Food Adventures: The Canadian National Exhibition, 2012

The Canadian National Exhibition (a.k.a. The CNE or The Ex) comes to Toronto for the last 3 weeks of August every year.  Basically it’s a giant fair (it's also a signal that summer is coming to an end…and although this is a sad thought, it also means that I am all that much closer to Starbucks bringing back their Pumpkin Spiced Lattes!).

I’ve been going every year since before I can remember.  The CNE has everything from carnival rides to farm animals,  a world bazaar where you can buy goods from Russia to Brazil and even a building (stadium) reserved for horse shows  (where I saw the most adorable miniature horse show this year…).  It also features an entire warehouse-sized building completely devoted to food, where culinary experiences from deep fried butter to vegan delicacies (and everything in between) is available. 

This is one of a handful of days in the year where the ‘everything in moderation’ policy I try to follow when it comes to food is thrown (like a quarterback) out the window - and I go in search of all things wacky and deep fried. 

The variety of food this year at The Ex did not disappoint.  I thought I might share some of the food adventures that I had…..(I will try to do them justice - but really words can’t describe how awesome they were….!)

Red Velvet Pancakes Stuffed with Pulled Pork

This one still makes me laugh.  (in the ‘ahaha….i can’t believe someone thought of this, and that I ate it’ way). 

The red velvet pancakes were amazing (I’m totally making these at home one day). 

The pulled pork was sweeter (almost like maple syrup) then what I am used to – I think that is how these two actually went well together (don’t laugh…it really was pretty good!).

Mars Bar (are you ready for this?!?) wrapped in Bacon, Battered and Deep Fried

Of course it's also drizzled with chocolate and sprinkled with bacon bits....why not?!?

I’ve had a deep fried Mars bar before – It’s a fantastic thing.  The chocolate/nougat/caramel gets warm and gooey from being deep fried. 

Wrapped with slightly crispy bacon added a nice salty-ness to the above combination.  With all the gooey chocolate/nougat/caramel,  the texture of the bacon is barely noticeable – but the flavor is definitely there.

And from The Epic Burger people….(they did not disappoint)…

The Donut Burger

SO this was a burger with lettuce, tomato, cheese & bacon between two Krispy Kreme donuts. 

I do love me a Krispy Kreme donut…especially when they are fresh.  Surprisingly, this was not at all disgusting.  The burger ended up having a slight creamy-ness and sweet from the donuts.  I don’t know that I would have a donut burger again, but it was fun to try.   

The Behemoth

I am disappointed that I’ve never thought to do this myself.    

The Behemoth is a burger with lettuce, tomato, cheese, bacon between.....(buckle-up!) two grilled cheese sandwiches.  The grilled cheese sandwiches were made out of Texas toast.   They were not too buttery, and had a ‘lighter-then-I’m-used-to-on-a-grilled-cheese-sandwich’ toast on them.  The whole thing was amazing.  I would totally have this again and would even try making this at home.  This was truly Epic.

Rice Krispy Square, Battered and Deep Fried

This one was a bit of a fail.  There was wayyyyy too much batter and (contrary to what I first thought) the Rice Krispy (emphasis on the (K)crispy) square became soft again once it was deep fried.  So the whole thing ended up tasting like deep fried batter on a stick, covered in vanilla sauce…..Not my favourite. 

Bacon Dipped in Chocolate
This was actually pretty good.  I’ve had chocolate covered bacon and chocolate-bacon chocolate bars before - I’ve found that sometimes, the bacon flavor gets lost in all that chocolate.

 

But because the bacon was drizzled with a ‘not too sweet’ chocolate sauce, that lovely salty-bacon-y flavor that I hold so near and dear to my heart was retained. 

This was a great ‘eating’ day. 

Happy Cooking!