Worth every bite, here’s a look at the food that’s coming to the Eastern Idaho State Fair
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BLACKFOOT — Over 30 dishes and a whole lot of calories, EastIdahoNews.com and other media organizations ranked the best of the best fair foods for the Eastern Idaho State Fair.
EastIdahoNews.com reporters Daniel V. Ramirez and Jesse Vosika put their bodies on the line and tasted as much as possible to help you know what’s worth eating.
Each year, the EISF hosts its annual Best Fair Food Contest with its signature five categories that are: Best New Entree, Sweetest of them All—Best Sweets, Best New Sweets and Fairest of them All—Best Entree.
But this year, the fair has added a new category for America’s 250th anniversary: Most Patriotic Dish. While we didn’t get to taste them, this year’s entries were among the most distinctive-looking.
Morales Home Made Tacos won this year with the Volcano. Although it wasn’t present when the other nine competitors showcased their dishes, it won the judges’ hearts.
For the Fairest of Them All—Entree was won by the Pulled Pork Nachos by Mexican Crazy Corn. This massive plate features a bed of tortilla chips topped with pulled pork, sour cream, queso fresco, salsa, and, of course, corn. Great on its own or to share with friends and family, this dish is worth a try.
One of the more interesting dishes was the Peanut Butter Bacon Burger with Jalapeño Relish by Twisted Tater. The peanut butter adds a woody note to the burger, a pleasant surprise, along with a little heat from the relish.
In the Sweetest of them All—Best Sweets category, the award was won by Sweet Temptations with their Campfire Secret. While not a new item, it has stood the test of time: stuffed chocolate cake whoopie pies covered in caramel fondue sauce, topped with strawberries and served with a side of vanilla soft-serve.
In the Best New Entree category, The Liberty Stack by Between the Buns was the overall winner: a double cheeseburger with white cheddar, bourbon bacon jam and garlic aioli. It will also come with the classic toppings of lettuce, tomatoes and pickles.
The second-place winner was La Casita’s Fiesta Fries, which were very savory. Topped with nacho cheese sauce, guacamole, pico de gallo, sour cream, birria and carne asada, it is sure to fill any fairgoer.
In the last category, Sweet Temptations won Best New Sweet, completing a clean sweep for the local food vendor.
This year’s new item is their All-American Whoopie Cookie: two chocolate chip cookies filled with cream cheese, topped with caramel sauce, crushed Oreos, strawberries and blue sprinkles. This will also come with a side of vanilla soft serve.
Another notable new entry for the fair was Creamy Creations’ submission, Red, White and Butter, a handheld creamy dessert.
The Red, White and Butter is what it’s named for; it looks like a stick of butter but tastes like a light lemon cream, filled with a raspberry-blueberry filling and a graham cracker crumble.
With so many entrees, it’s difficult to talk about them all, but hopefully this will help you narrow down what seems worthwhile to eat at the East Idaho State Fair.
For more help deciding what to eat, visit EastIdahoNews.com’s annual Feeding Frenzy at the East Idaho State Fair, which showcases notable dishes at the fair.
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To learn more about the EISF, which runs Sept. 4 to Sept. 12, and buy tickets, visit funatthefair.com.