OKLAHOMA CITY — If you’re going to eat at the fair, you’ll need a stick.
Preferably, a clean one.
But a stick, just the same.
Because at the Oklahoma State Fair food must be portable. Forget the plates, and you probably won’t need that knife either. Sure, you’ll see an occasional fork, and OK, a spoon or two, but fair food is a truly unique creation in the culinary world.
And it’s not for the faint of heart.
Great fair food must be tasty, incredibly fattening, messy and a dietitian’s nightmare. And, yes, fair food needs a stick — think walking and eating.
For some foods this is easily accomplished.
And others come with their stick built in.
But today, the latest in deep frying technology has brought a vast, and ever-growing collection of foods — previously though unavailable — to the stick.
•
Just southeast of the Space Needle, now adorned with advertising and slogans from one of Oklahoma’s larger utilities, are the food vendors. They stretch along a corridor about a full city block long and intersect with the State Fair grandstands and the midway.
Early in the afternoon the food vendors heat up their griddles and began frying mounds of onions. Sure, onions taste good, but it’s the aroma — that intoxicating blend of autumn in Oklahoma and grilled onions — which will put your saliva glands into overdrive.
If you can resist that wonderful smell long enough, stroll up and down the fair’s version of restaurant row and scout your food-on-a-stick possibilities.
There are many.
This year, nestled in among the Indian Taco stands, the beer sellers and the famous Silver Dollar Cinnamon Rolls, is quite possibly, the newest example of the marriage of food and stick.
Deep fried garlic mashed potatoes — on a stick.
No, I am not making this up.
Sporting a huge white banner cleverly titled “Deep Fried Garlic Mashed Potatoes On A Stick,” Tony Diventuri and his wife Sara, have managed to capture the imaginations of Oklahoma fair goers.
For $5 — $6.50 if you want the sampler — Tony and Sara will hook you up with four ball-shaped dollops of garlic (and bacon if you want) mashed potatoes, coated in seasonings and deep fried.
For those of you who want a little taste of everything, Tony’s sampler includes: fried mashed potatoes, friend chicken strips, fried macaroni and cheese and fried ravioli.
Served with a seasoned sour cream, the mashed potatoes on a stick are amazingly tasty.
“We started about three years ago,” he said. “We just fried a bunch of stuff to see what worked.”
And after a year or so of refining his recipe, Tony and Sara realized they had a hit.
“The response is, well, overwhelming,” he said. “Last weekend we had people lined up for 10 hours, it was non-stop.”
That’s understandable; it’s not everyone that gets to eat their mashed potatoes deep friend and impaled on a stick. Gravy, however, was not an option.
An independent truck driver in “his other life,” Tony and Sara make their home in St. Paul, Minn. And while they sell food at several arts shows and other outdoor events in their hometown, they only work two state fairs — the Oklahoma State Fair and the Tulsa State Fair.
•
Maybe it has something to do with Okies and mashed potatoes.
But while Tony Diventuir may have developed the latest stick food, he’s not the only game in town.
For those of the Henry VIII-type personality, the mammoth turkey legs are still a hit — it’s interesting that the majority of turkey legs I witnessed being eaten were owned by small, grandmotherly women.
There’s also pizza-on-a-stick, hot dogs-on-a-stick, cheesecake-on-a-stick, sausage-on-a-stick, chicken-on-a-stick, cheese-on-a-stick, chocolate strawberries-on-a-stick and the humble corndog.
OK, the Oklahoma State Fair version of the corndog is roughly the size of a paper towel tube and, when attached to a stick, looks more like a baseball bat, but it remains true to its corndog heritage.
Just down from the corndog vendors, you’ll find something called a Walking Taco, which is really more a Frito chili pie, but hey, its the fair and remember food has to be portable.
Of course, Indian tacos are still a hit, along with both pork and beef barbecue, Italian sausage and those massive, single French fried potatoes — regretfully, those don’t come on a stick.
You can also get hamburgers, grilled corn on the cob (its stick is built in), carameled apples (yep, with a stick), funnel cake, cotton candy (often found on a tube, so it really doesn’t qualify for the stick moniker), and Wonderbars.
Found in the Made in Oklahoma building, Wonderbars — vanilla ice cream, covered in chocolate and coated with nuts, on a stick — are made and served by the Oklahoma Hospitality Club.
If you really need a chocolate fix, there’s the Chocolate Suicide which is deep fried cake with ice cream, smothered in chocolate and served with a stick.
•
With the Sooner State celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, it only seems natural that the 2007 State Fair Centennial Expo should feature the fun, the silly, the strange and the unique.
Granted, there are still the animals, the rides, the games and the people, but it’s the food that stands out at this, our 100th anniversary.
And while food technology may have brought us far, for some fairgoers the best part of eating at the fair is its once-a-year treats.
“For me, it’s the corndogs,” said Elizabeth McCormick. “They are the best.”
Elizabeth, along with her friends Catherine Langford and Nancy Will, took time from working the Republican Party booth to sneak out, see the sights and grab a few corndogs.
“I only eat them when I’m here,” Langford said. “But they are wonderful.”
McCormick agrees.
“Don’t tell anyone, but I ate two,” she said.
