Oh boy oh boy oh boy oh boy

Food On A Stick.



I am a sell-out.
I guess I knew it and thought I could hide it from all the refined bloggers out there judging me. But now that I'm seriously writing my third consecutive blog post about fried food, there's no way I can pretend to be above eating anything fried.


I think I probably started on my downward spiral this August when I arrived in the Twin Cities. Feeling uncertain about my new surroundings, unable to really call anywhere home yet, a trip to the fried-food heaven was compulsory and centering.
And sure enough, upon setting foot on The Minnesota State Fairgrounds, smelling the thousands of trays of fat boiling away in greasy little tents, and laying eyes upon wrappers and picked-clean sticks strewn about the paths, I knew Minnesota was somewhere I could fit in.

The Minnesota State Fair is famous for (among other things) frying everything on a stick. Everything. Though revolting at first and second consideration, all concerns melt (like the inside of a fried Milky Way) when you bite into one.
Similarly, ambivalence toward a large bucket of soft little cookies all to yourself becomes foreign as you doublefist them into your mouth as you walk in excitement toward The Miracle of Life.
My first and best experience with food on a stick was probably the good old-fashioned corn dog. But this summer I tried the fried oreo, against my better judgment, and to my supreme joy.


The coolest thing about the Minnesota State Fair is that creativity, especially with flavor combinations, is an art form and appreciated by all. You might not see a candy bar dipped in batter and dropped tenderly into boiling fat as art, but like other forms of food art, it just takes an open mind and appetite to get excited about.

The state fair originally was held to encourage farming in the state, and though the official website may argue otherwise, the fried food is the focus now, and the foremost reason I plan to return to Macalester in the fall.


Fried. Good.

-Lillie