Sadly, the Alaska State Fair ended this week. I love going to the fair, and I especially love getting to try so many great foods. When I was a kid, your choices included pretty standard, greasy fair food: corn dogs, burgers, pizza, and funnel cake. These days, you can find practically anything, from fresh Alaskan seafood to great barbeque to vegetable stew made with fresh Alaskan vegetables to Middle Eastern food to Indian fry bread. You can go to Mr. Gyros, MA's hot dogs, get a hot cup of Kaladi Brothers Coffee, or go to Cheesecake in a Cone. I went to the Fair four times this year – I know, it seems a bit excessive, but in my defense I was working part of the day for three of those visits – and I still did not get to try all of the things I wanted. So brace yourselves: what follows is the chronicle of the many things I ate at the 2011 Alaska State Fair.
My first day at the Fair I didn’t have much time when I wasn’t working, so my exploration of food options was a little limited. I needed something quick and I wanted some local foods. I ended up with a Salmon Quesadilla at a self-titled stall for $8 to start with. It was actually a little disappointing, maybe because what I expected was a melted-cheese-bomb, and what I got was some dry salmon and a tiny sprinkling of cheese, but what can you do? Sometimes things sound good but don’t meet your expectations. When I took a break later I was redeemed when I got some Matanuska Creamery ice cream at their booth on the midway. Matanuska Creamery is the successor to Matanuska Maid, the defunct dairy co-op. Dairy farmers have a hard time in Alaska, so I try to support them as much as possible. From trying to grow enough hay to feed the cows, to the competition with cheap factory milk from Outside, they’re fighting an uphill battle. Some people don’t like how much they get in state subsidies, but I say anything that helps keep local farming viable up here is a noble thing. I have a love-hate relationship with their ice cream, though, because they divert all their summer cream to making ice cream, which is really popular, so they don’t make any butter for months at a time. People need butter! I love ice cream an awful lot, but I don’t need it. Anyway, I shouldn’t really be complaining because they are using their cream for one delicious thing instead of another, and their ice cream is really great. I got two scoops for $5, one scoop of chocolate and one of fudge brownie. They have a pretty good selection of flavors, which you still have a chance to check out at the Anchorage farmer’s markets.
My next visit to the Fair I went in search of some well-known food booths that had moved and could not be found, and I tried some great new things. I spent a long day at the Fair on this trip – I worked in the morning and then spent the afternoon and evening watching “A Prairie Home Companion” and hanging out with my parents. For lunch, I went in search of what is generally regarded as the best barbeque at the Fair, and that is saying something, because there are at least half a dozen BBQ places these days. After a little searching, I finally found the new location of the Center of Hope, Church of God in Christ BBQ stand. They were keeping busy, I was glad to see. They have Texas style BBQ, and had pulled pork sandwiches, chicken sandwiches, pork and chicken plates (that come with baked beans, cole slaw, or potato salad) for $12, and baby back ribs. I remember that the ribs were by far the most expensive thing, but I didn't write down how much they were. I got the BBQ chicken sandwich for $10, which wasn’t much in terms of a sandwich, with some spongy white bread, but I was there for the BBQ itself, which was fantastic. The chicken was falling apart and smelled and tasted amazing. Of course, they also have dessert, in the form of mini peach or sweet potato pies for $5 each. I got a sweet potato pie, which was also fantastic, although I would recommend sharing it with someone. When I met up with my parents after lunch I also got to try my mom’s corn fritters in honey butter, but I didn’t catch the name of the place she got them. They pretty much only make corn fritters, though, and you can tell, because they are tasty! For dinner my mom and I stumbled upon Mostly Mediterranean, a stand run by some ladies from Homer who only sell food at the Fair and a couple of Kenai Peninsula festivals. With food this good, I’m kind of amazed that they don’t have a restaurant. We got the kibbe plate for $10, I think, which came with pita bread, tabbouleh and hummus. First of all, there aren’t very many restaurants, let alone food stalls at fairs that make kibbe in this country. I think I’ve only ever had it when my parents or grandparents made it. It was good, but they did what a lot of Americans do, which is to dilute the flavor of the lamb by combining it with beef. Otherwise, though, it was pretty tasty. The standouts were the tabbouleh and hummus, though. The hummus was creamy and delicious, and the tabbouleh was fantastic, and was actually an herb salad with some bulgar, instead of a bulgar salad with a few herbs, which is what many Americans do. They also make Italian sausage sandwiches and a couple other things that we didn’t try. We almost went to the Pasty Shack instead, but a group of people who had just gotten food there warned us off and said the pasties were disappointing, so we were spared. We'll stick with Cornish pasties from the Talkeetna Roadhouse, thank you very much. For dessert, I stopped by Strictly Strawberries for a chocolate milkshake. They make a lot of strawberry shakes and also strawberry shortcake, which is why it’s called Strictly Strawberries, but they also had a sign up advertising their thick shakes, so I had to give one a try. And as you know, I generally pick chocolate above other options.
