The smell of the grease, the roar of the crowd! It’s that time of year again for the greatest eating frenzy of all time, the Iowa State Fair, which opens tomorrow.

Of all the food groups, one that never makes it on the government recommended food pyramid is fair food. I can’t imagine why. The greatest place to try fair food is the Iowa State Fair. This monument to gluttony is an annual event in the Hawkeye State. If it can be battered, deep-fried and shoved on a stick you can probably eat it in Des Moines during the third week of August.  In fact they pride themselves on having over forty types of food on a stick.

Food on a stick-Yum!

Among them are: Chocolate-covered tiramisu on-a-stick (New for 2010!), Turtle mousse bar on-a-stick, Twinkie log on-a-stick (frozen Twinkie dipped in white chocolate and rolled in cashews), Octodog (hotdog in the shape of an octopus-maybe it’s a tribute to Octomom), Pork chop on-a-stick , Corn dog, Cheese on-a-stick, Fried pickle on-a-stick, Deep fried Snickers bar on-a-stick, Deep fried Twinkie on-a-stick (let me repeat that, deep-fried Twinkie), Salad on-a-stick, Hard-boiled egg on-a-stick; okay you get the idea.

One way to get kids to eat their vegetables

The only vegetables available were deep-fried. I did see a booth selling pineapple spears and was going to get one until I realized that yes, they were batter dipped and deep-fried too. I am not exaggerating when I say that the booth offering the healthiest food was the one making Philly cheesesteaks, and that’s saying something. They were also one of the few foods that did not come on a stick.

That's a lot of bull

Don’t forget the double bacon dipped corn dogs

I do have to admit though that my one true regret on this trip is that I never could find the salad on a stick, I wanted to see how they could deep-fry that. Rumor is that this will be the first year for double bacon dipped corn dogs. Here’s the recipe: Wrap a piece of bacon around a hot dog and deep fry it, then dip the corn dog in bacon bit batter and deep-fry it again. Voila, a treat only a cardiologist seeking new patients would love.

Here’s a link to all the food at the Iowa State Fair.

What is your favorite fair food?