California's Carnival and Fair Foods

I love everything about county fairs--the livestock, the art work, the pig races, the rides, the lights at night, and, of course, the food. Growing up in Montana, I was excited to go to the Yellowstone County Fair each year, with my favorite food being the Viking on a Stick from the Sons of Norway booth. It is a Swedish meatball on a stick--and it might have been deep fried. I'm not sure--it has been quite a few years.

Now that I live in Sacramento I'm lucky enough to get the small Sacramento County Fair over Memorial Day Weekend, and the enormous California State Fair for 17 days ending on Labor Day (and it used to be 24 days). But that doesn't stop me from visiting other county fairs in the area--I try to combine visits to those fairs with hiking/camping trips, or with excursions to photograph vintage neon signs and historic buildings.

At first I took to photographing the typical carnival foods--corn dogs and caramel apples and the like. But at fairs these days there are always people selling over-the-top food, like a deep-fried White Castle hamburger. I'm willing to give those a try too, no matter how unpalatable and unhealthy the concoction might sound.

So here, just for your amusement, are some photos of foods I have eaten and the fairs in Northern California that I ate them at.


Deep-fried Twinkie on a stick
Contra Costa County Fair (Antioch)

This was surprisingly good--certainly better than what I remember an unfried Twinkie tasting like. I've seen that at other places, though, they top the Twinkies, with powdered sugar, or chocolate syrup. Discovering that, I felt like I had been cheated with a plain old deep-fried Twinkie.


Deep-fried cheese on a stick
Contra Costa County Fair

The melted cheese is contained by the fried cornmeal batter. The cheese was not of high quality, and this really didn't work too well as stick food.


Bacon-wrapped hot dogs
Mother Lode Fair (Sonora)

I'm afraid I didn't get to try these. I had eaten a very large meal at a barbecue restaurant while waiting for the fair to open. I've looked for them at other fairs since, but haven't had any luck in finding them. I'm very anxious to give them a try.


Cheesecake on a stick
California State Fair

Frozen and dipped in chocolate. You know they couldn't go wrong with this one.


Foot-long corn dog
California State Fair

A classic. The only corn dogs I had as a kid were from the school cafeteria, and they were not good, so it came as a surprise to me later on to find out how delicious a well done corn dog is. As for the meat--I've seen booths boasting that they serve 100% turkey corn dogs, and ones boasting 100% beef corn dogs. I love them both, as long as they are either "jumbo" or "foot-long."


Deep-fried White Castle hamburger and fries
California State Fair

Between this and the unusually greasy fries underneath it, I felt a bit queasy when I finished eating, but soon recovered. There was no way I wasn't going to try this after reading about it in the Sacramento Bee.



Twister dog
El Dorado County Fair (Placerville)

When I couldn't find a bacon-wrapped hot dog, I had to settle for this. It's a spiral-cut potato wrapped around a hot dog and deep fried. It was not good.


Smoked German sausage
Sacramento County Fair

Mmmmm, I wish I had one right now.


Caramel apple
Sacramento County Fair

A classic I used to enjoy at the Yellowstone County Fair in Montana. I need to also get a photo of a candied apple, which is something I never saw growing up. I don't really understand that one either--the hard shell makes it a bit of a challenge to eat. The caramel apple is no problem.


Frozen banana dipped in chocolate
Contra Costa County Fair

Always a favorite of my mother and sister.


Turkey leg
California State Fair

Awfully pricey compared to the turkey legs at Sam's Hof Brau, but the seasoning was delicious.


Fried Pop Tart
California State Fair

Topped off with syrup and sprinkles. I don't really remember this, but in my comments on the posting of the photo on Flickr I said that it was surprisingly good, and I don't lie about these things.


Funnel cake
Gold Country Fair

Topped with cinnamon and sugar. I think I need to get one with more impressive toppings to photograph, not to mention getting a shot without shadow on the corner.


Fried peanut butter and banana with honey
California State Fair

If it's good enough for Elvis . . . .


Swirl cone
California State Fair


Egg roll on a stick
Sacramento County Fair

You'll have to take my word for it that they shoved a stick up into it. A poorly conceived photo. I like the idea, however, of putting food on a stick for no reason. I mean, an egg roll is convenient finger food anyhow. I've been looking for pizza on a stick, which I have seen photos of on Flickr, but not yet found for myself.


Beignets
California State Fair

The New Orleans classic.


Corn on the cob
Sacramento County Fair

One of my favorite things about summer growing up in Montana was all the roadside stands selling sweet, juicy, golden corn on the cob, usually 8-12 ears for $1. I think it will set you back more like $3-$4 for one ear at the fair.


Italian sausage sandwich
Sacramento County Fair

German sausage, Italian sausage . . . it's all good.


