MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — The Minnesota State Fair has unveiled their list of 32 new foods, and for the first time in recent memory, there are no new vendors at the Fair.
The reason is simple: there is simply no space available. But that doesn’t mean there is a lack of innovation in the new offerings.
For starters: Spam curds, candied bacon donut sliders and an eight-scoop retro ice cream sundae. The Fair’s food guru Dennis Larson says this year’s new foods are more gourmet.
PHOTO GALLERY: New State Fair Foods For 2016
“It may not be the quirky, whatever-you-get on a stick and fried — we are kind of getting away from that,” he said.
Fear not, food on a stick fans — there is the new Minnesota corn dog, featuring custom ground sausage with blueberries, apples, wild rice and maple syrup
Dennis Larson also has the tough job of trying all the new foods.
“It’s a committee of four or five people,” he said. “Thank goodness it’s not just me.”
Larson says there are more than 400 people on the fair food waiting list — many with big dreams of creating the next Sweet Martha’s Cookies.
“If all you want to do is make money, I tell them that their odds are better buying a lottery ticket than getting a food booth at the fair,” he said.
One of the new foods comes from the the Minnneapolis restaurant The Rabbit Hole. It’s a carp-shaped ice cream waffle cone (as in the fish) on a carp-shaped waffle iron that’s popular in Korea.
Using the waffle iron, sous chef Eric Halverson made the carp shaped waffle cone. Inside the cone is a strawberry compote, ice cream, a graham cracker crumble and a strawberry.
The Rabbit Hole will be at the International Bazaar from August 25-30.
Click here for the full list, pictures and descriptions of all the new foods at the State Fair.
