The 152nd NC State Fair

Oct. 17–27

NC State Fairgrounds, ncstatefair.org

“Donut burgers are just so played out,” says Felicia Turrentine-Daniel of Chef’s D’Lites, a traveling food stand in its twentieth year at the 152nd NC State Fair. 

The North Carolina native’s fried food game is strong—mac and cheese, banana pudding bites, cream cheese cinnamon rolls, Oreo funnel cake, and a Cinnamon Toast Crunch apple cobbler have all been forged in the hot, greasy fires of Turrentine-Daniel’s deep-fryer. 

This year, she says, she wanted to craft something truly illustrious. The Chickenator, an abominable fried chicken sandwich on a cinnamon bun topped with pepper jack cheese, crisp bacon, and finished with a zing of honey sauce, is among the creative—and sometimes bizarre—new foods, deep-fried and otherwise, being showcased at this year’s fair, which upward of one million people are expected to attend.

The competitive spirit among the fair’s two hundred vendors gives each purveyor the opportunity to express their creativity—and, basically, out-fry each other. Kent Yelverton, the State Fair manager, says that every year, the offerings boldly go where none have gone before. 

“A few years back, we had deep-fried Kool-Aid,” he says. 

Yelverton says the fried-food hype started about ten years ago with the advent of the deep-fried Oreo, which vendors have tried to one-up ever since—from a fried peanut butter pickle to deep-fried olives to a red velvet cheese enchilada funnel cake to a deep-fried emu burrito to, of course, Daniel’s show-stopping Chickenator.

Not everything at the fair is fried, of course. 

Enter the pumpkin spice corn from Douglas Farms in Sanford, which, albeit dipped in butter and rolled in brown sugar, cinnamon, and fall spices, is a departure from the heavier offerings of previous years, like Cheetos-encrusted corn. Will Douglas, a co-owner of the farm, says that they used to offer basic roasted corn at the fair but have since upped the ante. 

There’s also spiced lamb nachos from Neomonde this year, with shredded feta and a labneh-harissa sauce, and a jerk chicken bowl with plantains and sweet mango salsa from Cool Runnings Jamaican. The pineapple dole whip from Tropical Delights, a sweet yet sour palate-cleansing soft serve, is also not fried, and was the winner of this year’s new fair foods competition. 

La Farm Bakery’s bread truck will also be on-site with s’mores and a Cubano sandwich, which is surprisingly light and minimalist as far as Cuban sandwiches go. LaFarm proprietor Lionel Vatinet says the sandwich, which is “branded” with a map of North Carolina, represents the hard work of the state’s farmers. 

The first State Fair, held in 1853, was a four-day affair organized by the State Agricultural Society. There was a well-curated agricultural exhibition, but no food. 

“The organizers hadn’t really thought that part of it through,” says Paul Blankenship, the State Fair’s historian for twenty-five years. 

Blankenship says that the organizers were more focused on getting land secured and the buildings in place, as well as forming partnerships with Raleigh’s railroad system. The first fairgoers arrived by rail, he says, and had to walk just over a mile to the fair—and were no doubt hungry upon arrival. Enterprising households along the route took note, he says, and sold sandwiches and whatever else they had on hand. 

Concessions at the fair began the following year, and by the 1880s, there was a notable presence of both food and lager. Blankenship, who’s now retired, says he’s not sure when the fried-food craze took off, though he says he’s had enough to last a lifetime. 

The first fried candy bar appeared in Scotland, when a fish and chip shop fried a Mars Bar and sold it to customers in 1995. In the U.S., the fried food mania can largely be attributed to the Texas State Fair. While there’s no shortage of deep-fried delights and other sugary sweets to indulge in, Turrentine-Daniel says not to worry too much. The State Fair only comes once a year.

“I think it’s about the guilty pleasure,” says Turrentine-Daniel, the author of Confessions of a Deep Dry Master. “Everyone is really health conscious these days, which is a good thing, but it’s all about that splurge—and you have to give yourself permission.”

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