Corndogs — food that still fits perfectly on a stick.
Preferably, a clean one.
But a stick, just the same.
Because at the Oklahoma State Fair food must be portable. Forget the plates, and you probably won’t need that knife either. Sure, you’ll see an occasional fork, and OK, a spoon or two, but fair food is a truly unique creation in the culinary world.
And it’s not for the faint of heart.
Great fair food must be tasty, incredibly fattening, messy and a dietitian’s nightmare. And, yes, fair food needs a stick — think walking and eating.
For some foods this is easily accomplished.
And others come with their stick built in.
But today, the latest in deep frying technology has brought a vast, and ever-growing collection of foods — previously though unavailable — to the stick.
•
Just southeast of the Space Needle, now adorned with advertising and slogans from one of Oklahoma’s larger utilities, are the food vendors. They stretch along a corridor about a full city block long and intersect with the State Fair grandstands and the midway.
Early in the afternoon the food vendors heat up their griddles and began frying mounds of onions. Sure, onions taste good, but it’s the aroma — that intoxicating blend of autumn in Oklahoma and grilled onions — which will put your saliva glands into overdrive.
If you can resist that wonderful smell long enough, stroll up and down the fair’s version of restaurant row and scout your food-on-a-stick possibilities.
There are many.
This year, nestled in among the Indian Taco stands, the beer sellers and the famous Silver Dollar Cinnamon Rolls, is quite possibly, the newest example of the marriage of food and stick.
Deep fried garlic mashed potatoes — on a stick.
No, I am not making this up.
Sporting a huge white banner cleverly titled “Deep Fried Garlic Mashed Potatoes On A Stick,” Tony Diventuri and his wife Sara, have managed to capture the imaginations of Oklahoma fair goers.
For $5 — $6.50 if you want the sampler — Tony and Sara will hook you up with four ball-shaped dollops of garlic (and bacon if you want) mashed potatoes, coated in seasonings and deep fried.
For those of you who want a little taste of everything, Tony’s sampler includes: fried mashed potatoes, friend chicken strips, fried macaroni and cheese and fried ravioli.
Served with a seasoned sour cream, the mashed potatoes on a stick are amazingly tasty.
“We started about three years ago,” he said. “We just fried a bunch of stuff to see what worked.”
And after a year or so of refining his recipe, Tony and Sara realized they had a hit.
“The response is, well, overwhelming,” he said. “Last weekend we had people lined up for 10 hours, it was non-stop.”
That’s understandable; it’s not everyone that gets to eat their mashed potatoes deep friend and impaled on a stick. Gravy, however, was not an option.
An independent truck driver in “his other life,” Tony and Sara make their home in St. Paul, Minn. And while they sell food at several arts shows and other outdoor events in their hometown, they only work two state fairs — the Oklahoma State Fair and the Tulsa State Fair.
•
Maybe it has something to do with Okies and mashed potatoes.
But while Tony Diventuir may have developed the latest stick food, he’s not the only game in town.
For those of the Henry VIII-type personality, the mammoth turkey legs are still a hit — it’s interesting that the majority of turkey legs I witnessed being eaten were owned by small, grandmotherly women.
There’s also pizza-on-a-stick, hot dogs-on-a-stick, cheesecake-on-a-stick, sausage-on-a-stick, chicken-on-a-stick, cheese-on-a-stick, chocolate strawberries-on-a-stick and the humble corndog.
OK, the Oklahoma State Fair version of the corndog is roughly the size of a paper towel tube and, when attached to a stick, looks more like a baseball bat, but it remains true to its corndog heritage.
Just down from the corndog vendors, you’ll find something called a Walking Taco, which is really more a Frito chili pie, but hey, its the fair and remember food has to be portable.
Of course, Indian tacos are still a hit, along with both pork and beef barbecue, Italian sausage and those massive, single French fried potatoes — regretfully, those don’t come on a stick.
You can also get hamburgers, grilled corn on the cob (its stick is built in), carameled apples (yep, with a stick), funnel cake, cotton candy (often found on a tube, so it really doesn’t qualify for the stick moniker), and Wonderbars.
Found in the Made in Oklahoma building, Wonderbars — vanilla ice cream, covered in chocolate and coated with nuts, on a stick — are made and served by the Oklahoma Hospitality Club.
If you really need a chocolate fix, there’s the Chocolate Suicide which is deep fried cake with ice cream, smothered in chocolate and served with a stick.
•
With the Sooner State celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, it only seems natural that the 2007 State Fair Centennial Expo should feature the fun, the silly, the strange and the unique.
Granted, there are still the animals, the rides, the games and the people, but it’s the food that stands out at this, our 100th anniversary.
And while food technology may have brought us far, for some fairgoers the best part of eating at the fair is its once-a-year treats.
“For me, it’s the corndogs,” said Elizabeth McCormick. “They are the best.”
Elizabeth, along with her friends Catherine Langford and Nancy Will, took time from working the Republican Party booth to sneak out, see the sights and grab a few corndogs.
“I only eat them when I’m here,” Langford said. “But they are wonderful.”
McCormick agrees.
“Don’t tell anyone, but I ate two,” she said.
Corndogs — food that still fits perfectly on a stick.
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