Food: Unforgettable Food: Almost Carnival Time Again!

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Unforgettable Food: Almost Carnival Time Again!
Wednesday, April 26, 2006

I was lucky to live in an area that offered an abundance of fairs and carnivals when I was growing up. The foods from events such as this usually remain a very fond part of our memories. In those years when I was a kid and teenager, every town, no matter how big or small, had to have its own fireman's carnival and many of them planned other festivals of various kinds. One main theme continued throughout all of them, though; the wonderful and totally memorable "carnival food."

There are certain foods that are triggers for those reminiscences of the "carnival days." Depending on which food someone enjoyed most, this varies from person to person. It may be the smell of the kind of popcorn that is served at fairs. For some reason I never personally liked popcorn so that definitely isn't one of my own triggers. I don't even like the smell! That means there was never popcorn at movies, either. I always preferred a peanut butter cup for movies and more "fun" and substantial things at fairs and carnivals.

I don't know why it happens, but most folks will tell you that things always taste better when eaten in "the great outdoors" and a carnival atmosphere makes it all even better. Have you ever noticed how something as ordinary as a hot dog or hamburger tastes a whole lot better when eaten at a carnival? We put the same condiments on them, whether it is ketchup, mustard, relish, onions, etc. but still the taste of a carnival burger just can't be beat!

Something else that can be made in your own kitchen but is never quite the same is a hot sausage sandwich piled high with onions and peppers. I have come pretty close to the same flavor, though, but only when I have used a mixture of red, green, and yellow bell peppers. If you try to recreate the carnival taste, don't forget to have the best sauce on hand that you can find. That thick tomato or pasta sauce is part of what makes those sandwiches so good, after all.

In addition to one of those fabulous hot sausage sandwiches with peppers and onions, another sweet (literally!) memory of mine from those fairs is the cotton candy I always had to have. I will have to admit that I still can't leave an amusement park to this day without a bag of that wonderful cotton candy if they have it available. And yes, I'll have you know, that the color really *does* matter, contrary to what our parents told us. Not in taste necessarily, but just for the whole memorable cotton candy experience. This isn't something that can be recreated in your kitchen easily, but if you have an insatiable obsession for that delightful spun sugar, cotton candy machines are indeed available for purchase.

It is true that everyone has his or her own favorite carnival food. Another thing that I never was really thrilled about was a candy apple or caramel apple. To me it seemed to be a whole lot of mess for a little bit of pleasure. I'll admit that to me as a kid, the "pleasurable" part would have been the candy coating or the caramel sauce. The apple? Well *that* was a FRUIT and I really didn't want to eat fruit when I was enjoying the fair!

I still don't know if it was a regional thing or if it is universal, but carnivals and fairs are the only places that I have ever been given the option of putting vinegar on my French fries. That is another warm carnival memory of mine. It wasn't just "plain vinegar" either, because trying that in your own kitchen with vinegar will certainly not produce the same results. (Hint: Think malt vinegar). That is the only place that I ever enjoyed overly salted fries, too.

I think that perhaps the "thrill" of the big top, the midway, the flashing lights, and the waves of people may be one of the things that make everything taste better at a fair. Also puzzling is the way that a mere smell can take us back to those carnivals. It doesn't happen often, but sometimes I will notice that I caught a whiff of that malt vinegar or of peppers and onions and I immediately think of fair food.

7:12 AM

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