Even in supposedly health-food obsessed Southern California, there are places you can find greasy excess without apology. The county fair is one such place, with fair season starting in June in San Diego, then moving up through Orange County and finally Los Angeles by the mid-September. I hit this year’s OC Fair to indulge in the gluten and grease-filled gloriousness, hoping all the walking around looking at pygmy goats, giant alligators and place setting competitions would mitigate the caloric damage. Here is what I found.
DRINKS
This kind of deep-fried novelty tends to take the shape of dough balls, usually of the pancake variety. Which is a bit of a cheat, but at least with the deep-fried coffee, they get points for presentation.
Deep-fried coffee
Three sugary dough balls, stuck on a skewer and presented in a paper coffee cup, garnished with lots of whipped cream. Surprisingly light, and reminiscent of marble cake with a strong ribbon of coffee flavor laced through the pastry.
Deep-fried Kool-Aid
Less fancy presentation than the coffee, just more dough balls, this time brightly colored by whatever Kool-Aid they’re using (likely cherry). Not that satisfying, unless you’re into sour pancakes.
SAVORIES
When it comes to deep-fried foods at the fair, the vendors seem to reserve their creativity for the sweet stuff. But here are some interesting savories.
Deep-fried pizza
This is not as weird as it may seem, since calzones, or pocket pizzas, are sometimes deep-fried. But this is different, because it’s an actual open-faced slice of pizza, beer battered. After puzzling over how they kept everything from sliding off in the battering process, I realized the pizza is already baked, so the melted cheese holds everything together. The overall effect is weird but not unpleasant, especially served with ranch dressing. It might be a way to perk up leftover pizza, if such a thing ever existed.
Deep-fried avocado
Not that outrageous, since tempura vegetables are so popular. Even the California Avocado Commission has a recipe for this. Still, a nice combination of creamy and crunchy.
Deep-fried burger
Battering and frying an entire burger seems even more logistically tricky than a slice of pizza, but this is a bit of a cheat. Only the burger patty is battered and deep fried, making it a chopped chicken-fried steak. Nothing that interesting about it.
