If you like your donuts large and your hamburgers sweet, this year’s wild and wacky food offerings at the CNE, running Friday until Sept. 2, have your liberal taste in mind.
Pancho’s Bakery is offering a one-metre wide donut ($20) while Deep Fried Fishing Co. has The Uncrustable ($19.99), a double smash burger served with cheese, caramelized onions, and thick-cut bacon with a top and bottom “uncrustable” bun filled with peanut butter and jam.
“We have a family-sized donut for probably three people or four,” said Pancho Bakery’s Tito Aguilar.
“We do the two-foot taco last year, the four-pound taco, we just want(ed) to keep the same trend.”
Added the Deep Fried Fishing Co.’s Andrew Motta: “We swapped out two traditional burger buns for uncrustables.”
The second item from Motta’s company is the deep-fried Birria Taco Bomb.
“That’s signature Birria beef, a ball of cheese and a corn tortilla taco shell,” said Motta, pulling it apart to show the cheesy goodness inside.
And just because there always seems to be a pickle treat or two on offer at the CNE, The Twisted Pickle is offering both The Twisted Pickle and The Big Dill Dog.
“We have a pickle that we’ve cut and spread on a stick covered with our Dilly Ranch sauce and our dill pickle chips so it’s a lot of pickle,” said The Twister Pickles’ Scott Dennis. “And then we’ve got the Big Dill Dog. So that’s Frankie’s hot dogs and this has pickles, this has onion, bacon, cheese, Dilly Ranch sauce and chips.”
Also, who doesn’t like a soft-shell crab on a stick?
Farm to Fryer is serving up Karage Soft Shell Crab on a Stick ($19.95) with Sriracha mayo plus a mac and Cheetos popsicle ($13.95) with a cheese sauce.
“It’s excellent — it’s nice and crunchy,” said Farm to Fryer’s Marco Zambri of the crab.
And if Taylor Swift-inspired food is more your speed then the King of Curds is offering Deep Fried Cheese Curds (Taylor’s Version) topped with Wildest Cream icing, Lavender Haze crunch, Lover cotton candy and Bejeweled edible Shimmer, plus a friendship bracelet, all for $19.89.
“We’re celebrating the hype of the Eras Tour this year,” said the King of Curds’ Karyn Johnson. “And it’s all paying homage to Taylor Swift songs. And every serving comes with a free Curd Lover friendship bracelet.”
Japanese street food has also arrived in the form of O-Mochi’s sweet or spicy mochi donuts ($4.75 and $6) plus three so-called “crack” drinks including Ubi Coconut ($8) which turns from white to purple in colour once you crack the plastic container holding it.
“A coat of white chocolate is colouring the actual drink colour and when you crack the cup, the colour reveals,” said O-Mochi’s Tracy Tan while demonstrating the phenomenon.
Finally, Soo Cute has Avocado Coconut Ice Cream that is served in a coconut bowl.
The same company also offers up Lavender Lemonade, Whipped Lemonade, the Pickle Oreo, a Butter Chicken Corn Dog, and Ube Sesame Street Corn. (With all six items ranging from $8 to $20)
“Let’s talk about crown jewel today — this is the pickle Oreo,” said Soo Cute’s Harrison Swift, whose one-year-old son Atlas proved to be the cutest company mascot.
“We’re opening up Oreos. Putting a pickle in it and then frying it with a shredded pickle batter.”