I was feeling peckish. So I headed to the Ventura County Fair and ate everything.
OK. That’s an overstatement. But I dove into the fair’s new foods like a pioneer exploring frontiers, except I was armed with a credit card, a soon-to-be-stained notebook and napkins.
My annual mission to eat and conquer started with fries. I had choices. There were spam fries, cheesy bacon fries, teriyaki chicken fries and spiral fries.
I picked pastrami fries. ($17.64, Grinders booth, Kelley Court.) My paper plate was covered with so much chipotle-drizzled pastrami it looked like a sandwich. Underneath was a layer of cheese covering a mound of fries big enough for a meal.
The fries were a little soggy but the pastrami made up for it. The chipotle, which has to be
requested, gave it all a gentle kick. I wolfed it down in the middle of a food court that offered everything from Buffalo chicken mac n’ cheese to deep-fried candy bars.
I moved on to corn burritos and a value meal designed to make fair food affordable. I received three slender burritos and a Loca Lemonade with the cup’s rim covered in tajin and chimoy. I paid $13. Add in tax and tip and my tally was just under $17.
I’ve learned the corn burritos are a Ventura County specialty. They look like taquitos but are filled with refried beans instead of meat. My trio was covered with cheddar cheese and a sauce created by John Karayan, co-owner of Spencer Makenzie’s Fish Company. His family members said he was inspired by the sauce used years ago at the old Hi-Ho Restaurant in Ventura.
The burritos were crisp, tasty and easy to eat. A foodie who happens to be wife told me I should have asked for the sauce on the side but I was happy.
I ate at a table shared with retiree Dorie Zabriskie who was working her way through a falafel. I told her about my annual food quest and asked her if it sparked envy. She said not even a little.
“Have fun,” she told me. “Don’t get sick."
Unexpected move
For more 40 years, the Donut Express was located inside the fair’s commercial building. Customers came to that corner site with their children, waiting in line and watching as batter was formed by a machine into mini-donuts and propelled through baths of hot oil via metal flippers. The end result was a treat a little bigger than a half dollar. (Six for $6, Main Street.)
Ann Klein, 79, of Santa Clarita, has been making donuts from the beginning, first helping friends who owned the business, then inheriting it when her friends died. This year, she was told the food booth had to be moved out of the commercial building to a tent near the entrance. Fairgrounds concessions coordinator Madalyn Johnson confirmed the move was requested by the state fire marshal.
Klein said she wasn't given a specific reason. Asked for her reaction, she raised her eyebrows, her eyes growing the size of regular donuts.
“The fire marshal decided after 47 years we shouldn’t be in there,” she said, noting that the change has taken the visual intrigue out of the donut-making. “You can’t see it anymore. That’s a big thing for people.”
She works in the booth with her friend Kim Banales, who has been helping out for 44 years. Banales’ husband and two daughters work there, too.
“We’ve all been friends for so many years,” said Klein who said she’s trying to adjust to the new location. “It’s been a challenge.”
As Klein told me her story inside the business’ rented tent, she made donuts that were then covered in cinnamon sugar. They were still warm when I ate them.
She said she still eats them, too.
“It’s quality control,” she said with a laugh. “We have to make sure they taste right.”
Udon saves the day
The infusion of contrasting food was beginning to fray my senses. I needed a pick-me-up. So I reached for Red Bull, ordering something called a Stawberry Sensation. ($15, Boba King booth, Area 1).
The drink, offered in a squat, clear plastic cup, is Red Bull and lemonade mixed with a strawberry-flavored base. Mine came with ice but it can also be bought as a slushie.
It tasted OK but I felt kind of strange. I went back to the booth and asked cashier Jackie Melendez if she had tried it. She hadn’t. She sticks to boba. For a reason.
“I have really bad anxiety when I have energy drinks,” she said. “It’s too much energy.”
She was right. I felt altered. I felt amped. I thought maybe food would help. So I turned to an old friend, udon noodles. ($17, Noodle House, Main Street.)
The salty cord-thick noodles took me back to the days more than a decade ago when members of the Oxnard Buddhist Temple served up udon at the fair every year. My dish from the Noodle House was stir-fried with chicken, green onions, purple cabbage and carrots.
It grounded me. The Red Bull faded. The udon won.
Bigger than big
I wasn't quite done. I still had to hurdle the chile relleno burrito and it was so big I could barely see the finish line. ($13, Space Age booth, Area 1)
I asked for the dish and cashier Angela Acosta called it out to the kitchen. “Grande,” she said. I told her I wanted a smaller one.
“There’s no small, honey,” she said with a smile.
It was bigger than a clenched fist. Only a sliver of the stick emerged from it. I picked it up with both hands and dug in, chipotle sauce smearing my beard.
It was deep-fried, leaving a thick, crispy outer border. The chile was stuffed with pepper jack cheese. It was delicious but messy. I ate as much as I could and discreetly discarded the rest.
Last on my list was tanghulu, a skewer of fruit covered in a candied glaze. ($10, Fabe’s Churro & Gelato, Main Street)
I chose mandarin and ate my six pieces next to hay bales in a shaded area. I wanted fruit and this was more like candy, sweet and a little sticky. But it tasted good.
I was done. My food cost $114, including tips and fees. On the morning after, I feel fine though my digestive system is confused.
When I go back to fair, the dishes at the top of my list to try again will be the pastrami fries and the corn burritos. I'll stay away from the Red Bull but may try a different treat from that booth.
Spam fries.
Tom Kisken covers health care and other news for the Ventura County Star. Reach him at tom.kisken@vcstar.com.
SUPPORT LOCAL JOURNALISM: To see more stories like this, subscribe.
This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Chowing down at the VC Fair where 'there's no small, honey'
