2018 MN State Fair New Foods Preview Part 1

SUMMER TIME IS HERE! And you know what that means- less than 2 months until the Great MN Get Together!

And of course, one of the most important way we prep for the event of the summer is pre-reviewing the list of new foods by making snap, often angry judgements of food based on photos and descriptions. Good times, good times.

Like last year, we'll be breaking these posts up since there are 27 foods to cover this year (4 fewer than last year).

Per usual, all opinions are typed up individually before reviewing each others' thoughts, so any overlap is just because we're similar and awesome people.

Please leave a comment and let us know if you agree or think we're way off base!

On to the foods!

OVERALL FIRST THOUGHTS

SARAH

Well my thoughts are good this year! Usually I feel a little underwhelmed by this list, but I don’t know, this year I’m excited. Maybe it’s because last year as a whole ended up being such a shit show that I’m once again hopeful and wide-eyed. Or maybe it’s just that there are some good things I’m really excited to try this year. I don’t know. If I understood WHY I feel things I’d probably be a much healthier person.

It seems like the theme this year is Sausages. Even when there isn’t, like, a whole sausage as an item, there seems to be sausages IN things. That and some waffles. I’m okay with both these themes. It’s better than the SPAM theme and the Sriracha theme, anyway.

Most Excited For: Smoked Soft Serve Ice Cream

Least Excited For: Messy Giuseppe

ANNE

Why does the MNSF hate the Oxford Comma?

Seems like maybe the theme is waffles? There’s like 2 waffle offerings plus a whole waffle vendor. Or maybe cold/raw items since there’s an Ahi Tune Poke Bowl, Shrimp Ceviche, and some sort of skrimp stuffed inside and avocado.

NOPE! I changed my mind. The Theme this year is definitely Sausage- there’s like at least 4 things that are sausage or have sausage in them.

Some things are really intriguing (wtf is that rainbow roll?!) and I’m tentatively excited. I mean- it can’t be worse than last year, right? RIGHT??

Also, I legit typed ‘beed’ instead of ‘beef’ every time while writing up my thoughts. I’m not even kidding- every freaking time! What is wrong with me?

Most Excited For: Probably that freaking Rainbow Roll or Mangonada Shave Ice. They fuckin cray.

Least Excited For: Triple Chocolate Strawberry Shortcake. I’m calling it now- it’s going to be a disaster.

PATRICK

A new year, a new list, and me still playing the optimism game that more often than not seems to bite me in the ass hard every year. Last year was real sobering to this positive outlook, and was possibly one of the worst years for new foods that I can remember (partly due to the extra string of some of my favorite foods being taken off the menus; I’m talking about you chicken fried bacon and dough-sant). Alas, I don’t want to go through life feeling cynical, so I’ll try to keep on a positive bent as we go through this year’s New State Fair foods list.

I’m never very good at labeling any kind of theme to these new foods, but that won’t stop me from casually taking a whack at it. Maybe global foods would be what I’d call this year’s list. Whether it’s Swedish, Greek, Nordic, Mexican, Italian, Irish, or Chinese, there seems to be a plentiful variety of foods that celebrate the heritage of eating delicious things.

Most Excited For: I’m gonna play it safe this year (since last year I got hit hard with my choice of most excited for), and go with the Messy Giuseppe from Mancini’s al Fresco. This sounds simple and delicious. Just my sort of fare. I think we’ve been pretty lukewarm about Mancini’s in the past, so we’ll see if this is just eye candy, or if it is meaty goodness in my belly.

Least Excited For: There were a couple of contenders for this one, but I have to go with Firecracker Shrimp and Stuffed Avocado from The Hideaway Speakeasy. Partly because this place should go from being a “hideaway” to being bricked off and left for future archaeologists to find and open like the ark of the covenant (with subsequent face melting, “Shut your eyes, Marion!”). Also, because I’ve made my disdain clear for avocados. I’ll eat them in guacamole, but that’s about it. This just looks like a hot mess of apathy and loathing for hungry people. Bet it costs like twenty bucks.

THE FOODS

Ahi Tune Poke

Ahi tuna, avocado, mango and pico de gallo tossed in a Hawaiian ginger-soy sauce served cold over rice with a fried wonton.

At Café Caribe.

