The Louisiana State Fair Food Crawl

What's a State Fair Food Crawl, anyway?

Last night,  I had the privilege of attending the first ever Louisiana State Fair Food Crawl.  In fact, there's a very good chance that it was the first State Fair Food Crawl ever, anywhere!

In exchange for a small fee, attendees were given parking and admission to the fair and promised a sampling of a wide variety of Fair Food.  As someone who enjoys sampling a wide variety of culinary delights, and as some one who enjoys fried junk food, I thought this event must have been proposed specifically with me in mind.

I've long said that I'll try anything twice: once for the experience, the second to confirm.  As we left our rally point for the fairgrounds, I was excited by the prospect of trying something new and unusual.

Stop #1: Porky's for Rocky Mountain Oysters.

I had never tried these before. For those who don't know, Rocky Mountain Oysters are fried cow testicles.  I thought they were delicious.  A few of my compatriots were kind of squeamish about eating these, but I ate my entire helping and then most of Celia's (Celia doesn't typically eat mammals, but she was a good sport and tried almost everything).  They were very salty, but well seasoned.  I'm not sure I would have wanted to eat a whole helping of them, but I definitely recommend them as a shared appetizer or something like that.

Stop #2: Uncle Ray's for A Stuffed Pepper

This is a large jalapeno pepper stuffed with chicken and cheese, then wrapped in bacon, then grilled.  It was absolutely delicious.  This is the must-try item of the food crawl, in my opinion.  If you're at the Fair, go see Uncle Ray and buy one of these peppers.

Stop #3: Concessions Unlimited for Fried Oreos.

These were my first fried Oreos and they did not disappoint.  That said, they're pretty much exactly what you think they are: Oreos deep fried in a sweet batter.  If you like sweets you'll like these and if you like Oreos, you'll love them.

Stop #4: Chocolate Chip Cookies for Fried Cookie Dough

I know it looks like a corn dog with powered sugar, but this is fried cookie dough.  This homemade cookie dough is frozen and then battered and fried.  That keeps the dough itself from cooking.  The center of ours was still cold, which was actually really pleasant.  It let the flavor of the dough and the chocolate chips come through the outer layer of fried batter.  This item is incredibly sweet.  Fortunately, the Fair provided us with some bottled water right before this stop.

Stop #5: McKinney Food Services for Corn Dogs

Shockingly, we had a member of our group who had never had a Corn Dog before.  We all made sure she got the first one.  Like any good American, I love Corn Dogs.  A freshly fried Corn Dog from the Fair is hard to beat.  Celia even ate all of hers.

Stop #6: Swaine's Fine Foods for Insect Pizza

Here, we were served either Cricket or Mealworm Pizza.  Many of our group were variously excited or disgusted by this prospect.  Sadly, I'd had both crickets and mealworms before (I really like mealworms).  Celia (worried about allergies) picked the cricket off her pizza and I added it to mine.  So, one may say that I enjoyed a cricket and mealworm combination pizza.  The pizza was good, but the individual bugs didn't add much to the experience for me.  I'd definitely be interested in trying their Pizza on a Stick (a term they have trademarked) in the future.

Stop #7: Miss Piggy's for Fried Boudin Balls with Good Time Sauce

These are exactly what you think.  Battered and fried Boudin balls drizzled with a special sauce.  They are very flavorful, and maybe a bit too spicy for my taste.  By this point in the evening,  I had already eaten a whole lot of fried carbs and this Boudin Ball felt very heavy and rich.

Stop #8: Winkle Concessions for Fried Bacon Wrapped Chicken and Fried Glazed Thick-Cut Bacon

Some food fatigue was definitely setting in here.  I'd been eating all of my food and some of Celia's all night long.  Both items here were delicious, but I had Celia give her second piece of bacon to someone else.  

Stop #10: Larry's for Kool-aid Pickles

I'd had Kool-aid pickles before.  But, these were undoubtedly the best.  They had an amazing blend of sweet and sour and tangy.  I'm not sure I would want to eat a whole one, but this was an excellent palate cleanser at this point in the evening.

Stop #10: Silver Dollar Bakery for Cinnamon Rolls

I was VERY excited when Cinnamon Rolls were the last stop.  I love Cinnamon Rolls.  They had made a special batch of small Cinnamon Rolls specially for our group.  Celia says my whole demeanor changed when the next stop was announced.  Celia kept trying to talk to me, but I just wanted to watch the man plate the Cinnamon Rolls.  I was so excited that I started to try to eat mine before I remembered to take a picture.  That's why mine looks a little mangled already.

A Final Treat and Reflections

Before we dispersed, the Fair treated us all to one free ride.  I wanted to ride the Ferris Wheel.  Celia didn't.  We rode it anyway.  She was terrified and I felt bad about that.  I hadn't ridden a Ferris Wheel since I was a small child (likely at the Pecan Festival with my mom).  I used to have a severe fear of heights, but the Ferris Wheel didn't bother me at all.

At the end of the Crawl, we were asked to pick our favorite sweet item, favorite savory item, and favorite item overall.  The Cinnamon Roll won for sweets, while the Stuffed Pepper won savory and overall for me.

If they do another Food Crawl next year, I definitely plan to attend again.  It was a phenomenal value and an awesome experience.