State Fair Food Finalists Include Fried Lobster and Carrot Cake

We'll eat anything on a stick in Texas.  What about fried alligator on a nest of shoestring potatoes, smothered in jalapenos and cheese?  That's one of the food finalists at this year's State Fair in Dallas.

Deep Fried Alligator's Egg Nest includes Monterey jack cheese, jalapenos, onions, and garlic, and it sits on top of the thin-sliced spuds to look like a nest.  It's drizzled in chipotle sauce of course!  Chipotle condiments are like liquid gold in Texas.

If fried alligator isn't your thing (it's kinda chewy sometimes), there's also Fried Beer-Battered Buffalo, battered in corn nuts and Shiner and dusted with bacon bits.

For the fancier, more refined palate, one of the food finalists is the Chicken Fried Lobster with Champagne Gravy.  Lobster at the State Fair?  Why not.  It's a deep fried whole lobster tail with gravy made from champagne from France.  The French probably never imagined Texas would violate their fancy drink so badly, by putting it in the deep fryer.  Bubbly, meet Texas bubbly!  If you're thirsty and want to drink your drink instead of eat it, you can wash all this down with a Smoky Bacon Margarita, with bacon bits on top.

And don't leave out the sweet tooth.  Check out Fernie's Holy Moly Carrot Cake, which is cinnamon bread, flattened and lined with carrot cake, raisins and carrots, then rolled, and topped with cream cheese, graham crackers, and nutmeg.

All of the fried food finalists will be available for purchase at the State Fair, but one will be crowned the winner on August 30th.

The State Fair of Texas runs September 25th through October 18th in Dallas.