Fried and Prejudice
The best – and (delicious, fried, sugary) worst – of fair foods
This story originally appeared in the August 2011 edition of CityScene.
Fair food.
The words are almost synonymous.
Each year, the Ohio State Fair gives visitors the chance (read: excuse) to gorge themselves with the greasiest, fattiest, most calorific foods imaginable.
CityScene is here to help you know which foods will kill you and which will let you live slightly longer.
The bad (but oh so good):
Giant Turkey Leg
The giant turkey leg is a festival favorite for many.
Hot out of the vat of oil, the skin-on drumstick packs in more than 1,100 calories – for perspective, that’s five times the number of calories in a corn dog. It also rounds out at a whopping 54 grams of fat.
Turkey might be lean meat, but fried and covered in skin, it’s about as far from lean as possible.
Fried and Prejudice
The Krispy Kreme Burger
New at the festival this year is the Krispy Kreme Burger. It’s exactly what it sounds like: a bacon cheeseburger with the buns replaced by Krispy Kreme doughnuts.
Dickerson and Kenna Concessions from Lebanon, Ind., will be serving up this delicacy for the first time at the Ohio State Fair.
This fearsome burger is sometimes called the Luther Burger, allegedly because R&B legend Luther Vandross was a big fan. But with more than 1,000 calories and 45 grams of fat to its name, it might be more aptly named for world-conquering Superman foe Lex Luthor.
Fried Buckeye
A fair in the Buckeye State would not be complete without buckeyes.
A few years ago, the Ohio State Fair introduced fried buckeyes, adding a uniquely Ohio twist to the usual list of deep-fried Snickers, Twinkies, Oreos and other candies dipped in dough and fried crispy.
A chocolate buckeye alone isn’t too horrible for a treat – about 100 calories and 6 grams of fat. Fried, though? Yikes.
Funnel Cake
When you think of fair food, a funnel cake is probably one of the first things that will come to mind. Top it with powdered sugar, cinnamon, vanilla ice cream, strawberry syrup and/or whipped cream, and the fried dough can do a lot of damage to the waistline.
But even without those yummy toppings, a normal-sized funnel cake – about 8.3 ounces – contains 760 calories, 44 grams of fat and 80 grams of carbohydrates.
The scores of lit-up food carts advertising funnel cakes may make it difficult to resist buying one, so if you can’t fight the temptation, you might at least try to share with a friend or two.
Corn Dog
A fried hot dog on a stick doesn’t sound that bad. Or does it?
The tasty, portable treat contains about 375 calories and 21 grams of fat. That outweighs your average hot dog – served on a bun with ketchup and mustard – by about 100 calories.
The good:
You might not instinctively believe it, but there are a number of healthy options to choose from at the fair, says Alicia Notestone, marketing and public relations director for the Ohio Expo Center and State Fair.
“There are some stands you can go to and get a cup of mixed fruit,” she says. “There are a lot of fruits and vegetables.”
One place to find those healthy options is the Taste of Ohio Café, the round building in the heart of the fair
There, Notestone says, Ohio growers and food producers set up shop and sell local fruits, vegetables and meat.
“There, you will be able to get deviled eggs or an egg white omelet,” Notestone says. “The Ohio Corn Growers Association is pretty well known for the watermelon they serve.”
For those sticking to specific diets, a number of fair vendors also offer dairy-free, gluten-free, low-sodium, nut-free and sugar-free options.
Gabby’s Dough Factory will offer sugar-free funnel cakes and elephant ears, and a number of vendors, such as Gabby’s and Der Dutchman, offer funnel cakes, elephant ears, corn dogs and other items fried in trans fat-free oil.
Cotton Candy
OK, yes, it has the word candy in it. But a serving of cotton candy, which essentially is spun sugar, only has about 200 calories. For a sugary fair treat, that’s surprisingly reasonable.
Gyro
The traditional Greek sandwich has been a staple of the Ohio State Fair for many years. Though often covered in tzatziki sauce and feta cheese, a gyro is a healthier option with meat, lettuce, tomato, onion and a drizzle of sauce and cheese. There are around 400 calories in one, and you’ll be eating your veggies, too.
Watermelon
There are about 30 calories in a slice of watermelon, so eat to your heart’s content. Watermelon – not surprisingly – contains a lot of liquid and also is a refreshing snack on a hot fair day.
Gail Martineau is a contributing editor for CityScene Magazine.
New to the Fair (box)
Three vendors will be bringing new fare to the fair this year.
Along with the Krispy Kreme Burger by Dickerson and Kenna Concessions, Tracey’s – of Holland, Ohio – will be bringing fried Kool-Aid. Assembly of the new fried treat, which looks a little like hush puppies, is simple: Mix dough with Kool-Aid powder, and deep-fry that baby.
“Tracey’s has been a vendor here for many years,” Notestone says. “Their whole family comes out and helps during the festival.”
Maggie’s Concessions will cart in its own cool treat: frozen Key Lime pie on a stick.
Fairgoers expect the whimsical treat when they visit the Ohio State Fair, Notestone says.
“I think it’s something people think of as a treat that they are not able to have every day,” she says. “When they come, they want something like that.”
Find it at the Fair (box)
For the second year in a row, the Ohio State Fair is making it easier to find the treats you want to eat.
New this year, though, is a special app, designed for both the iPhone and Android phones, to help patrons locate all 189 food vendors. The apps are free and available in both the Apple App Store and the Android Market.
Patrons also can text “FoodFind” to 82672 to receive a link to the fair’s Mobile Food Finder.
What did fairgoers search for the most last year? The word fried, of course.
