The Evolution of Stick Food

A little ways back I went to the Wisconsin State Fair. It was delightful. I talked to the kids with their entries in the dairy cow barn and they were all so sweet, not an ounce of snark in them. I perused the prize winning handicrafts and vegetables. And of course there was food. Lots and lots of food. I tried to be picky. I sampled some very yummy goats milk fig ice cream, a buffalo meat burrito (half-size), some ostrich jerky, and washed it all down with some banana flavored milk (mixed with some chocolate milk from my sweetie). Oh I forgot, we split a baked potato and the spud shop.

What we didn't try was the latest craze at the Wisconsin State Fair, chocolate covered bacon on a stick. Bacon is definitely not my thing. Chocolate seldom excites me either. The combination sounds disgusting. Above you can find someone who tried the stuff. She wasn't impressed, but was happy to experiment using her taste buds. I did a very unscientific poll of people's opinions and basically if you were over 100 pounds overweight, you thought that chocolate covered bacon was great. Less fat meant an opinion of a definite thumbs down.

But for those in need of stick food who weren't morbidly obese, there was nothing to fear. There were plenty of alternatives. We've come a long way since corn dogs, taffy apples and cotton candy. There was also a reuben sandwich on a stick (minus the rye bread). There was macaroni and cheese on a stick (deep fried to hold it all together). Cheesecake (deep fried) on a stick was there as well.

I asked where this kind of stuff came from and was told that the Minnesota State Fair is the king of stick food. They were the ones that came up with chocolate covered bacon on a stick last year. Now it's spreading throughout the Midwest. This year, Minnesota had pig cheeks and pizza on a stick (not combined). I imagine those will be at Wisconsin Fair next year.

How did state fairs and carnivals become synonymous with fried stick food? I have no idea. I'm guessing that if you need to use a stick, you need to fry whatever you're going to put on that stick and stick food is simply an excuse to eat heavily breaded, fried stuff.

You can easily come up with new food on a stick that might be delicious (or not). Perch on a stick would be fabulous without a doubt (especially on Friday nights at the Fair). Stuffed pheasant on a stick might work too. How about shrimp cocktail on a stick? Or potstickers on a stick? Oysters on a stick? Herring on a stick? OK let's nix that last one. But maybe if you covered the herring in chocolate you'd be onto something.