Try to imagine, if you dare, a hot dog stuffed inside a dill pickle, covered in panko and deep fried, with a drizzle of peanut butter.
That and many other culinary curiosities will be on the menu for the first time at the North Carolina State Fair . Organizers have released this year’s list of new fair foods , which will be among the deep fried, candy-coated smorgasborg from Oct. 17-27 .
This year’s list is studded with collisions from two great eating forces — fair food tradition and TikTok . You can thank those forces as you stroll through the fair sipping on pickle-flavored Dr. Pepper .
Other trends seem to include breaded bologna fries , pickles in just about every kind of situation and new plates of nachos .
Somehow, this year’s roster of fair foods even includes deep fried spaghetti .
Here’s our run-down of new fair foods for 2024.
Savory
▪ Barbecue Bacon Queso Sandwich from Lawrence & Perry BBQ, LLC : Eastern North Carolina-style smoked chopped pork BBQ, drizzled with queso and sauce and topped with bacon.