You can have my funnel cake when you pry it from my dead, greasy, fat fingers. Then you can fry the fingers for a tasty treat.

Ewwww why would anyone subject themselves to eating out of a diseased and unsanitary food trailer? Besides carnies scare me small hands, smell like cabbage

mmmmm, fried oreos are the only reason i visit a carnie.

I'll have one of each, please.

@tawni: Because, funnel cakes. That is all.

Oh, sure, they're unhealthy. But you can't really count all those calories, fats, and cholesterol after you throw up from the Gravitron or that damn Viking ship that goes upside down. Or, my personal favorite, the Crazy Dance (as featured in Problem Child 2).

My favourite carnival / festival food are the doughnuts, they taste so good!!

And firefox, just because i'm in the USA, it doesn't mean 'favourite' is spelt wrong :P

Deep fried candy bars image is used twice in this post.

best carnival food I ever had was a cheese-filled sausage wrapped in bacon, battered, on a stick, deep-fried. I don't care how terrible it was for me, I'd eat another one right now if it was in front of me.

The best part about carnival food is the rat droppings! They're not a dominant flavor, but they're in just about everything.

you forgot Fried dough. also a staple of the carnival.

Am I the only person, who while eating funnel cakes, that inhales and gets powdered sugar in the back of my throat/windpipe area, and ends up coughing?

Swear that happens every time I eat those.

Fried oreos are sooo good, but you can feel your heart slow down after eating one.

Chili cheese fries!! Chili cheese fries!! Chili cheese fries!!

carnie Clamcakes FTW

I like the whole food-on-a-stick paradigm.

eating funnel cake/zeppoles always makes me look like I just came out a huge coke binge.

[en.wikipedia.org]

try the texas state fair. fried coke, fried snickers, fried cheesecake. all the fatasses from houston go up for it every year.

I'll take a grilled Italian Sausage with peppers and onions and raise you an Elephant Ear.

Here in New England at the carnivals and festivals, we chow down on fried dough, clamcakes (basically deep-fried dough balls with clam bits in them), and malasadas -- Portuguese fried dough pastries covered in sugar.

Gawd, I love all that stuff!

Fried Cheese Curds. I'm originally from Wisconsin. I haven't had good carnival ones in years, but I can still taste them.

There's something that I've only seen at the Texas State Fair: the BBQ baloney sandwich. The booth is run by an African-American gentleman from South Dallas who smokes a whole baloney as he's BBQing his brisket, ribs, etc... Then it's sliced and served on plain white bread with spicy BBQ sauce and mustard.

Mmmmm MMMMM!

Oops, forgot chourico and pepper "grinders" (sub, hoagie). Chourico is Portuguese spicy sausage, pronounced roughly "sha-reesse." Good and greasy!

Fried Cheesecake on a stick. Best ever at the Iowa State Fair. ...as long as you don't think about how bad it is for you.

Fried Oreos are absolutely fantastic, pretty easy to make at home, plus as great as they are, after one or two your body doesn't feel like it needs anymore. Perfect contentment.

@ElizabethD: New England Represent! :D

I never got a chance to try it, but if I was feeling adventurous, I would totally try the Krispy Kreme Burger:

[sports.espn.go.com]

I hate these articles. Carnival's are a summer time treat...it's assumed you don't eat this crap all year long and that when you go to a carnival you get one or two of these items..not 7. Yes Mr. Carnival man,I would like one iced water and one lettuce and tomatoe wrap...I mean,get real. Of course this crap is bad..but it's a once or twice a summer deal. If it isn't fat and grease then it's chemicals...everything we consume is garbage at this point.

@Pasketti: "I like the whole food-on-a-stick paradigm."

Agreed!! Everything is better on a stick!
At ren-faire I get "steak on a stake." "Speak your own Pickle." (stop giggling.)
Hell, even cheesecake, dipped in chocolate.. (wait for it..) On a STICK!

The only thing I don't get on a stick is the soup breadbowl. Only because I can't figure out the logistics of that ... yet.

Dammit...all that heart-stopping food made me hungry!

Now I'm Jones'n for a Fried Dough and a Sausage Sub with onions n' peppers.

@ElizabethD: Ever been to the Portugues feast down in New Bedford ?
[www.portuguesefeast.com]

(Malasadas & Maderia wine go really good together)

I'm sorry, no way can a funnel cake ONLY be 760 calories. That has so much oil and flour. Equivalent to 3 candy bars... I seriously doubt it. Maybe they're using portions that are much smaller than typically found at carnivals.

mmm... Just a few minutes to lunch time!

That is the great thing about carnivals - the special food that you only eat maybe once or twice a year..... when at a carnival!

Who cares how bad it is for you - a splurge every once and awhile is yummy........

@Jay - Should be 20 milligrams of cholesterol, not 20 grams. I think if you ate 20 grams of cholesterol in one sitting, you would have an instant heart attack.

Mmmm, Twinkies.
In WALL-E the robot unwraps a 700 year old Twinkie and it's still fresh. He gives it to his cockroach friend who happliy crawls inside. Somehow I doubt that Twinkie paid for that product placement.

@BloggyMcBlogBlog: Oops, thanks.

Woo hoo! Gian sausage sandwiches didn't make the list! Or French Fries!

I love the freakin' carnival food! Carnie mitts make it taste better. Of course it's bad for you! That's why you go on the tilt-a-whirl right after....

I want to go to the fair.

Er. Gian=Giant

Must go slower.

God Bless America.

@Ash78: oh crap! I lol'd

@IfThenElvis: Too bad that doesn't work in real life...the Twinkies dry out, so you have a nice twinkie paperweight.

I used to love Maple snow cones. Shaved ice covered with Maple Syrup == YUM!

Because funnel cakes are the best.

My favorite is to get a gyro and then finish it off with a snowball (hawaiian shaved ice or snow cone to those outside of MD)

@dhuff:

what in the world is "a whole baloney"?

If you're talking about a Bologna sausage then ... that's horrible. haha. Bologna is made with the worst scraps of various animal parts ... Rather have a Beerwurst any day :D

@Skankingmike: eh, funnel cake is very similar, just a unleavened fried dough. been places where it *is* fried dough, but for some reason they call it funnel cake still. Carnie food names vary a lot place to place, but it's mostly the same stuff.

@CaptainSemantics:

...a hamburger topped with sharp cheddar cheese and two slices of bacon -- all between a "bun" made of a sliced Krispy Kreme Original Glazed doughnut...calorie counters predict the monster will set you back about 1,000 calories and 45 grams of fat.

hells yea! I know what I'll be making this 4th of july!!

If the "health" food craze ever hits carnivals I think I might just snap and kill some people. Seriously don't mess with my deep fried edibles on sticks... or one of those sticks just might get you in the eye.

There is actually a tiny cafe in my area called, "Midway." All the fun fair food (year-round!) without the questionable service/food safety.

@CaptainSemantics:

yea, that's better known as a Luther Burger

If you go out for dim sum they normally offer a pork bun that has a sugary coating on the outside. you get the same kind of sweet/savory flavors as the luther burger. one of my favorites to have now and then :)

Deep fried pickles, and the deep fried PB&J. Thats Good Eats.