State Fair: Taste testing the new food
The deep fried fun is finally here. The N.C. State Fair kicks off on Thursday and that means lots of new food to try.
As with every year, the media gets a sneak peek of about 15 to 20 items ahead of time. On this week's WRAL Out and About Podcast we break down which new foods we loved and which ones we weren't so excited about.
Here's a list of some of our favorites:
Campfire on a Stick (Hot Chix Hotcakes and Chicken) - Mini pancakes layered with toasted marshmallows covered in chocolate with a graham cracker topping. This is a perfect fair food. You can walk around and eat it. The sweet marshmallows go great with the mini pancakes.
Fried Rum Runners (Gobblin’ Gourmet) - Gobblin' Gourmet teamed up with Raleigh Rum for these deep fried balls. They are sweet and really good!
Deep Fried Garlic Cheese Curds (The Cheese Curd Shack) - Deep fried garlic cheese curds. Garlic? Good. Cheese? Good. Deep fried? YES
The Chickenator (Chef’s D’Lites) - Golden fried chicken breast between two honey buns. Topped with pepper jack cheese and crispy bacon, drizzled with a zesty honey sauce. This is a pleasant surprise. While it reminds me a little of a Krispy Kreme burger (except with chicken), the honey sauce really helps set it apart.
Loaded Lamb Nachos (Neomonde) - Shawarma spiced ground lamb simmered with onions on a bed of Neomonde Baking pita chips and topped with fresh pico, feta cheese and harissa yogurt sauce. This is the healthier alternative to regular nachos. I love how fresh the flavors taste! A perfect non-fried dish!
Reeses Donut (F&W Concessions) - A hand-cut yeast raised donut covered in creamy chocolate frosting, topped with chopped peanuts, chunks of Reeses peanut butter cups and sprinkled with mini Reeses pieces. This was a solid dessert item. I would definitely want to try this with ice cream.
The Sloppy Pig (Bubba's Bacon) - Texas Toast covered in Sloppy Joe mix and cheese. It's Bubba's Bacon so you know he is going to top it with bacon crumbles. This was actually really good. I'm not a big Sloppy Joe person but I really liked it.
Candied Apple Hush Puppies (Ragin Cajun) - These sweet but not too sweet hush puppies are only made better with the Cheerwine glaze on top.
Crack-n-Cheese Stuffed Turkey Leg (Hickory Tree BBQ) - Crack-n-Cheese stuffed into a fall-off-the-bone smoked turkey leg. Crack-n-Cheese consists of hickory smoked turkey barbecue, homemade mac and cheese and our signature sauce topped with turkey cracklins. OK, so this was delicious but we were served the dish little cups. I'm a little intimidated by trying to eat a turkey leg stuffed with the Crack-n-Cheese. I wish they offered an option in a bowl!
Stuffed Cubano Baguette (La Farm Bakery) - North Carolina branded stuffed baguette with pulled pork, mozzarella cheese, bread and butter pickles and a sweet ham with a spinach garlic, cilantro and lime Cubano sauce. A giant and delicious sandwich. I loved the lime Cubana sauce.
Pineapple Dole Whip (Tropical Delights) - Pineapple Dole Whip is a soft serve dairy-free frozen dessert made with exclusively vegan ingredients and is gluten free. It is hugely popular at Disney World. Tropical Delights won the 2019 State Fair Media Luncheon award for best new fair food with this item.
Korean BBQ Pork Belly Eggroll (Woody’s Wing Wagon) - Woody's has a winner with this crispy pork belly stuffed egg roll. I really liked the Korean BBQ sauce on top.
We can't wait to try even more new fair foods when the fair officially opens on Thursday!