Fried frog legs
California State Fair

They tasted more like cod than chicken to me, and were served with lemon and tartar sauce like fish would be.


Frito pie
Yuba-Sutter Fair (Yuba City)

Cheap and filling--fair food tends to be pricey, so this was a nice find. It's just Fritos, chili, and cheese. I added the onions, which were set out for topping hot dogs.


Gourmet caramel apple
Yuba-Sutter Fair

Ooh, much too sugary. I'll stick with the regular caramel apple next time.


Deep-fried artichoke hearts
Sacramento County Fair

I love artichokes, but was disappointed with these--far too greasy.


Funky monkey waffle cone
California State Fair

The server took out a large scoop of vanilla ice cream, put fresh banana slices, bits of chocolate, and peanuts on it, then folded it all together with two spatulas before putting it all in the waffle cone. Delicious


Hawaiian shaved ice
California State Fair

Strawberry, banana, and grape. Looking at all of these photos together, I know now how I SHOULD have shot this subject.


Churro
California State Fair

We didn't have these at the fair in Montana, but they are the classic carnival/fair/festival food in California's Central Valley. They're just deep-fried dough with cinnamon and sugar.

There are plenty more foods to be tried, so I'm sure I'll be updating this every year.

The Sacramento County Fair

"Well I'm off to the county fair tonight," I say to a friend while leaving work.

"The fair? I thought that wasn't until August," replies my confused friend.

"No, not the California State Fair. The Sacramento County Fair," I answer back.

"I didn't know we had a county fair. Where's it held?"

This is a typical conversation for me in the week before Memorial Day the last three years. Not only have none of my friends been to the county fair (except for one who I went with this year), but none of them had ever heard of it before I mentioned it to them.


Win a Prize

But it's true--Sacramento County has its very own fair with rides and everything. There is no need to wait until August or drive down to Dixon to enjoy corndogs and cotton candy.

The fair is small, and of relatively recent birth. There was a county fair many years ago in Galt, but it became just an agriculture, livestock, and craft exhibition and competition. Then it moved to the old fairgrounds in Sacramento, and finally to Cal Expo when the state fair moved there.


Midway of Fun

In 1987 the organizers sought to expand it by adding rides, competitions, and entertainment, including a Jan and Dean concert. Since 1991 it has been a self-funding event that is trying to play the same role that county fairs play in every other county in the state.

Memorial Day Weekend, when the fair is held, is the same weekend that the Sacramento Jazz Jubilee occurs, a premiere event that takes place on a much larger scale. But even though I attend both events each year, they really appeal to different demographics. In the past the Sacramento County Fair had no admission charge, and this year it was still quite reasonable--$3 for adults, children 12 and under free. The jazz festival, on the other hand, charges $45 for an all-day pass on Saturday or Sunday. And while the fair maintains a family friendly atmosphere by not allowing any smoking on the fairgrounds, the jazz festival has big alcohol sales.


Dolly

The bigger competition for the county fair is the state fair. The county fair is tiny by comparison, and in the years I have gone, there have been no big entertainment acts. The biggest draw this year was the demolition derby, for which a separate admission was charged.

Almost everything about the Sacramento County Fair is scaled down in comparison to the state fair, but it is much on par with many of the county fairs I have visited throughout Northern California. I have the same things I like to do at each of these fairs.


Future Goat Stew

I check out the livestock exhibits. This year I brought a vegetarian friend with me, and enjoyed telling him of my experiences eating each of the animals we saw on display. "Oh look, the rabbits. I ate rabbit in Quebec." "I love goats. I had the most delicious goat stew at a Philippine restaurant in Concord."

Then I always check out the photography exhibit. I look at the art too, but it's the photography that most interests me. I've never been able to figure out the judging. There are some brilliant shots, some okay shots, and some bad shots entered every year, and sometimes the brilliant ones win, but not always. Occasionally some of the shots that I consider bad, and would have deleted before anyone else had a chance to see them if I had taken them, win.


Smoked German Sausage

I sample the many foods available, either looking for the typical county fair foods, like corn dogs, or for the particularly decadent foods. The only thing at the county fair that isn't on a smaller scale than the state fair is the pricing on the food. I probably wouldn't spend my money on it if I weren't also planning to photograph it.

Then there are the rides, and, most importantly, the lights on the rides, that move around at night. Unfortunately, I haven't spent much time at the Sacramento County Fair at night. It's only open until 10, and the sun sets late that close to the summer solstice.



Despite the new admission charge, the Sacramento Bee reported that attendance was up at the Sacramento County Fair this year, as were food sales. I'm hoping that will mean some expansion of the offerings next year. I'm doing my part to spread the word.