Heavy Table Goes to the Fair

Ah, the Minnesota State Fair. I was feeling a bit indifferent this year, until I read James Norton's 2009 food tour on The Heavy Table. (And I also heard that someone made Obama's birth certificate out of seeds in the crop art contest. That alone is worth the price of admission.)

The best new (to me) foods and drinks from Norton's story:

• $1 frozen cider in the Ag building
• Stanly’s Sugarbush Maple soda in the Eco Experience building (I love anything maple!)
• A tip to add Tabasco to the ranch dressing before putting it on my usual helping of fried green tomatoes.

And this about one of Giggles' Campfire Grill's recent offerings:

The salmon on a stick ($5.25) at Giggles’ Campfire Grill is one of the food finds of the fair, hands down. It’s a generous portion, and the sweet / hot tang of the raspberry chipotle and Walla Walla onions is spot on. Also comes with a couple cream cheese-smeared crackers, as if you needed more of an excuse to eat Atlantic salmon with a great topper.

The story is complete with a Google map to show you exactly where each food can be found. And Heavy Table promises to add more Fair coverage, as well as a Twitter feed and more photos on Flickr. I guess it really is the age of social media.

And if you're wondering what's shown in the photo at top, that's Summit Beer on a Stick -- three samplings from St. Paul's Summit Brewery, embedded in a paddle. Available in the newly rebuilt Bazaar building, where you can also hear live music. (The Bazaar is also home to Island Noodles, which I had at the Living Green Expo last May and really liked.... 21 vegetables and soba noodles, wok fried on the spot.)

Guess I'll be going to the Fair after all!