Sonoma County Fair food will clog arteries but pique interest
It goes without the need of stating county fairs are a haven for supporters of greasy deep-fried foods protected in salt or sugar.
Tasked to check out out the eats made available at this year’s Sonoma County Fair in Santa Rosa, the health-mindful wannabe in me assumed it may well be smarter to purchase a smaller quantity of this type of good foods or go with good friends or family to divide the bites.
But I went on your own Thursday to the fair’s Opening Day.
Intent on resisting the funnel cakes, deep-fried Oreo cookies or other standard good fare that quite a few men and women know all far too nicely, I’d hatched an formidable strategy to management what handed by means of my lips: Eat at minimum two full-study course meals, every with a aspect, entree, drink and dessert.
The far more strange, but complementary foods combination, the much better. In essence, I was on the hunt for this year’s exotic equivalent of a bacon maple doughnut.
Spoiler inform: I was whole ideal away and my two-food system failed virtually quickly.
Tri-suggestion sandwich and lobster fries
Initially up were the lobster fries from Sharky’s Fish Fry.
Do not presume they serve chunks of deep-fried lobster meat. What you in fact get are french fries included in chunks of meat with a zesty sauce on leading.
A typical buy fees $24, involves forks and napkins and is additional than ample for one, two or 3 individuals. If you are section of big group or have a huge hunger, you can commit a handful of pounds a lot more for lobster fries in a little bucket.
I added a tri-tip sandwich from Chillin & Grillin BBQ as aspect of my initiatives to fulfill my complete-program food plan.
The meat was tender with a smokey and salty taste and fairly tasty as significantly as tri-suggestion sandwiches go, but at the cost of $20.
Two of my colleagues were roaming the fairgrounds and I prayed they would exhibit up and help end the lobster fries, which were being delectable but possible to engulf me in guilt.
50 % the sandwich came dwelling with me, but a person colleague aided finish the fries. The other ate a person fry and explained she was comprehensive.
Mini pancakes with Oreo cookies
Looking for strange meals mixtures, we stumbled on mini pancakes at Pepe’s Mariscos, which supplied 15 pancakes with a decision of toppings for $11.
The choices provided Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal with lechera, caramel and banana Fruity Pebbles cereal with strawberries and strawberry syrup and s’mores, which is clearly graham crackers, marshmallows and chocolate syrup.
On a whim, I went with Oreo cookies, white chocolate and chunks of chocolate.
The pancakes, smaller sized than greenback-dimension, had been sweet and relatively fluffy, but the Oreos were fairly significantly what you would be expecting from the famous cookie.
I regretted not experimenting with just one of those other selections. In all probability ought to have absent with the s’mores.
A colleague, meanwhile, began in on a caramel-protected waffle on a stick. He appeared fewer than amazed.
Cheese on a adhere
Ok, this a person even acquired weird appears to be like from the vendor and other honest attendees.
It came from Huge Jim’s Dawgpound, wherever a cashier defined it was a stick of Velveeta cheese, deep fried in batter on a adhere. The staff also appeared intrigued that I was supplying it a attempt.
It expense $8 and seemed inexpensive for a thing that could spark dialogue.
The cashier presented a thing that resembled a shorter, but rounder, corn puppy.
A person chunk was enough cheese to previous a lifetime. As I held it up for a photograph, the cheese was not durable ample to hold the sizzling, oily batter and it slipped down the adhere and burned my thumb.
I confirmed the cheese adhere to two good attendees sitting close by. They appeared intrigued, but not adequate to get a cheese adhere on their own.
I drove back again to the workplace with most of it in a to-go box.
Fried Twinkie
I eventually bought all around to striving a classic fair food items, but only by default.
Fried Snickers bars have normally been a reasonable most loved but they ended up tricky to locate simply because only a person vendor advertised it. Also, the booth hadn’t opened for the day.
Hence, my change to the Twinkie, which has been supplied at county fairs considering the fact that the dawn of time.
This one particular price $5 and arrived from Funnel Cake Specific.
It was lined in powered sugar, which spilled on to my pants.
Pure sugar is particularly the detail that came to head when I took a chunk and it did not stand out like a Snickers, which is a incredibly gooey mess of chocolate, caramel and peanuts.
In hindsight, with no Snickers accessible, I must have long gone for the fried Oreo.
In closing
Nothing tasted definitely poor, besides for the cheese stick. But, in the close I still left the reasonable feeling really guilty for my lack of ability to resist all the junk.
County honest foods can be an remarkable treat if you really do not brain shelling out additional funds and committing to nonstop exercising for the week that follows.
Here’s my previous phrase of advice: Anyone who designs to attempt as a great deal reasonable food items as possible at this year’s Sonoma County Fair may want to distribute out the treats and do some strolling in between every meal — and carry a good deal of luggage for the to-go bins.
You can attain Team Author Colin Atagi at [email protected]. On Twitter @colin_atagi