How does fair's fare rate?

LINCOLN -- Breaded, buttered or barbecued, food at the Nebraska State Fair is an attraction all its own. Two reporters spent an afternoon eating their way through the fair, armed with $40, empty stomachs and a camera. Ten dishes and six hours later, they had tested some of the fair's most unique fare, from fried Oreos to smoked nachos. And, in keeping with fair tradition, the pari awarded each item a ribbon.

How long does it take to smoke a turkey leg?

“Three hours if they are frozen, one hour if they are thawed,” said vendor J.R. Gardner of Des Moines. He said the turkey legs are smoked in Kansas City and purchased frozen.

They do use two smokers to reheat the legs. However, the smoke billowing out onto the fairgrounds seems like an elaborate ruse.

The leg we sampled was dry, tough and surprisingly greasy. The grease soaked right through the blue-and-white checkerboard wax paper the leg was wrapped in. Despite being smoked and reheated on a smoker, the leg lacked smoked flavor.

Ribbon: Inner cave-person satisfaction

The Czech pastry is handmade in, where else, Wilber, Neb., known as the “Czech capital of the United States.”

Lois Havel and her husband, Frank, run Frank's Smokehouse and have been selling jerky at the fair for more than three decades. They decided to add kolaches to their stand inside the Devaney Center a few years back.

There were six flavors available: apple, blueberry, poppy seed, cherry, apricot and prune. Poppy seed and prune are not recommended for first-timers. We tried apple, which tasted like it was handmade with love. The pastry was light and airy and had just the right amount of apple filling. Vitáme vás (welcome), kolaches!

Ribbon: Best Nebraska tradition

Ron and Cecilia Neseth, the owners of Pig in a Bag catering, made a phone call two weeks ago, hoping to reserve a spot for next year's fair in Grand Island. When the Alma, Neb., couple were told a spot remained for this year's fair, they and their daughter, Crystal Warner, packed their three-month-old barbecue business into a trailer and set up their stand north of the Devaney Center.

“You know for the first time down, it's been pretty darn exciting and overwhelming,” Ron Neseth said.

Customers choose from three menu items: nachos, dry-rub pork ribs and a pulled pork sandwich. Before any pork hits plates, it smokes for 10 to 11 hours behind the food stand.

The smoked nachos, a dish suggested by the Neseths' children, could satisfy two eaters. Layers of tortilla chips, cheese sauce, shredded cheese, smoked pork and campfire beans (their own mixture of beef, sausage, bacon, onion and three varieties of beans) were served piled high and drizzled with Cecilia's barbecue sauce, a sweet tomato-based glaze with a spicy note.

Ribbon: Reserve champion, best newcomer

The Pizza on a Stick was invented five years ago, said vendor Bradley Brown, 24, of Louisville, Ky. It's basically a calzone with the sauce on the inside. Pepperoni was the only option.

The stick looks like a shorter version of a paint stirring stick you would get when buying a gallon of paint. It begs the question: Where does a person find food-grade paint sticks?

There was pepperoni and cheese on the top and on the inside. The outside was crispy, the inside soft.

It tasted all right, but we don't think Valentino's is going to have to worry. One downside was the grease that dripped out the bottom, down the stick, onto our hands and onto the ground, where it caught the attention of an unleashed Dalmatian, who then followed us for five minutes.

Ribbon: Best use of stick

Frozen chocolate-covered bananas. Fried Twinkies. Fried Oreos. Calories are king at the Banana Man stand, a bright blue shack on Play Is Good Street.

Lincoln local Jim Ritzman has operated the food stand for 16 years, he said as he steadied a mixer blending batter.

Oreos and Twinkies take a batter bath before they are fried to a golden brown.

Three deep-fried Oreos served in a snowy bed of powdered sugar costs $3.50. The piping-hot chocolate cookies are made to order and take several minutes to receive and longer yet to cool.

But the wait pays. A soft layer of sugarcoated batter surrounds the cookies, which melt into a cake-like consistency. The frosting melts, too, seeping into the chocolate. Every bite reminds us that the fair comes only once a year.

Ribbon: Most sinful

Sue King and her husband have been operating King's Funnel Cake stands for 32 years. A few years back business was slow, so King decided to try something new. She dipped a peach in funnel cake batter — and into the fryer it went. What came out is best described as “sublime.”

Imagine peach cobbler right out of the oven. Now multiply that by 10 and you have fried peaches.

The peaches are served on a stick, because “people want food on a stick,” King said.

The fried peaches on a stick are placed in a dish, covered with cinnamon sugar and powdered sugar and served with a fork.

Ribbon: Grand champion, best in show

In a small white trailer parked among Ag Avenue vendors, Coyote Kettle Corn pops “howling good” kernels of corn, according to a slogan printed on the trailer.

Owner Frank Zelvis of Show Low, Ariz., entered the business 10 years ago after watching another vendor profit from selling the sweet snack.

Scooped into a brown paper bag, the low-cost helping rivaled those of movie theater buckets. But its quality and taste didn't.

The kettle's last kernels filled the bag and were served warm and chewy — not hot and buttery. A burnt taste overwhelmed the treat's trademark tasty combination of salt and sugar.

Ribbon: Sweet yet corny

Hardenbrook's Polish Sausage stand brought to the fair one of the few vegetarian options for a meal, if you don't consider funnel cake to be a main dish. Grilled Veggies on a Bun consists of grilled onions and peppers, and sauerkraut. It's basically a polish dog with everything, minus the polish dog. Did we mention sauerkraut?

There was so much sauerkraut, a more apt name would be “Fermented Cabbage on a Bun,” although you can request the sandwich sans sauerkraut.

Ribbon: Sausages are great

Fairgoers know the best way to stretch a dollar is to not spend anything at all. A trip to the Nebraska Wheat Board's Agriculture Hall exhibit makes that possible. Volunteers serve free freshly baked wheat treats every day.

“We want people to understand where their food comes from: the farm to the fork,” said Amy Robertson, a Perkins County wheat producer. “Education is the goal.”

After taking a brief course on the state's wheat production, crowds can bite into bread, sample cinnamon rolls or crunch cookies.

The mini cinnamon rolls we tested were served warm and gooey on a paper napkin. The portion wasn't enough to fill a hungry stomach, but it was more than enough to make returning to the exhibit a temptation. At no cost, it's hard to beat the wheat treats.

Ribbon: Best value

Thirsty after two hours' worth of eating pork, turkey and too much sauerkraut, nothing sounded better than fresh-squeezed lemonade, a longtime fair standard.

A brightly colored Swain's Fine Foods stand south of the 4-H building vended five flavors: plain, cherry, strawberry, blue raspberry and grape. We ordered the latter, which disappointingly meant nothing more than a few pumps of grape syrup squirted into our drink, turning the yellow liquid a cloudy purplish gray.

The sugary juice was served in a large plastic cup decorated with its namesake fruit: there were more lemons printed on the cup than squeezed into it. Ice filled half the glass. Our drink lasted less than 15 minutes and tasted much less refreshing than the several pitchers of lemonade that could be squeezed at home for the same price.

Ribbon: Make your own

Contact the writers:

402-473-9580, aaron.james@owh.com and molly.young@owh.com