Big E 2010: Must-Eats

The Big E offers a plethora of great foods aside from the stands within the Avenue of the States. When Sam and I went last Tuesday, the primary reason for our going was for the food. I made a list of the things I wanted us to get, and managed to eat most of them without noticing the things we missed because we were too full and satisfied from everything else we'd consumed.

The fair has a few staple foods, things it's famous for. The stands for these foods typically have the longest lines, and for good reason -- the food's amazing, and we sampled a lot of them. It also has a lot of non-staple, but still must-try, foods. This is a summary of the foods you absolutely must try if you're going to the Big E for the food. You would be seriously remiss if you didn't try at least a few of these. In no particular order...

Pickles

Sup, pickle.

The first food we purchased after entering the park -- after I got an iced latte and Sam, recently turning 21, got a beer -- was from this pickle stand. We wandered through the craft area and when we came out on the other side, Sam saw the stand, gasped, and exclaimed, "PICKLES!" The craving for a giant, fresh pickle came on suddenly, and the need for one was implanted. There was no turning back. And, since we came on a weekday, there was no line.

The pickle itself was giant, crunchy, and by all accounts perfect. It was crisp, firm (there's nothing worse than a soggy pickle), and the presence of the garlic taste was subtle and not overpowering. At about $1.75 per pickle, this pickle is well worth the price.

Kettle Corn

Moments after leaving the pickle stand, after walking through a small tavern area filled with older Big E-goers drinking beer and watching sports on large television sets, we came across Henry's Kettle Corn. I've always been a fan of kettle corn -- Sam has not. We each had a free sample of the popcorn, forever converting Sam into a kettle corn eater. We decided to get a small bag of it for the road. (It's been almost a week, and the popcorn is still as fresh as it was the day we bought it.)

The best part about the Henry's Kettle Corn stand, like most of the stands at the Big E, is that you can watch them making it. The popcorn is still hot when they hand you your sample or your bag, and you can taste the freshness. This popcorn in particular has a perfect balance of sweet and salty, each flavor slamming your taste buds perfectly and unexpectedly. One moment you're just eating a piece of kettle corn as you wander the fair, the next moment you're being slapped in the jaw with flavor.

The two men at the stand were also really funny, nice guys. While one of them filled a bag of kettle corn for us, they messed around with each other and did some funny poses and faces while I took photos of them.

Fried Dough

Everybody loves fried dough. It's sold at events similar to the Big E all the time. What makes the fried dough at the Big E superior to other places is that, like with the kettle corn and cider doughnuts, you can actually watch the people in the food stands making it all from scratch. You go up to the window to place your order, and there's one person manning the cash register while another person is making dough at a counter and putting out fresh fried dough. You bite into it and it's still hot. I was excited to find that after ordering my fried dough (I got it with chocolate), there was a table in front of the stand where you could add powdered sugar. At a lot of other places, such as my summertime place of work, Six Flags, you have the option of getting confectioner's sugar as the topping on your fried dough, but nothing else. There is no sugar shaker nearby giving you the option to add it to your dough, which is a tremendous bummer.

There are a couple different options for toppings on fried dough, but I always opt for the standard chocolate sauce. The fact that I had the option of adding sugar at my own discretion made it all the better. The dough was so fresh it practically melted in my mouth. Perfection.

Turkey Legs

Sam gnaws on a giant hickory-smoked turkey leg.

Sam was most excited about getting a turkey leg, a popular Big E staple, when we were there. The only problem was that it took a long time to find it. Unlike fried dough and candy apple stands, there are only a few turkey leg stands -- there may even be only one, because when we asked for directions at an information booth they had to give us very specific directions to find it. We found it, its line full of big, buff men -- lumberjacks, perhaps -- and stared at the legs on display in the stand's window, enjoying the palpable smell emanating from the stand.
I had one bite of the turkey leg -- I wanted Sam to enjoy as much of it as he could -- and, though it was tough to break through the skin, it was quite good. The turkey wasn't dry, and the hickory flavor was incredible. The only problem? After eating an entire leg of it, Sam's breath was pretty rank; too much hickory, I suppose.

Cream Puffs

 

Perhaps the most advertised food at the Big E is the cream puff, available in one bakery on the entire premises in the New England Center. They are being produced all day long by bakers, put together assembly line-style with giant scoops of whipped cream and two big, puffy pieces of pastry. Within the bakery are signs with tips on how to eat the cream puff without making a mess: the "twist and slide" method, as they call it. Similar to eating an Oreo cookie, you hold the cream puff, each palm grasping one of the two outer pastries, twist, and separate, effectively giving you two cream puffs. The downfall of the cream puff is that there is entirely too much cream in it; the whole thing is extremely rich, and the use of that much cream makes it almost overwhelming. When I ate my cream puff, my plate was overflowing with extra cream when I finished. I couldn't bring myself to eat all the whipped cream for fear of contracting a sugar-induced headache. Overall, though, the cream puff is perfect for anyone who goes to the Big E with a sweet tooth.

Things We Didn't Sample

 There were two other foods that we saw, but did not try. One was the Big E's famous "Craz-E Burger," a cheeseburger with bacon using a halved glazed doughnut instead of a bun. The main reason we skipped it was because we were already stuffed from a few hours worth of nonstop eating. However, we did feel like we needed to at least see it, so we found the stand that was selling them and asked a gentleman who bought one if we could take a picture. Although I was extremely full, and although I don't really eat meat, the burger seemed oddly tantalizing. I was tempted by its mound of melted cheese, bacon strips, and warm, fresh scent.

I also decided to skip the candy apples, even though they were near the top of my list of things to eat at the Big E. This was partly because my stomach was screaming for me to stop eating and partly because it's difficult to come across a stand-out candy apple. Just seeing and smelling them was enough for me. I'd had one at my first trip to the Big E in the fall of 2008 and, though it was delectable, it wasn't unlike any other candy apple I'd ever eaten.

These are by no means the only food options at the Big E Agricultural Fair. They are merely the most delicious and most popular ones. If you're headed to the Big E in the next week, check them out and at least ask for a sample. You'll regret not trying them in two weeks, when you realize it'll be another year before you get the chance.