read buzz | Food fried on sticks

U rbana hosts this year?s Champaign County Fair, a family friendly festival that runs from Friday, July 20 until Saturday, July 28. The events range from county concerts to a Demolition Derby to livestock judging to a motorcycle rodeo to a tractor and truck pull. This year is the 160th anniversary since the Fair?s official outing, a modern spin on the original event which was a low-key gathering each summer of pioneer families who resided in Champaign County in the early 1850s. Food, traveling exhibits and wares were the main components of the gathering, as evidenced by the range of exhibitors that will hold court in 2012. From livestock to horticulture to arts and craft to a kiddie tent, everything and anything that represents the County?s peoples? civic pride will be on display. Local restaurants and organizations, as well as traveling food vendors, will be supplying the myriad of food available during the Fair.

While the website doesn?t yield any relevant information about the kinds of food and drink to expect at the Fair, it will be a County Fair which immediately conjures up images of all kinds of food stuck on a stick and then deep fried ?? a rampant yield of cotton candy, and deliciously greasy fare to be had in general. To celebrate the advent of the Fair, buzz lists the five best things to be fried on a stick, and suggests five foods that would probably taste awesome should they have the opportunity to one day be fried on a stick.

BEST THINGS FRIED ON A STICK

Corndogs: the fried food on a stick that started it all.

Corn Dogs
- There?s nothing quite as fair-y as a corn dog, especially one that is perfectly golden brown and drizzled with a generous helping of both mustard and ketchup. This particular reader can attribute her love of these fried hot dogs, which can be counted on its oddly bulbous shape, to The Princess Diaries. However, this writer has also stumbled across a monstrosity that originated in the eating markets of South Korea: a hot dog that is dipped in batter, then ensconced in a heap of French fries, and deep fried until golden brown and helplessly artery-clogging.

Despite their resemblance to the aforementioned corndog, these are fried twinkies.

Deep Fried Twinkies
- Ah, deep fried Twinkies, America?s successful attempt at transforming an already scary will-never-decompose snack food into an even less heart-friendly carnival food. That doesn?t mean they?re not tasty, however. Thankfully, the Twinkie seems to get supersized when deep fried, which is a blessing in disguise, since that severely limits one?s ability to eat more than one. And now, apparently, they can be doused with a liberal shower of powdered sugar or drenched in a pool of chocolate syrup.

Deep Fried Apple Pie
- Move over, deep fried cheesecake, and say hello to your far more American cousin: the skewered, deep fried apple pie. Apple pie in its original form already comes with a butter crust, which makes the dessert prime for a deep fried version. Whether the concoction is an actual slice of pie that gets the spa treatment, or if it?s apples and sugar stuffed into an empanada-like shell ? either way, the end result is crazy delicious.

Pizza cones: not on a stick, but fried and delicious.

Pizza Cones
- While pizza cones aren?t technically fried on a stick ? rather, the fried slice of pizza is rolled up into a paper cone ? they can still be consumed one-handed. They kind of look like a savory version of a drumstick ice cream cone, but don?t let the funky appearance detract from one?s enjoyment of this treat.

Fried Mochi and Cheese Ball Kushigae
- Kushigae are deep fried skewers of anything, really, usually found in Japanese pubs, to be consumed alongside a beer. They?re sort of the exotic version of tavern tapas; panko bread crumbs are involved in kushigae frying and that translates to crunchy and light. And since we?re talking about exotic translations, have a gander at the fried mochi and cheese ball, Japan?s answer to the mozzarella stick: a layer of mochi wrapped around a cheese curd.

BEST WOULD BE FRIED THINGS ON A STICK
No, this does not include the abomination that is a stick of butter fried on a stick that apparently exists in the world.

Bacon
- Deep fried bacon exists. Ted Allen told me so. It?s probably just as glorious as one can imagine, despite this writer?s controversial preference for soft bacon. A regular carnival food-on-a-stick is ribbons of potato arranged on a stick; the next step in the evolution of deep fried bacon is deep fried bacon impaled upon a stick.

Spaghetti and Meatball
- The greatest part of baked pasta is unequivocally those crispy bits at the edge of the dish. Now think of how awesome it would taste should those crispy bits of pasta be wrapped around a meatball, and then deep fried until even more crispy? It would be, hands down, one of the weirdest food-on-a-stick combinations, but it?s something that probably should come into existence immediately.

S?mores
- Think beyond deep fried brownies and cake. S?mores are obviously the next sweet snack in line for the deep fry treatment. Just like toasted marshmallows taste fantastic when its insides are far gooier than its crust, and how chocolate just tastes better when it?s melted, s?mores are begging to be deep fried. Stick it on a skewer and just swap out open flames with a vat of boiling oil. ASAP.

Paneer
- Paneer is a fresh Indian cheese found in common dishes as paneer aloo (savory potatoes with paneer) and saag paneer (paneer with spinach). The cheese is usually served cubed and steamed but as the process of preparing paneer is similar to tofu and mozzarella, this de facto conjures up scenarios of fried paneer. And how better to enjoy fried cubes of paneer than conveniently on a skewer?

Gyro Sandwich
- While gyro sandwiches have their share amount of grease and fat, imagine how tasty that grilled pita bread would taste after it?s dipped in batter and fried until blistering. Cheeseburgers get regularly deep fried, why not gyros? A giant dollop of tzatziki dressing would effectively cut through all that fat and provide a nice hit of tangy acid to appease any guilty thoughts.

Whatever fried-food-on-a-stick hits your fancy, hang out at the Champaign County Fair this upcoming week, and sample out the locals? fares. Free parking is available, and tickets cost $5 for adults 13 and up. Season tickets, which will get you in for all nine days, cost $20. Children 12 and younger are free. The Fair entrance is on corner of Coler and Fairview, and runs from 9 AM until 5 or 7 PM for all nine days.

Source: http://readbuzz.com/food-drink/2012/food-fried-on-sticks

tim tebow taylor swift post grad arpaio carol burnett neil degrasse tyson neil degrasse tyson davy jones death