The History of Fair Food by: George Geary CCP
The History of Fair Food
by: George Geary CCP
County and state fairs are very American. You will not find a county fair in Europe, Australia, or Asia, but you will find one in almost every state of the U.S. and many counties. Europe took on the World by creating exhibitions that invited the World while the U.S. stayed local. Agricultural and livestock fairs started early in the 19th century on the east coast and then spread westward. Fairs allowed rural farmers to see the latest agricultural equipment and compete with neighbors to see who grew the most enormous watermelon or pumpkin. Almost 80 years later, the ladies of the farmers started prepared food competitions that began with pies and preserves. Today you still find many competitors for the coveted Blue Ribbon.
Many foods have been invented, discovered, or tested at fairs. At the second U.S. World’s Expo held in 1893 in Chicago, a few famous foods were born. Cracker Jack® was created and sold by the Rueckheim brothers. Pabst Beer won the highest honors in competition and changed the name to Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer®. Nancy Green, a former slave in a print dress and white apron, told stories while cooking pancakes with a new self-rising mix and became Aunt Jemima®. William Wrigley, Jr., a soap and baking powder salesman, handed out Juicy Fruit® gum to his customers as an incentive to buy his products. He soon founded the Wrigley Chewing Gum Company, and Spearmint, his second flavor, is still the number one chewing gum brand in the World. Manufacturing companies tried to sell machines and methods to make Shredded Wheat® and Cream of Wheat® brands, but people were more interested in the finished products. Milton Hershey of Pennsylvania, maker of caramel products, purchased equipment to make milk chocolate candy bars and became the first mass producer of the bars that made Hershey famous for chocolate. Bertha Palmer, the wife of hotelier Potter Palmer of the Palmer House Chicago, asked her chef to create a dessert that her fair planning committee could eat while wearing gloves. The first brownie was such a hit with the ladies. It was introduced at the fair. Today, turn down service at the Palmer Hilton includes a historical brownie.
The first World’s fair of the 20th century in St. Louis, MO, in 1904 created a turning point for American palates because so many new items were introduced. St. Louis was centrally located with accessible train service east or west. Local things that had never been mass-produced popularized at that fair included hot dogs, peanut butter, cotton candy, ice cream cones, and club sandwiches. Alexander Anderson, a botanist, invented the machine to process rice that didn’t sell well, but he became famous for his Puffed Rice cereal.
These days bacon everything and fried everything is popular at fairs. Fried fair oddities that became more mainstream include green beans and guacamole. The most bizarre item may be fried chunks of butter introduced in Texas in 2009 but was adopted by television chefs and recipe sites. Destined to stay local may be deep-fried buckeyes, a peanut butter chocolate confection popular at Ohio fairs, and Texas fried chicken in a waffle cone with sausage gravy favorite.
If you want to impress curious visitors from afar, take them to the fair.
Geary is passionate about cooking and sharing that passion with others. As a teacher he brings humor and a sense of fun to his numerous personal appearances around the world. George’s cooking classes are always sold out and he is frequently asked to provide his culinary skills and talents as an instructor on luxury cruise lines. A former pastry chef for the Walt Disney Company, George is a Certified Culinary Professional and best-selling cookbook author. His wit and humor show through in his numerous cookbooks, making it fun and easy to understand culinary concepts. George guides home cooks on everything from cookies and pastries, to cheesecakes, sauces, dressings and rubs, to how to use a food processor. This past year George has authored two books: L.A.'s Legendary Restaurants and Fair Foods. For over 30 years George has been involved with the judging of culinary contests for major food manufacturers such as Canola Producers, Veg-all, Hormel Products, Hershey Foods, Knott’s Berry Farm Foods, Ghirardelli Chocolate, Fleischmann’s Yeast, San Diego Union Tribune, ABC News Contests and many more. From 1982, for 28 seasons, George was the Culinary Coordinator of the world’s Largest County Fair in Los Angeles where his duties were to implement food contests daily with the coordination of the judges and competitors. George’s teaching schedule regularly takes him around the world, teaching at over 200 schools, spa, wineries and food festivals a year. For the past eight years George had been a featured speaker and lecturer aboard the Holland America Line’s ships for about six sailings a year. He has taught on every continent and sailed in all 7 seas! George is the author of 11 cookbooks including; The Cheesecake Bible; The Complete Baking Cookbook; 650 Food Processor Recipes, 150 Donut Recipes, 500 Sauces, Salad Dressings and More.., and 125 Best Biscuit Mix Recipes. When not in a kitchen George leads award winning; mouth-watering culinary tours of major cities of America and Europe. George has shared some of his favorite recipes with television viewers on ABC, The Food Network, NBC, CBS, and PBS. He has been featured in the pages of many food magazines, newspapers, blogs and The Wall Street Journal. When not traveling to teach, George lives in sunny California. His website is www.georgegeary.com and Twitter #ChefGeary.