Deep-fried Girl Scout cookies and Kool-Aid?

And other new, calorie-defying creations at the County Fair
Keli Dailey
June 8, 2011
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/jun/08/your-whats-new-fair-food-itinerary/

Deep-fried Kool-Aid! Deep-fried Thin Mints! Deep-fried Rolaids!

Maybe not that last one.

But the crazy-food carnival we call the San Diego County Fair is back. And check out the new forbidden, frizzled and sizzled creations.

Deep-Fried Girl Scout Cookies — Thin Mints

Puts the iconic Girl Scout cookie into a sweet batter and a hot fryer. This revisits vendor “Chicken” Charlie Boghosian’s origins: He caused a fair-circuit sensation when he invented Deep-Fried Oreos. Oddly enough, deep frying Thin Mints — that minty, chocolate wafer coated in chocolate — steps this up from girly-fundraiser-cookie to man-diet material. Still, I’m Team-Samoas.

Where: Chicken Charlie’s booth on the concourse

FryBQ Ribs

With a crunchy crust and as much meat as a scrawny chicken wing, the good parts of this dish are its spicy, albeit alarmingly pink, sauce and the bed of skinny fries underneath. This one gets by just because it’s in the taboo food group. “We want what we can’t have,” Chicken Charlie explains about our fascination with his fried foods. His grilled chicken-breast kebabs are big savory logs and his top sellers, though.

Where: Chicken Charlie’s

Cornucopia

Quite possibly the corniest idea at the Fair. Literally. It’s corn-on-corn — a sweet cornbread coating fried around a mini ear of corn. Complete the corn hat trick with a Coca-Cola. It’s got high-fructose corn syrup.

Where: Del Mar Diner at Plaza de Mexico

Deep-Fried Beer Battered Bacon Bliss

This vendor changed its name from the Heart Attack Cafe. But they have the same old score to settle with your unclogged arteries. Can you handle thick-cut bacon cloaked in a zesty batter and submerged briefly in hot oil? Oh really?

Where: Deep-Fried Butter Stand at Avenue of the Palms

Also new here: Chocolate-Covered Corn Dog with Sprinkles, Deep-Fried Pig in a Blanket on a Stick and Deep-Fried Chocolate Covered Bacon on a Stick.

Deep-Fried Brownie

Like a pain au chocolat — except that croissant is fried cake and filled with a melted brownie reminiscent of Easy-Bake Oven dessert goo.

Where: Chicken Charlie’s

Deep-Fried Beef Jerky

Hooray for the vendor who figured out something bizarre to do with beef.

Where: Juicy’s booth on the infield

Deep-Fried Kool-Aid

The very idea is thrilling. And having eaten it I’ll say it was better than regular liquid Kool-Aid. However this treat deserves a clap and a slap for being the best concept and the most misleading. You’re thinking actual damp and splashing Kool-Aid undergoes some molecular gastronomy technique on its way to a hot soybean-oil bath. No. Instead sugar-reduced cherry Kool-Aid powder is mixed into a sweet batter, like flavoring. The fried-up result is a doughnut. How is this an improvement over its liquid form? It’s nicely spongy, and doesn’t stain your tongue cherry-red.

Where: Chicken Charlie’s

Also new this year: The Hollywood icon Pink’s Hot Dogs has a booth near the Bing Crosby Hall. Or get your Planet Hollywood Dog at Pink's Harrah's Rincon.

keli.dailey@uniontrib.com • (619) 293-1541 • Twitter @kelidailey