State Fairs and Culture

I heard a story on NPR this morning about a concessionaire at the Texas State Fair who has perfected "deep fried beer" as his entry into the fair's contest for concessions. I'm sure it helps that it's deep fried, it is Texas after all.

The host of the show tried to tickle out the process for deep frying a liquid, but the guy was pretty close lipped. He has a patent pending.

Last year, my son went to the Texas State Fair with the express purpose of trying every fried food that was sold. He did it. He was actually pretty sick for days afterwards. Apparently, humans are not plumbed to ingest that much fat.

The winner in his mind last year was "deep fried butter". Yes, you heard that right. Deep fat fried fat. I have to say, this did not attract me in the least and I can be seduced by a funnel cake. He said they took flavored chunks of butter, battered them and deep fried them. When you bit into the chunk, you had a big mouth full of buttery flavored dough. Makes my teeth itch just thinking about it.

The deep fried beer appetizer is more like a ravioli. They say that the deep frying process doesn't diffuse any of the alcohol potency, so it's just like drinking a gulp from a can. He's using Guinness beer, which is served at room temperature any way, so maybe this one will be good. I'm withholding judgement.

I love state fairs. I think you can tell a lot about a city or state by the annual fair and the people who turn out for it. Our first Oklahoma State Fair was enlightening. I had my first Scotch Egg and my first Indian Taco. It wasn't all about the food. I also got "the last mop you'll ever own!" on the midway and saw some great stuff being hawked by professional salesman.

At the Oklahoma State Fair, you see salesmen who are pitching tornado proof shelters. You don't see that at other fairs. FEMA and the Emergency Management System both had booths set up with storm preparedness literature. I chatted with those guys for quite a while.

You learn things about folks in your state. One thing I know about Oklahoma from the state fair? The local pecan growers have all formed a coalition and take their fallen trees and culls to a lumber yard. You can buy pecan flooring with the sure knowledge that these trees were sustainably harvested and you're keeping a family farm in business.

I also learned a lot about Indian culture. A lot of the tribes are represented at the State Fair. There are celebrations with singing, dancing and drums. There are cultural exhibits with historical information available. It's a world away from other state fairs.

I like the fair. I like seeing what they'll carve out of butter. I like watching some of the FFA shows. Seeing the little kids dressed all spiffy showing off the glamorous livestock they hand raised. It's a fun, family experience.

Oh, and the food. I need a funnel cake.

--Sandee Wagner