A Fair Shake
The Friday newsletter takes to the midway, with a blue-ribbon spin on an ACBN classic recipe, and more!
There are some who would argue that the United States has no cuisine all its own—that all of America’s best foods belong instead to the many cultures it contains, and there’s nothing we can look to as intrinsically American.
Those people have never strolled the midway of a state fair.
We’ve reached late summer, a glorious time when this country’s greatest culinary innovators strike forth in fairgrounds and fields, engaged in a spectualar arms race of ideas, putting out fantastical new foods that stretch the boundaries of what was previously thought possible.
Burgers with sushi buns! A burrito filled with donuts! A waffle made of fried chicken! Deep-fried overnight oats! Potato salad on a stick!
At the fair, the world is your oyster, and that oyster has been rolled in crushed Oreos and deep-fried.
It’s a remarkable thing to witness, and I can’t help but get caught up in it. I love the deranged enthusiasm of fair food, and I’ve made a few forays into it myself:
Three years ago, I made Chile Relleno Corn Dogs.
Two years ago, I made Flamin’ Hot Cheese Curds.
And, last year, I got really out over my skis with a Peanut Butter Chocolate Pulled Pork Waffle that was honestly much better than the concept would suggest.
I don’t always do stunt food. But when I do? I don’t just go to the midway.
I go all the way.
Friends, it’s Friday again on The Action Cookbook Newsletter.
Today, I’ve got a fair-worthy recipe that reimagines an ACBN favorite, a cocktail that started as a gimmick and somehow turned out good, some great music, and a heck of a lot more. There’s still a little summer left. Let’s celebrate, Cookbook-style.
7) Stick to porks
If you’ve been around here for a while, then you know that the signature dish of The Action Cookbook Newsletter is the Kentuckiana Hot Loin, a worlds-colliding dish I first debuted in 2019. It combines the dimensionally-preposterous delight of Indiana’s famous Breaded Pork Tenderloin sandwich with the tongue-searing taste of Nashville Hot Chicken, and it’s easily the most popular food I’ve shared here.
Per my count, literally hundreds of people have made the dish themselves—and some of them have even enjoyed it!
Well, it’s high time I adapt the KHL for the state fair. We’ve got no time to sit and eat a sandwich—we’ve got games to play, trinkets to buy, and rides to ride!
It’s time… for Hot Loin on a Stick!