Camacho Watcho

To kick off the long Labor Day weekend, Kyle and I headed to the Minnesota State Fair on Friday afternoon. We hadn’t been to a fair in years and here we were hitting our second state fair in a month. The grease, the sun, the beer…borderline body abuse.

Since there were only two of us at this fair, we were not able to sample as much fair food as we had on our list, but we still ate quite a lot. We had a pronto pup, corn dog, cheese curds, deep fried pickle slices, fried fruit on a stick, and a nectarine. Okay, that does sound like a lot of food actually.

The first debate we had was whether we preferred the pronto pup (below) or the corn dog (above). Before moving to Minnesota, I had never heard of a pronto pup. It’s basically the corn dog’s cousin, but made with a flour batter instead of cornmeal. Both are fried and served with ketchup and mustard, but we both decided we prefer the corn dog. It’s firmer, heartier, and a bit sweet, which tastes great alongside the hot dog.

As for the other food we sampled? Best cheese curds I had ever had! They were crispy, greasy (a requisite) and the cheese tasted really fresh. The fried fruit on a stick was a let down. It just tasted like warm fruit in a doughnut batter, which sounds good in theory but really doesn’t execute well. Deep fried pickle slices…these were good. They were crisp and served with a side of yummy ranch. Unfortunately we preferred the deep fried pickle spears at the Iowa State Fair (they were a bit lighter but just as crisp and they had dill in their batter!), so I can’t say they were the best I’ve ever had. Lastly, the nectarine. We were trying to decide how to end our state fair eating and were thinking of mini donuts or cookies…then we walked by the Global Market fresh fruit stand and decided that a fresh (non-fried) nectarine would be the perfect ending. Juicy and sweet, it hit the spot.

Minnesota vs. Iowa State Fair
I’ve gotten a few questions of how the Minnesota State Fair compares to the Iowa State Fair and which I like better. Historically, they are about the same age. The Iowa State Fair has been held since 1854 while the Minnesota State Fair has been running since 1859. The Iowa Fair sits on 400 acres (160 acres is campsites) and the Minnesota fairgrounds is 320 acres. The Minnesota Fair’s record attendance is more with about 1.68 million in 2007, while Iowa’s record was in 2004 with 1.05 million. (Information from Wikipedia).

As far as attractions go, it is a tough call, but I have to go with the Minnesota State Fair. Overall, the exhibits are beautiful and really interesting (horticulture building and the miracle of life buildings are amazing) and the International Bazaar, with its ethnic food and displays, is right up my alley. I also loved that the Minnesota State Fair had recycling bins everywhere and a corn cob compost center. Although I do prefer the Minnesota State Fair, both fairs were fun and I would definitely go back to either…but with all the fried food, thankfully they are only held once a year.

Posted on September 2nd, 2008 by katiejocannon
Filed under: Customs, Entertainment, Food