See our slideshow of more State Fair of Texas Foods.
Some go for the carnival-style attractions. Others go for the garden exhibition. Thousands go for the live musical entertainment. Many go for the shopping. But the truth of the matter is, all flock to the State Fair of Texas for the food.
In its more than 125 years of existence, the State Fair of Texas has built itself quite a reputation for its deep-fried-anything-on-a-stick -- stick optional -- food offerings. Because who doesn't like the sinful indulgence of deep-fried foods? The millions who attend the Dallas fairgrounds each year have proven that the crazy fried-food offerings tug at their heartstrings and resonate with their cravings.
In the "anything-goes" fried-food playground, fair-goers find such foods as fried bacon cinnamon rolls, fried praline sweet potato poppers, fried jambalaya, apple fries, deep-fried strawberries, fried cake balls, fried Buffalo chicken in a flapjack, fried pineapple upside down cake, deep-fried butter, and Fried Beer™ (is that even food?). And this is just the tip of the iceberg of the fried-food selection.
There are literally hundreds of items to choose from. This Monday, 25 days before the kickoff the the State Fair, the Big Tex winners were announced: Fried jambalaya won Best Tasting and fried bacon cinnamon rolls won Most Creative.
While we're happy for the winners and all, we feel that two awards just don't recognize enough of the glorious fried foods found at the fair. Thus we bring to you the Top 10 State Fair of Texas foods:
10. Fried Stack of Taters Listen, we know -- fried potatoes are not anything innovative -- they're not even close to innovative. But they're an all-American classic, and we're suckers for classic foods. Fried taters never fail to make situations better and happier. And more calorie-filled. Sprinkle them with a bit of salt, dip them in ketchup, mustard or mayonnaise -- or garnish as you please. But don't even try to tell us that they don't deserve recognition for their undying goodness.
9. Deep-Fried Bubblegum The edible properties of bubblegum are quite questionable, due to the fact that once you swallow gum, it stays in your intestines for seven years, or something like that. Which makes eating this candy ten times more fun than eating, say, a Jolly Rancher -- that's just playing it safe. Eating deep-fried bubblegum is for the thousands of adventurous, kid-at-heart types, hidden under their grown-up disguises. Warning: If you like making bubbles the size of your face and then popping them, this feat may be a bit hard to accomplish with gum that's been fried.
8. Fried Juicy Lucy For those who don't know, a Juicy Lucy is a hamburger with cheese in which the cheese is placed inside the hamburger patty rather than on top of the meat. In a word, Juicy Lucys are incredible. While adding good to already-established goodness is sometimes overkill, this is not the case here. Frying the patty is a simple way to upgrade a Juicy Lucy, as its frying requires some type of batter, and batter instantaneously ups the scrumptiousness factor in most dishes. Our mouths are watering just at the thought of this tasty creation, with its oozing cheese and slight crunch thanks to the batter.