Sarah

Okay. So I’ve always wanted to try poke, I’ve just never really had the opportunity. Okay, that’s a lie. I HAVE had the opportunity, I’ve just chosen not to. So I’m excited that the State Fair will actually MAKE me try something I’ve been wanting to try. I’m particularly excited about the avocado, and the wonton because that shit’s gooood.

Anne

Ok Ok…I am interested/excited (Exciterested? Yes.) to try a Poke bowl, and I have been known to enjoy some real good Ahi Tuna. The question is…is eating fish at a state fair a good idea? I guess we’ll find out! Café Caribe is typically a good bet- prices are usually reasonable for large amounts of food.

Also, apparently Poke Bowls are always Ahi Tuna…? I have to google this, but if that’s the case, then calling it an Ahi Tuna bowl is redundant (shout out Alexa if you’re reading for this tidbit).

UPDATE: Poke (pronounced POH-keh if you weren’t sure) means “to slice or cut” in Hawaiian and refers to chunks of marinated fish, usually tuna, which is then tossed over rice and topped with vegetables and umami-packed sauces. So I guess I’m not certain now if it’s overly redundant. YOU BE THE JUDGE.

Patrick

Poke is something I’ve always been mildly curious about, but have the sneaking suspicion I won’t like. Maybe it’s the raw fish (I like sushi, but not sashimi…it's strange), or the avocado mixed in there, but I have mixed feelings. In all honesty, I’m glad I get this opportunity to try it without actually devoting my time and money to order a whole meal of it at a restaurant, so for that, I thank you Café Caribe. I’ll try to keep an open mind, and maybe I’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Bananas Foster French Toast

Cinnamon swirl French toast topped with slices of fresh bananas in an orange-rum-flavored caramel sauce and finished with a dollop of whipped cream.

At Hamline Church Dining Hall.

Sarah

Well all right! I lurve me some bananas so I’m pretty excited to give this a shot. I’m not sure how I’ll feel about the orange-rum-flavored caramel sauce. I worry the orange flavor will interact not nicely with the bananas, but I guess we’ll see! Also, I know Pat’s pretty pissed he’s gonna have to eat bananas this year. But he’s gonna.

Anne

I saw two things on this list right off the bat that Packie is going to be irritated about, and this is one of them. He don’t like no bananas. Which is dumb because they’re delicious. And here’s your lesson today courtesy of moi:

Bananas as we know and love them are going extinct- we (Americans and Europeans) eat the Cavendish Banana which is large, yellow skinned, white fleshed, and has no seeds. This banana replaced the Gros Michel variety we USED to eat until a fungus called Fusarium Wilt eradicated that banana back in the 50’s (I guess they were even sweeter and better than Cavendish- we’ll never know!). Cavendish was resistant to Fusarium Wilt, but unfortunately the fungus has mutated and can now infect Cavendish. Scientists are racing to try and stop the fungus or genetically modify Cavendish bananas to resist the fungus, but if they’re not successful we have no replacement banana and we’ll only have bananas as we enjoy them for another 10-20 years. SO EAT UP!

Hamline Dining Hall is usually an ok bet- so far haven’t absolutely LOVED their offerings but they’re no Blue Barn, that’s for sure. This seems fine and I’m sure it’ll taste good, but it doesn’t seem original AT ALL and I feel like I could get this at IHOB any day of the week.

Patrick

Damn you bananas! One year without having to try something with bananas in it, is that too much to ask? I really like the idea of bananas foster. If it weren’t for the actual bananas, I think I’d really like this. At least I’ve got some French toast, caramel sauce, and whipped cream to stomach the stupid bananas. If this is anything like what they made last year at the Hamline Church Dining Hall, it’ll be exactly what I expect with no surprises, and ultimately I’ll be left feeling like I could have eaten this at any IHOP, Perkins, or Dennys. Getting creative with food doesn’t seem like their bread and butter.

BBQ Split

Scoops of BBQ pulled pork, mac & cheese and coleslaw served side-by-side with a pickle spear.

At Midtown Global Market Mama D’s 8/23-8/28.

Sarah

Welly welly welly! Looks like we’ve got two new replacements in the mid-town global market and I am excite! Because the previous two always put up good sounding food that ended up being crappy, so hopefully the replacements are better.

And already we’re looking pretty good! There’s nothing on this plate that I don’t like, so I’m sure it will be good. Though I guess there’s a possibility the bbq sauce they use isn’t to my liking. Or the coleslaw could be bad. But you can’t fuck up mac and cheese, right? RIGHT?

