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Hope y’all are hungry!

It’s that time of year again when the North Carolina State Fair unveils the new foods that’ll be included in this year’s event. I have fun checking out this list annually and putting together this silly column every time, even if I never get a chance to go and sample the cuisine myself. It’s amazing what food combinations people are able to come up with.

Many of these new items are simply sweet and savory treats. But some of these foods sound quite strange. They might be surprisingly delicious when thrown together, or they could be complete disasters for the palate. You just never know unless you try for yourself! But, as always, it’s a testament to the ingenuity of people and their ever-evolving cooking skills.

This year’s state fair will run from Oct. 17 through Oct. 27, and will feature 72 new foods from the 30+ vendors that will be on the fairgrounds this year. You can always enjoy your traditional old favorites, but if you’re feeling adventurous, here are a few things you might want to keep an eye out for:

First up, vendor Mediterranean Grill is offering “Sweet Cheese Pie” which is apparently a cheese-stuffed pancake that is then fried and dipped into a sweet syrup. Add a garnish of pistachio and chocolate syrup on top, and you’re ready to dig in. When I think of “sweets,” cheese-flavored things don’t usually come to mind. But hey, probably most anything tastes good inside a pancake.

Speaking of pancakes, Hot Chix Hotcakes and Chicken will have “Cotton Candy Mini Cakes” for sale. These little pancakes are covered in whipped cream, cotton candy syrup, and other toppings. I got to admit… I’d probably try these. I haven’t had cotton candy in years, but the photo on the website looks quite tasty!

My brother used to like Little Debbie Oatmeal Cream Pies, so he might potentially be interested to learn that The Candi Queen vendor will be offering “Candied Oatmeal Pies.” It’s the same concept as a candied apple, except you trade the apple for the oatmeal pie on a stick and cover the whole thing in that sticky sweet candy exterior.

You could try a “Turducken Burger” at Chick-N-Que’s stall. As the name suggests, it’s turkey, duck, and chicken sandwiched between a hamburger bun. From the photo on the website, there is plenty of cheese, pickles, and other toppings included as well. It looks rather large, and I can imagine that this “burger” would be a mess to eat. Maybe they’ll offer you a knife and fork to help!

Personally, I think Waypoint Oyster Bar is offering up the most ridiculous snack this year: “NC Crab and Shrimp Bomb Crusted in Hot Cheetos.” Yes, that’s right! It’s just crab meat and shrimp coated in a nice crunchy hot Cheeto shell. I’m not a fan of hot Cheetos, personally, so I’d have to skip this one, but I’m sure somebody out there will enjoy the spicy seafood flavor.

You can’t guess what a “Mema Mia” is from the name, but it’s definitely an interesting idea. The folks at Ezzell’s Something Good are offering up a different take on spaghetti. In classic fair style, they’ve deep fried the spaghetti and meat sauce, placed it on a garlic parmesan bun, and then topped it with extra sauce and a dollop of slaw. This sounds like it would give me heartburn immediately, but I do love spaghetti so… maybe I’d try this.

Granny’s Country Kitchen will have “Loaded Bologna Fries” for sale. I was a bit confused by the name at first. Are you just putting sandwich meat on French fries?? But upon a closer look at the photo, it kind of looks like the bologna is cut into fry-shapes. I’m still not quite sure because the “fries” are topped with a heaping helping of chili cheese sauce. In any case, I’m sure people who love bologna would love to try this one!

The “Buffalo Mac Bowl” from Safari Eatz seems pretty straightforward. You get classic mac & cheese mixed with grilled buffalo chicken, but I’m including it on this list for the surprise addition of sauteed collards as well. Southern cooking with a little bit of a buffalo sauce twist.

Another seafood entry on the list is the “Alaskan King Crab Pop” from Oak City Fish and Chips. This is simply a fried crab leg on a stick, with half a lemon on top. Who knew you could take crab legs on the go?

Tiki Tea will have “Sweet Maple Bacon Iced Tea” at their stall. This one is a fun combination of food and drink. The tea itself includes the maple syrup and bacon flavors, but it’s also served with an actual strip of bacon in your cup too. I’m not one for flavored tea usually, though this one piques my curiosity.

This last one, however, is something I’d let other people try and I’ll just admire the photo instead. Red Carpet Amusements will have “Pickle Dr. Pepper,” which is… you guessed it, Dr. Pepper infused with pickles. The website photo is a glass of Dr. Pepper filled to the brim with an abundance of pickle chips floating around near the top, though I’m not sure if the 10-ish pickle chips are an exaggeration or not. Surely there are people out there who enjoy both Dr. Pepper and pickles, but I am not one of those people!

If you get a chance to attend the state fair this year, I hope you try some of these exciting and interesting foods. But even if you can’t make it, there are plenty of opportunities at fairs closer to home throughout the year too. Though those offerings are usually less outrageous.

And maybe you can even have fun making your own food creations. Who knows? Maybe one day you’ll be a food vendor at the state fair too, and I can write about it in my column here!

Holly Taylor is a Staff Writer for Roanoke-Chowan Publications. Contact her at holly.taylor@r-cnews.com or 252-332-7206.