It’s a Sunday evening at The East Texas State Fair as Blayke Hemmitt, a first time fair-goer, is devouring some cheesy crawfish nachos.
“I’ve never had anything like this in my life,”Hemmitt said as she began to eat another cheesy crawfish chip.”It’s so good!”
Every year the East Texas State fair offers a wide variety of foods, some more unique than others.
“You come up with things that are easy to prepare, that people will enjoy, is easy to cook and has a profit margin to them,” said Monica Coolidge, the owner of The Fat Gator food truck.
The Fat Gator is not your average fair food truck. The air, spicy with the scents of crawfish étouffée and hot Louisiana-style gumbo, smells like the French Quarter.
Most of the fair trucks travel from fair to fair, city to city, state to state.
“I’ve done the State Fair in Dallas, Cheyenne Frontier Days in Wyoming, a lot of biker shows and the Big Easy.” said Coolidge.
Although there are all types of treats offered, such as fried Oreos and Twinkies, some fair goers like to stick to traditional “fair food”, such as the fresh-from-the-pit sausage on a stick, sugary funnel cakes and the ever-popular giant, juicy turkey leg.
“The turkey leg is pretty signature around here,” said Tristan of Brownsboro, Texas. “I feel a lot of people come here just for a turkey leg.”
The lights, music and sweet aroma seem to give everyone a sweet tooth, as children drag their parents to the stands for sugary treats like funnel cakes.
The East Texas State Fair never ceases to amaze its crowd — the food always has them talking for months, waiting for next year’s feast. Who knows what tasty treats they will have then?
