It happens every year about this time. As the skies clear of hot air balloons in Plano, the cooler wind blows through the trees and salty rain soaks the area with a deep-fried crispy air. It must be about “fair time”, The Texas State Fair in Dallas, that is.
“I go once every three years,” senior Jennifer Bradshaw said. “I love the Ferris wheel and the swings that fly around.”
This year’s fair welcomes new contenders for the ever-popular, but highly unhealthy, Big Tex Choice Awards. These awards reflect the new and tastiest foods offered at the fair, which tends to draw the longest lines to the top winners over the last five years.
“The funnel cake and the cotton candy are my favorite,” Bradshaw said. “They’re not healthy, but they’re delicious.”
Last year’s winners of the Big Tex Choice Awards were the fried banana split and everyone’s favorite: chicken fried bacon. For 2009, some innovative crispy treats are in store for fairgoers such as: green goblins, twisted yam on a stick, fried pecan pie, country fried pork chops, sweet jalapeno corn, fried peanut butter cup macaroon, and the tasty dog shrimp. This year’s most creative winner popped out the latest heart-clogging Deep Fried Butter. This new invention in the southern-fried cooking world was introduced by four-time winner of Tex Best Choice Awards Abel Gonzales Jr.
In order to make this deep fried butter, this delectable meal is created by taking a slice of butter, which is covered in dough, then deep fried. After cooking, the melted butter pours out after taking a bite. The cholesterol-starved world welcomes deep fried butter, after a long history of past choice winners: fried coke, Texas fried cookie dough, fried jelly and banana sandwich just to name a few. All of these fried delights were created by The Fletcher Brothers, ever since they introduced their deep fried hot dog in a cornbread coating at the Texas State Fair in 1938. That year set off a race to the fair each year for over 3 million annual fairgoers to try the high-fat foods and bring over $350 million dollars into the Dallas economy. Now the Fair has been donned the nickname the “Fried Food Capital of Texas”.
“It sounds interesting but not that tasty, “Junior Michael Losasso said. “The food is great, but it’s the unhealthiest thing in the world.”