Cactus Got Robbed!
Bacon wins: State Fair of Texas announces winners of Big Tex fried food awards2012
Hewing to the current foodie reverence for bacon, the fried bacon cinnamon roll was awarded Most Creative fried food in the 2012 State Fair of Texas annual Big Tex® Choice Awards.
Winning the prize for Best Taste was fried jambalaya, submitted by oft-awarded vendor Abel Gonzales.
Winner Abel Gonzales has won more times than any other vendor.
The two winners were chosen at a ceremony on Monday morning at the Fair Park's Embarcadero Building.
They were chosen from a field of eight entries that also included chicken-fried cactus bites, deep fried divine chocolate tres leches cake, deep fried mac-n-cheese slider, fried Mexican fire crackers, picnic on a stick, and fried pork wing.
Judges included Andrea Rega, correspondent for Univision News; state representative Eric Johnson, a returning judge; and Donovan Lewis, from Dallas sports radio 1310 The Ticket.
The deep fried jambalaya is described as "from-scratch jambalaya with shrimp, Cajun sausage and seasonings, coated in lightly seasoned flour and fried. Served with spicy ranch sauce."
The deep-fried cinnamon roll was a cinnamon roll dipped in pancake batter, rolled in crispy fried bacon crumbles, deep fried and sprinkled with powdered sugar.