One of the things my family and friends always ask me before the Fair gets here is what unusual food will you guys have this year? Guests have said in a survey that food is the number one reason for coming to the Fair. Gooey food, frozen food, food on a stick, ginormous food, food covered in batter and fried, food covered in chocolate. FOOD! It’s a phenomenon all its own here at the L.A. County Fair. Perennial favorites are Hot Dog on a Stick (there I go again!), giant turkey legs, BBQ, 10-lb buns (oh yeah!). Then there are those of the sweet variety – deep-fried Oreos, Twinkies and Snickers, frozen chocolate-covered cheesecake with crushed Oreos on a stick (to diiiiiie for! But, really, you can only have one in an 18-day period, two max, ok – three but that’s pushing diabetic coma) and Texas-sized doughnuts. There truly is something for every palate, even for the health-conscious.
New this year is the world’s largest waffle cone filled with gelato – the Colossal Gelato. A 16-inch cone is filled with two pints of gelato – enough for an entire family to share (or not). Also new is CBS Cupcakes which will offer muffin-sized cupcakes – Red Velvet, chocolate and vanilla flavored – that will be frosted per order with a choice of three frostings and eight different toppings.
Fair food king Chicken Charlie Boghos is cookin’ up some fun things for 2008. He started the Krispy Kreme Chicken Sandwich craze and last year had the deep-fried peanut butter and banana sandwich in honor of the 30th anniversary of Elvis’ death. This year he is serving Deep-Fried Spam with pineapples and bringing back the popular Deep-Fried Frog Legs and Deep-Fried Avocados. Charlie will also have a new food stand serving chicken and waffles, perfected with Charlie’s own rotisserie chicken and homemade, family recipe waffles. It is here that he’ll serve Deep-Fried White Castles (you know, those little hamburgers), which he thinks will be the next big hit.
How ‘bout BBQ at its most extreme? Juicys Food’s Outlaw Grill, one of the largest grills in the world, debuts as the L.A. County Fair this year. Built on the back of a Peterbuilt 379 with an oven/smoker that holds 700 turkey legs, 100 briskets and pork butts, a hydraulically powered 38-foot grill that can cook 1,500 turkey legs and gas burners for pots of beans and side dishes – you have to see this to believe it!
Last year we sold: 25,000 funnel cakes; 700 lbs of popcorn; 33,000 lbs of potatoes; 500 lbs of rattlesnake bites (Eastern Diamondback variety); 27,000 lbs of lemons; and 103,000 Hot Dogs on a Stick (see I’m not the only one who likes ‘em!). Pretty amazing, isn’t it?
So, for one day, let your love of classic American fair food take flight! Ninety-nine days until the Fair – see you at the Hot Dog on a Stick stand, Chicken Charlie’s stand, 10-lb. Buns stand, Frozen Cheesecake stand…
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