Fried foods are staple of fair

If it's not fried, exploding your calorie count and draining your wallet ... well, you're probably not eating fair food.

CNJ staff photo: Kevin Wilson

A deep-fried brownie, prepared by Virdinski's BBQ Rub Shack, is prepared the day before and frozen before it is placed in the fryers, giving it a crispy outside before it is drizzled with icing.

CNJ staff photo: Kevin Wilson

David Culp of Tyler, Texas, pours batter for a funnel cake Tuesday night at the Curry County Fair. The funnel cake, coated with powdered sugar and sometimes cinnamon, is a fair staple.

The Curry County Fair opened Tuesday evening, to pretty much what annual fairgoers can expect with the first good rain in months on Tuesday night, numerous concerts throughout the week and the signature junior livestock sale Friday night at the Curry County Events Center.

And once people enter the gates, almost anything edible gets dropped into the fryer vat, and a good portion of what doesn't gets dipped in chocolate.

Timothy and Christina Wilcoxon, who recently moved to Clovis from Phoenix, were partaking in a little of each between one of the light drizzles that owned the night. Timothy had grabbed a fried Twinkie, which he was still waiting to sample, and Christina was a few bites into a chocolate-dipped cheesecake.

"It's good," Christina said. "It's creamy, soft," among other superlatives.

And did she feel guilty about eating something that belongs on no diet?

"No," she said with a smile and a complete lack of hesitation. That's one of the biggest rules of fair food — calories don't matter when the fair comes ones a year.

It's something the staff of Virdinski's BBQ Rub Shack was well-versed in, even though the Curry County Fair was their first endeavor into the county fair food business.

"We operate a restaurant in Amarillo," said Chris Virden. "We've done lots of barbecue competitions and we thought, 'Why not?'"

Choosing Curry County was easy for an opener, Virden said, because it's a low risk geographically. Foods from the trailer include:

• Calf fries, which are fried cow testicles. Virden said they taste like really good fried chicken, and "We call it Texas caviar."
• Fried brownies, which is essentially popping in frozen brownies. The final result comes out crispy, with a gooey chocolate center.
• A fruit cup, to prove not everything's fattening. "But I'll deep fry it if you want," joked Anna Stroinksi, Virden's partner in the business.

Virden was planning later on in the week to offer a fried peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich, which involves a Texas Toast sandwich, crimped, battered and deep-fried.

No matter what new fried foods come around, the classics will endure as well.

"I'm going with the corn dog tonight," said Ben Salazar of Clovis, with the fresh lemonade in his other hand. "Tomorrow it's going to be a turkey leg, and I've gotta do a funnel cake before it's all said and done."