Fair Food 2010 - Catholics and Mormons
There is certainly something noteworthy about the Cassia County Fair and Rodeo that may (emphasis on "may") be unique to small town fairs - church booths. There are probably five or six church booths at the Cassia County Fair, as I recall there are a few LDS (Mormon) booths, a Baptist and Christian Church booth and a Catholic booth. I haven't been to all of them, but I can tell you bits about the Catholic and Declo Stake (LDS) offerings. Catholics:
Their booth had a decidedly hispanic bent. No complaints here. I had a tasty tamale with an obviously homemade salsa. I also ordered fries, with cheese, and meat, and salsa. It was like nachos, with potatoes (I'm in Idaho, remember?). Both were very good. The food tasted very homemade. The salsa, in particular, was great. It had a lot of depth, and just a little bite.
My son got a cheeseburger and fries. He loves cheeseburgers and loved this one. The fries, however, were the big winner. I have said before that great fries are no great secret, since there aren't a lot of variables. You have potatoes, heat and seasoning. The difference between good and great is often a matter of having better seasonings. The Declo fries had exceptional seasonings with a perfect texture (perfectly applied heat).
Finally, the Declo Stake sells maple bars. During busy times you can wait in line for 20 minutes for maple bars in the back, or you can order something from the front and get one bar. I've written about them before - they are mindblowing. They are the only doughnut I have craved in years. The church has to be quite organized to keep those doughnuts coming, here's a shot:
I feel like I should make some pronouncement regarding the meaning of the competition for fairgoers dollars between the different religions at the fair. I guess all I can say is, that this is a rare time where the metaphorical "marketplace" of free speech and ideas exists atop a literal "marketplace" of fried foods.
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