The next day I went to the Fair, I just went by myself to work, so I didn't get the benefit of sharing like I did with my parents. I got a halibut taco and a quesadilla at Tres Amigos. One of the reasons I picked this place was that they had seared halibut tacos, whereas a lot of the seafood places at the fair serve foods that have been breaded and deep-fried to death, so you can't actually taste the seafood. I got a halibut soft taco for $10, which had cabbage, cheese, tomato, cilantro, onion, and a "special sauce" that was sort of like a tartar sauce. It was great and just what I was looking for. And then since it was a relatively small taco I also got a small plain quesadilla for $2 that was a good, basic little quesadilla. They also had meat tacos that I would have liked to try.
On the last weekend of the Fair I finally got to go with Morgan, and we spent the day snacking so we could try as many things as possible. We got there late in the morning but still a little early for lunch, but we lucked out because we heard about the throwdown tent. I had heard that there was a seafood throwdown one of the other days I was at the Fair, but I didn't understand and didn't go. Basically, a couple of cooking schools and restaurants do a recipe throwdown, and we all get samples and then get to vote for our favorites. When we got there in the morning we had hangar steak from Humpy's, the AVTEC students, and... someone else who I didn't write down. The AVTEC students were by far the best, most creative, with a marinated steak and salad with a spicy peanut sauce. They also had a very nice plating design, as they say on "Iron Chef." The group I don't remember cooked the meat really well, but their food wasn't nearly as interesting. The next snack we got was at Hoop N Hula Milk and Cookies, which turned out to be one of my favorite places. They sell only milk and cookies, and 50 cents from each cookie goes to charities that you pick out. You get a token for each cookie and can put it in the slot for hunger charities, recycling, peace, health, community, and environment. They have a list of charities in each category in case you're wondering where the money's going. Morgan got a "peanut buddha" cookie, and I got a "double chip happens." We ate our delicious cookies and gave our tokens to the hunger and health charities. They also had vegan, and I think gluten-free cookies too. Then we took a break and looked at the livestock, and I bought some tickets for the 4-H raffle. First place was a butchered pig that was raised by one of the 4-Hers, and second place was a 4-H turkey. I didn't win, but oh well. I also bought some honey from Chugiak Heights Honey. I like them because they have bulk sizes- you're not paying $12 for an 8 oz jar of Alaskan honey, which is the case with some beekeepers up here. I got the 48 oz size, and they had a giant 6 pound one, too. It's tough, because the quantities are relatively small, but I really try hard to support the local pollinators. Our next snack was from a local Palmer coffee shop and restaurant, Vagabond Blues. I like going to the coffee shop for lunch because the have really good, healthy salads, soups, and sandwiches. They had wraps and other light-lunch things here at the Fair. Of course, we didn't exactly get anything particularly healthy ourselves, but the fresh, made-from-scratch garlic potato chips just smelled so good! They were $7, and were hot and fresh, had garlic oil on them, as well as parmesan and chopped up garlic and herbs. I wish I had discovered these earlier. After a break, during which we looked at Native Alaskan crafts, talked to some of the environmental and other advocacy groups that had booths, and gave a couple dollars to the Elk's Lodge at the rat races. We also saw some great Native dancers and singers from King Island and some Tsimshian singers and dancers that were all really good. And we looked at an exhibit on the agricultural colony that was created as part of the New Deal, and is the reason we have so many local farmers in the Matanuska and Susitna Valleys today. For our last snacks of the day we went to the wine bar run by the Grape Tap, which is a wine bar and restaurant in Palmer. I got a glass of Norton malbec from Argentina, and we got a cheese platter that came with a good baguette and some brie, gouda, and cheddar cheese. For dessert before we left we went to Denali Cream Puffs. That's right, there's also a place that serves only cream puffs. For $7 you get a giant cream puff (the custard is amazing), and you get it topped with either chocolate sauce, caramel, or berry sauce. We shared a chocolate one, because they are huge. And on that sugar bombshell, we started the drive back to Anchorage.
The food at the Alaska State Fair has sure come a long way since I was a kid, and the healthiest thing you could get was a giant stuffed baked potato. I can't wait to try all the great food that will be waiting for me at the Fair in 2012.
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