I first heard of fried cheese curds a couple months ago when I sat down to talk with longtime Lorain County Fair President Gordon Greene.
My question to him: “What’s the weirdest thing you’ve eaten at the fair over the years?”
He said he’d never heard of the fried cheese curds when the vendors first approached him.
I set out to find the fried cheese curds last night, and my search led me to Mike’s Cheese Shack. The curds were billed as “Famous Wisconsin cheese curds,” and a banner boasted “hot melting cheese to make you smile.”
I asked the guys in the booth about the curds, and they said they’re far from an original idea.
“These are all over Wisconsin,” they said, but they were the first ones to bring them to our area.
Fried Wisconsin cheese curds from Mike's Cheese Shack and Hill's waffles, all from the Lorain County Fair, made a great midnight snack as I wrapped up my blogging last night. (Photo by Rona Proudfoot, The Chronicle-Telegram.)
The cheese curds are pretty much what they sound like: cheese curds that are deep fried in oil. I opted for a large half-and-half order, half regular cheese and half hot-pepper cheese.
I put in my order just as the fair was closing, so I got it wrapped up to go.
I then took a recommendation from my friend and Chroniclet.com reader Karen Schrader, who told me “Hill’s waffles are the best waffles.”
I grabbed two of those to go as well.
The fair food did surprising well on the ride back to Lorain and tasted no worse for the time when I heated it up a couple hours later (after I’d spent a couple more hours blogging, of course).
The cheese curds were great. The best way I can describe it is this is how cheese sticks SHOULD taste — much creamier and cheesier and moister.
And the waffles were light and airy and just sweet enough without being sickeningly so.
As for fair fixture Gordon Greene, who tipped me off to the cheese curds, he said he’s had them, but he could do without the frying, saying he’d be happy with just plain curds.
Greene said he had to laugh when he was at Bob Evans recently and saw a new menu item: country fair cheese. Indeed, when I looked it up on their Web site, it says, “Enjoy a taste from the county fair with our lightly breaded and fried white cheddar cheese bites, served with marinara sauce.”
What fair food should I try next? Leave me a comment or contact me directly, and your suggestion could be my lunch!
Contact Rona Proudfoot at rproudfoot@chroniclet.com, (440) 371-0792 or stop by to see her at the fair. She’s based at the WEOL booth and will be wandering the fairgrounds in a bright gold Chroniclet.com T-shirt.
