Summer in Southern California has a smell, and for a few weeks it is hot oil in Costa Mesa. The Orange County Fair is open again, and its vendors have spent the offseason dreaming up new things to batter and drop in the fryer.
When and where
The fair runs through mid-August at the OC Fair & Event Center in Costa Mesa, open Wednesdays through Sundays and closed Mondays and Tuesdays. Admission starts in the low teens, with discounts for those who arrive early on weekday afternoons, and this year the fair added a menu of smaller "taste" portions so visitors can sample more without committing to a full plate at every stand.
The fried stuff
The main event, as always, is the food. Among this year's talked-about items, as KTLA and NBC Los Angeles reported, is deep-fried tiramisu from a longtime fair vendor, which somehow turns the airy Italian dessert into something crisp on the outside and creamy within. There are Dubai-style deep-fried Oreos, a nod to the viral chocolate-and-pistachio craze, and Korean corn dogs rolled in Takis or spicy ramen crumbs before they hit the oil.
The creativity is not confined to the fryer. Vendors are also serving oversized specialty buns, croissants pressed in a waffle iron and topped with ice cream, and a maple-butter popcorn, among more than a hundred food stands scattered across the grounds.
An old summer ritual
For all the novelty, the appeal is familiar. The OC Fair is one of those regional rituals that families return to year after year, a place to ride the midway, wander past the livestock barns, catch a concert and, above all, eat something you would never make at home. The wacky fried items get the headlines, but they are really an excuse for the rest of it: a warm evening, a shared basket of something ridiculous, and the particular pleasure of a summer tradition that shows up right on schedule.
