Paczek's Cousin

The regional fair has been a great American tradition for sometime now. I remember the Michigan State Fair, and am sad to hear that, after much hemming and hawing (and mismanagement from Jenny), it will cease to be. However, many county fairs will continue on in the Great State of Michigan, the Alright State of Illinois, and around this Great Nation. All of this pontificating aside, the agricultural and celebratory natures of county fairs often attract unique fare, folks, and festivities. A sucker for cultural experiences, and in search of what makes Little Egypt so damn different, I decided to hit up the local Saline County Fair, whose grounds are on the edge of town.

"Tuesday Night: Motocross Racing"

Sounds promising, especially considering the competitors are drawn from the local pool, from kiddie to adult...

The local Lions were parking cars in the field and had set up a display trailer with information on drug use. Apparently that's another one of their things.

I was greeted at the front by a man passing out paper fans from a cardboard box, a.k.a. Southern Baptist Swag. The local radio station had a tent featuring some old-timey singing groups (I think it was country gospel if I'm not mistaken). This is where the polka band would be in a Detroit setup. Only a few folks were there, most of them in the rocking chair age bracket. They seemed to enjoy themselves, though, and, let's face it, the kids today have been tricked into the swing scene, but polka remains hidden from them. Something I am eternally thankful for, though, when I'm not tripping over hipster tweens when Big Daddy comes to town. But I digress.

Wandering through the carnival, I saw rides, carnies, young people, old people, etc. Eventually I wandered into the ribbon barn and saw the various baked goods, vegetables, fruits, paintings, photographs, and carvings the locals had brought to be judged. Apparently, the various prides of Saline County are a major draw for nefarious characters, as an Illinois Terrorism Mobile Command Unit was stationed at the entrance.

Wandering through the crowd, I arrived at the food trailers. HERE is where I saw her!!! I'd heard of her before, even had a few dreams about her, but here she was IN PERSON!!!

On a piece of cardboard were scrawled the words:

FRIED SNICKERS - $3

I'd heard of this before on a few food shows, but never seen it in person, much less eaten one. Now, being the generally frugal person that I am, I hesitated, but, in the end, decided this cultural and culinary exploration was necessary.

It looked a little like a corn dog, then they put it in a paper tray, drizzled it with chocolate syrup and shook powdered sugar over it. Not really crispy, the texture was a little more like goo wrapped in cake (hear it's funnel cake batter). Let me tell you, though, the texture and flavor, combined with the overall unhealthiness of it, make fried Snickers worthy of being called a cousin of the good ole Paczek.

At first, I thought it was a Southern invention (not too far-etched considering the penchant foor fried goods down here), but it seems the craze started in 1980's Scotland (a country similarly notorious for unhealthy dishes) with Mars Bars (kind of like a Milky Way, I read), and spread across the Anglophone world.

Unfortunately, I missed the deep fried gizzards until I'd spent the rest of my cash on a ticket to watch motocross racing. Oh well, that'll be another artery-clogging adventure for another time.