Geek Eats- Fantastic Fair Food!

Greetings foodies! Welcome to this week’s Geek Eats! This week I will be discussing the weird and wonderful world of State Fair Food! The Arizona State Fair is in town so Mister and I decided that we should go on a culinary adventure throughout the land of deep fried fun! We were joined by the Sunnyside Crew (at least 2/3 of it, Mister’s sister and her husband) which provided us with addition perspective.

We started our journey by scouting out the locations we wanted to hit on the map. Yes, they actually provide a map with food vendors specifically. There were food items we knew we wanted to hit and others that pleasantly surprised us. We piled in the car and the quest for food began!

Below is the list of what we ate, our thoughts about it and our ranking on a scale of 1-10:

Chile Relleno Dog- This was basically a corn dog with cheese and chopped green chiles. We expected more of an actual chile relleno which is a chile stuffed with cheese and fried. For a corn dog it was pretty tasty but given that it was touted as more, we were disappointed. 4/10 by all who tried it.

Bacon Bombs- These were balls of fried cheese wrapped in bacon. These were a favorite among the guys but personally when I think of a bacon bomb I want more bacon. They could have added chopped bacon in the center. 7/10 by Mister and his brother in law, 5/10 for me.

Chocolate Covered Bacon- The name pretty much gives it away, bacon covered in chocolate. These were pretty good. The general consensus however was that we would have liked more bacon and less chocolate. Thick cut bacon would have been far more desirable here. 7/10 by all who tried it.

Deep Fried Coffee- When we saw this on the list we all knew we had to try it. We are all coffee fans and this didn’t disappoint. We actually asked how it was done and were told that they freeze the coffee, batter it and then fry it. It was everything you’d expect and very indulgent. 9.5/10 by all who had it.

Chocolate Covered Crickets- Once again, pretty much what the name implies. Crickets drizzled with chocolate. Mister and I were the only ones who tried these. To be quite honest I was disappointed. I had hoped for a kind of buggy taste or something but it just tasted like a Nestle Crunch bar. 2/10 by all who had them.

Deep Fried Frogs Legs- Frog legs battered and fried. For what they were the frog legs weren’t terrible. Unfortunately, frog meat is a bit greasy and frying them only made them even greasier. The breading on them was pretty good however. Mister and I were the only ones who were brave enough to try them also. 4.5/10 by all who had them.

Green Chile Chicken Frybread- This was fry bread topped with chicken, beans, cheese, green chile sauce, lettuce and tomatoes. Overall this was pretty tasty. We also tried a bite of the standard taco meat frybread which I liked better. The green chile sauce was pretty tame by our standards and we would have preferred a bit more heat. 6/10 by all who tried it.

Deep Fried Avocado- The name says, avocado battered and fried. Upon the initial bites it was quite good but as the avocado cooled it seemed that the flavor changed. We grew less fond of it by the last few bites. 7/10 initially but it was eventually decided that 5/10 once it cooled by all who had it.

Deep Fried Broccoli- If you haven’t noticed a theme I’d be surprised; this was broccoli that was battered and deep fried. It was similar to tempura but the batter was a bit thicker. Hands down this tied for the best thing we ate all day (the other was the last thing we ate so keep reading). It was absolute perfection! We all did not expect our favorites to be bacon free or even meat free! 10/10 by all who had it.

Tater Twister- This was a portion of a potato that was spiral cut, skewered and fried. We chose to have the seasoned salt seasoning and bbq sauce dip. I really enjoyed the flavor of the potato and sauce. Mister wished it had been crispier. 7/10 by me and 5/10 by Mister.

Fried Pumpkin Pie- This was our other favorite! I half expected a slice of pie deep fried (hey it is the state fair after all), but it was more of a hand pie. Either way it was epic! Served with a choice of cinnamon or vanilla ice cream, we chose cinnamon. The ice cream alone was amazing. Also, it’s worth noting that the company who puts out these pies is called Minneapple Pies and also do fried apple pies. We were torn between this and the fried broccoli as the best thing we ate all day. 10/10 by all who had it.

Well there you have it folks, our culinary excursion into the world of fair food! We were disappointed we couldn’t find the fried salsa but overall we were quite pleased with our selection. Sure the food wasn’t healthy but when you split it 4 ways for the most part it isn’t quite so bad. What are some of your favorites at the fair? Leave your comments below, I’d love to hear all about your favs!

Enjoy What You Eat,

DC