at the airport or mall doesn’t taste quite the same. The Meal of My Life it’s not, but maybe I should’ve used some of the other tips that were suggested in a previous article so I can enjoy that much more.
Of course the NYT piece was not condescending — it was written by Jane and Michael Stern. They are about the most direct and down-to-earth food writers around, celebrating road food / common food and those who make it very well. Their assessment has no whiff of snobbery, just the straight-up truth about where to find really good food.
I hear they have 99 cent all-you-can-drink-milk at the Minnesota state fair.
Not only do they have $1 all-you-can-drink-milk, they also sell paper cones filled with roughly four dozen freshly baked small chocolate chip cookies. A deadly combination. The cookies come in a large plastic bucket size, too, if you’re feeling ambitious.