Indiana State Fair 2019 Encore: 2 Fair 2 Food

deep-fried chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwich!

My rich, creamy Dulcinea.

It’s that time again! The Indiana State Fair is an annual celebration of Hoosier pride, farming, food, and 4-H, with amusement park rides, cooking demos, concerts by musicians either nearly or formerly popular, and farm animals competing for cash prizes without their knowledge. My wife Anne and I attend each year as a date-day to seek new forms of creativity and imagination within a local context…

We trudged back to the working world on Wednesday morning disappointed that we’d missed so many of the “Taste of the Fair” new dishes and annoyed that my primary objective, the deep-fried chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwich, was nowhere to be found. We chatted a bit and mulled over the possibility of a return engagement. Two unexpected developments sealed the deal:

1. Anne did some online digging, found the official Facebook page for the vendor allegedly carrying the deep-fried chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwich, and asked them point-blank where the heck they were at the fairgrounds. Where all the State Fair’s materials and resources had failed us, an exemplary moment of customer service on the vendor’s part got us the exact answer.

2. On Friday my employer announced a deal to get discount State Fair tickets, for cheaper than our first set of tickets.

Emboldened and empowered, Saturday we drove once more out to the east side and enjoyed a 4-hour whirlwind do-over. We split a deep-fried chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwich between us. We tracked down a few other “Taste of the Fair” offerings that hadn’t made the cut on Tuesday. We photographed a few more exhibits we’d overlooked or skipped the first time around. And we ended up with enough material for three bonus chapters in this very special, unexpectedly extended miniseries.

And now, on to more food!

The deep-fried chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwich on the inside, an absolute 11/10 experience. On sale at the Expo Hall cafe. The cashier confirmed they’ve received multiple complaints of it being impossible to find.

The second-best Saturday dish was these Angry Pretzel Poppers, with embedded jalapenos and a buttery glaze, served with a side of “mad Ranch” sauce that definitely beats ordinarily sad Ranch dressing.

I’d had some expectations for the Hawaiian Haminator, a glazed-ham sandwich with pineapples, provolone, and a few skimpy bacon crumbles instead of the bacon strips I’d expected. An okay protein source amid a field of competitive sweets.

The Hoosier Hometown Hash is a simple concept I’m surprised no one’s tried sooner: four cheeses sandwiched between two hash browns. I’d’ve preferred my hash browns a bit crispier, as these were underdone and possibly fried in too-cool oil that couldn’t reheat quickly enough to keep up with demand.

Sold alongside the hash browns at the Dairy Bar was their new caramel coffee milkshake, a welcome relief for anyone tired of the old chocolate-vanilla-strawberry shake monopoly.

My final “Taste of the Fair” sampling of the day doesn’t photograph distinctly. On top, the Trifecta Hero Dreamsicle resembles an average frozen drink…

…but the insides of this tall drink were billed as a shake-up, slushy, and vanilla shake all in one. Freshly squeezed lemons, limes, and orange juice mingle with French vanilla cream and some kind of syrup to permeate the different texture levels.

Meanwhile, Anne remains a fan of the classics and satisfied herself with a brisket sandwich. Nothing wrong with that.

We also found a selection of goodies that were follow-ups and addenda to our previous chapters. If you’ve already viewed those six galleries, you’ll know where these fit in. Enjoy some more!