'Tis the Season

We have a wide range of niche and mainstream interests here at your favorite online gathering place. Among them, an appreciate for the wonders of a good state fair. From Indiana to Minnesota to...well, just those two, we love a fair.

The Minnesota State Fair runs for two weeks around Labor Day each summer (August 27 - September 7, this year). It's the largest such fair in the U.S. in terms of average daily attendance, and more than two million people pass through its gates each year. (Texas tops the nation in total attendance, but their fair runs twice as long as Minnesota's.)  

One of the most-anticipated events in the run-up to the Fair is the annual reveal of food items that will make their debut that year. You know that we're all over this one. 

Fully 48 fair foods and drinks will be first-timers in 2026. Thirty-nine of these are new offerings from Fair veterans and nine are proffered by vendors new to the Fair. Sixteen are either sweet treats or drinks, and neither of those categories are really my cup of (bubble) tea, so we'll narrow our discussion to the remaining 32 savory stuffs, with an emphasis on the unique (so we'll skip the new french fry vendor, for example).

Let's start with the ethnic diversity. The Twin Cities are home to a surprising range of cultures, from the obvious Scandinavian to large Somali, Filipino, and Hmong communities. The latter is represented by the Hmong Corn Dog from Union Hmong Kitchen. The purveyors describe it thusly, "Pork Hmong sausage flavored with ginger, garlic, fish sauce, chili and lemongrass made in collaboration with Kramarczuk's. Skewered, dipped in a cornmeal batter and fried. Served with a side of citrus Kua Txob sauce." Would.

Not to be outdone, the good people at Lumpia City are bringing their Longanisa Cheese Curd Lumpia to the party. It's a "Homemade Filipino longanisa pork sausage combined with garlic and Wisconsin cheese curds, stuffed and rolled in a lumpia wrapper and deep-fried. Served with a side of sweet chili sauce." Lumpia, to the uninitiated, is essentially a Filipino egg roll.

A pair of vendors will offer two very different interpretations of bao buns. Rooted & Wild by Snack House brings a vegan version doused in hot barbecue sauce and topped with pineapple slaw. Meanwhile, RC's BBQ's giving us bao belly (pictured) presented as, "Smoked barbecue pork belly drizzled with RC's hot sauce and yum yum sauce. Topped with pickled vegetables and cilantro and served on folded, steamed bao buns." Fuck and yes.

Were I to head to the fairgrounds this year, one of the first places I'd have to go is the French Meadow Bakery & Cafe stall smack in the middle of the action. They're bringing Shakshuka Lamb Meatballs, which, shut the front door. If you haven't tried shakshuka, I insist you remedy that - it's a rich, thick often-spicy tomato sauce that's served with hearty bread and proteins like eggs, kabob, chicken, etc. Here's how the French Meadow folks describe their dish: "Seasoned lamb and pork meatballs stuffed with whipped garlic herb goat cheese and flash-fried. Served atop shakshuka – a blend of tomatoes, chili peppers, onions and spices – garnished with parsley and served with a side of chimichurri-spiced sourdough crostini."  

You'll want to sit down to eat it, so maybe hit the Minnesota Craft Brewers Guild's tent and grab a cold one to accompany the shakshuka.

We'll close our preview with one last item, because we're running out of gas, but do hit the link above to check out all of the options. We'll stay away from the Pickle Pie offered by LuLu's Pie House, as well as the Dill With It, Cookie! from Urban Glow Mocktails. Several elote and elote-adjacent dishes look delicious, for sure, but maybe some other time. Cafe Caribe's putting lobster with garlic butter on a cheeseburger. Goddamn lunatics. Mancini's al Fresco's Walking Chopped Italian Grinder puts a whole new spin on nachos, and I would definitely try it. But the last thing we'll highlight comes from Midtown Global Market's Irie Jamaican Express.

Smothered fries may not seem all that exciting, but get a load of their Jamaican Jerk Chicken Loaded Fries. That might be a perfect combination.

I'll be headed to the Loudoun County Fair next week, if only for the pig calling. I hope at least one of our readers gets to the Minnesota State Fair this year, or at least some fair. It's a good clean gluttonous slice of Americana.