Fair Food

[Dee Ann McCloskey]

Okay, so it's not actually a hole in the wall, but I LOVE fair food! Elephant ears, corndogs, caramel corn, fried twinkies, lemon shake-ups-- any kind of food that you can get at a fair or festival. And, the best fair foods are the ones that are the worst for you. Anybody else a Fair Food Junkie?

[Rae Kridel]

Fried Twinkies? Seriously? I know when I was visiting a boyfriend in England, he told me the Scotts in Glasgow loved deep fried Mars bars and I thought he was kidding. Of course, they also loved fried pizza. And yes, that's exactly what it sounds like.

[Dee Ann McCloskey]

Yes, seriously. Seriously good, too. I have had fried candy bars, too. Fried pizza, huh? I'd like to give it a try...

[Andrew Ball]

I love it!!!!!!!!!! My wife so hates going to the fair, that one year she told me go without her and with one of her girlfriends just so I could walk up and down the foodway eating from one end to the other. I'm up for it this year. Any takers?

[Brian Huff]

Oh fair food! My wife and I go to the State Fair FOR the food. We love that you can get fresh meat sandwiches and everything fried. We even tried to get fair food at our wedding. No kidding. I grew up going to the Elkhart County 4-H fair, which is nearly as large as the State Fair. There was/is a donut vendor there that I've loved since I can remember, Tom Thumb Donuts.
http://www.tomthumbdonuts.com/

I love them so much we tried to get the vendor to cater dessert at our wedding reception. Alas, it didn't happen, but not because of lack of effort.

[Dee Ann McCloskey]

I agree, Brian and Andrew. I could spend one day just grazing at all the food vendors! The more unique the food, the better. Is it August, yet?

[Andrew Ball]

One of the reasons my wife doesn't like the fair is the arrangement of the animal barns and food vendors. She thinks it's cruel to put the lambchop vendor outside the sheep barn, hamburgers outside of the cow barn, etc. I prefer to think of it as being REALLY fresh meat...

[Andrew Ball]

Other than about a bajillion health code issues, I think your husband has a great idea. As we get closer to the fair, watch for publicity about what fried foods will be offered this year. That seems to always boost the crowds.

[Rae Kridel]

If you need a substitute in the mean time, last time I was at the Broad Ripple Farmer's Market, I tried Transylvanian chimney bread. It came in cinnamon or walnut, not too sweet, but really lovely. There's usually a short line of people waiting to get them hot right off the spindle.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/vreefick/1388788475/in/set-72157602045...
http://www.flickr.com/photos/vreefick/1388788927/in/set-72157602045...

[Dee Ann McCloskey]

Great idea--he could offer a variety of batters; sweet (like funnel cake), beer batter, corn meal batter, etc. How 'bout just plain fried batter and add stuff like sugar, cinnamon--oh wait-that would be an elephant ear or beaver tail. Hmm...how 'bout deep fried batter and then coat it in chocolate...

[Rae Kridel]

I was at the Central Library this weekend and on the 4th Floor (I think) they have a couple of display cases about the State Fair. One was on fair food, and had photos and articles about the food to be found there. They had a photo of a "combo basket" that had a battered, deep fried snickers, oreo cookie and I think the bananas foster. Oy, that's a lot of fried goo!

[Scott Semester]

You don't have to wait for August to get your Fair Food fix!

It's a bit of a trip from the city, but Wiggles in Danville offers fair food all year round. I did a piece on them for Hendricks County Magazine a while back, and they definitely qualify as a place the Hole in the Wall Eating Club might enjoy!

They're located right on the square in Danville. (From 465 on the west side, take US-36 all the way through Avon and then up the hill to Danville's town square. Wiggles is right next to the old theater on the east side of the square. Washington Street, I think.)

They've got elephant ears and funnel cakes and tenderloin sandwiches and all manner of deep-fried whatnot. It's also an old-fashioned candy store, and you can satisfy your nostalgic sweet tooth at the same time you satisfy your fair food crave!

[Rae Kridel]

That's not that far for me, but I'm really not a fair food kind of person, unless it's cotton candy. But I wouldn't mind wandering out to see if they have Zotz. I know you can get it in large boxes online, but man, I loved that stuff.