Oh god. Why I do this to myself??

Anne

ok, this is one of the new vendors, and it’s the split week at Midtown. I am definitely excited for a new vendor because the last two there were always exciting on the surface but disappointing in their execution.

I like all three of these things and so I’m looking forward to trying this. It doesn’t seem SUPER special- it’s basically three common foods all in a tray together, so even if it’s the best ever I don’t think it’ll be memorable- where’s the ol’ razzle dazzle?

Patrick

Midtown Global Market keeps putting stuff out and keeps adding restaurants to its booth, and I’ve yet to be really happy with anything they put out (They had that Carpe Diem dessert one year that was pretty good). The BBQ split doesn’t even really excite me like many of the other items did, until they ultimately disappointed. This is basically like a plate of BBQ; pulled pork, mac & cheese, and coleslaw. That is like so unoriginal as to be boring, but hey, maybe they make really great BBQ. Making it into the shape of a banana split seems cute, but adds nothing to the actual dish. I do like a pickle spear, though…

Blueberry Rhubarb Cobbler

A blend of organic blueberries and rhubarb topped with a cornmeal biscuit and whipped cream.

At Farmer's Union Coffee Shop.

Sarah

Jebus “rhubarb” is not an easy word to spell. I mean, it is when you just look at it. But when typing it I always want to add an extra “h.”

ANYWAY. This looks good! Nothing too special, but sometimes the simple things are the best (a la, “Big Fat Bacon.”) I’m interested to see how the biscuit is. Will it be grainy? If it’s grainy, I am going to be not happy. NOT HAPPY AT ALL.

Anne

Well right off the bat I expect this to be expensive, because it’s at the Farmer’s Union Coffee Shop.

This looks…fine I guess? I mean, it’s probably tasty but when I go to the MNSF I’m looking for something special, something unique that I can’t really get elsewhere or even make myself. This looks like something I could easily make at home. At least last year they had that corn éclair with the crazy new Kernza Flour from the U of M. I mean- it wasn’t good, but at least they tried, you know?

Patrick

Maybe it is just a bad picture, but this looks boring as fuck. I do like blueberry and rhubarb, especially in a pie or maybe a cobbler, but it looks like they just threw a biscuit on top and slapped some whipped cream on it. Should of done a crumble, crumbles are the sweet shit! I predict I’ll take one bite of this and be underwhelmed. They should stick to making coffee, which is actually pretty good there.

Earth Wings

Fresh cauliflower pieces dipped in a seasoned batter, deep-fried and smothered in organic sesame BBQ sauce. Vegan and gluten-free.

At French Meadow Bakery.

Sarah

Huh. Okay. At first I thought these were going to have buffalo sauce on them and I was going to lose my shit in a bad way. I hate buffalo sauce. I can’t even stand the smell. I probably would have cried real, actual tears if I had to eat buffalo sauce fake wings. Tears of sadness and rage.

BUT! It is NOT buffalo sauce but instead a sesame bbq sauce! I’m not sure how I feel about these fake wings. On one hand I think it’s clever and interesting. On the other, I think maybe they’re trying too hard? But it is French Meadow bakery and they are almost always a success. Almost always (except for getting rid of the doughsant. WHY YOU DO THIS TO US??!) Normally I don’t like cauliflower (it’s just fake broccoli) but hell, it’s battered and deep fried so maybe it will be good!

Anne

I saw the pic, thought it looked good, then realized it was cauliflower and was delighted, and THEN realized it was French Meadow which is 98% good (RIP 2016-2017). So I gotta say- I am pretty durn exciterested to give this a taste! This is not something I would normally get to try so I’m looking forward to it!

Patrick

OMG, I just have to say that Earth Wings sounds like the lamest hippy name to try to normalize cauliflower as an alternative to chicken wings. Don’t try to confuse or convince me into buying that these are “wings”, but vegan, gluten-free, and healthier. I’m sure people who prefer or need vegan/gluten-free food are happy to have this option (and I am happy for them, honest), but don’t pander it to the meat eating crowd. Your portabella burger isn’t a burger, your tofurkey isn’t turkey, and these aren’t chicken wings. All that said, I like vegetables and I like cauliflower and this actually sounds like an interesting and tasty dish. I’m excited to give it a try. I’m just not going to imagine that I can replace chicken wings with these.


Tune in tomorrow for Part 2!