Elephant ears are more of a Midwestern thing than funnel cakes, the oldest local county fair insiders used to tell me — repeatedly. Those white-haired, blue-ribboned storytellers are gone for the most part, as are just about anyone else who cares to make the distinction. Newfangled funnel cakes outshone humble elephant ears at the Lake County Fair in Grayslake recently, and only one stand fried both.
County fair foods are a-changing. Challenged by fallen standards — the owner of one of the oldest and biggest vendors handed me a pre-fried corn dog so flaccid that it was disturbingly awkward — and extreme eats, from deep-fried butter on a stick to Lollapalooza lobster corn dogs, how do mom-and-pop stands survive? A generation from now it will all be decided. Meanwhile, you can still find some state fair classics on the circuit this season.
Beth Tapp co-owns Tapp Concessions with her husband, where they indeed make both elephant ears and funnel cakes, plus deep-fried pickles, Oreos and cookie dough — all fried to order. Her trailer signage, however, says Beaver Concessions, a nod to her maiden name, festooned with cartoon murals of the busy bucktoothed builder.
“An elephant ear is sweet pastry dough, and a funnel cake is a batter, like a pancake or waffle cake batter,” Tapp said. “So totally different but similar, like people.”
“Cinnamon and sugar is the very original topping for the elephant ear,” she added. “And then the powdered sugar for the funnel cake.” The Tapps do other toppings to keep up with the competition, she said, but I ordered the classics.
An elastic ball of dough is pulled, then stretched to form the elephant ear, before it’s baptized in a pool of hot oil. Alongside, dribbles of batter enmesh until the familiar funnel cake appears. Both are turned with tongs, then lifted when set, golden and glistening. Set on ruffle-edged paper plates, cinnamon sugar dusts the ear, then powdered sugar snows over the funnel cake. Handed over hot, the elephant ear tugs like a fine Neapolitan pizza crust, while the funnel cake is all sweet, crisp wisps.
“We don’t cut corners,” Tapp said. “Our recipe is a very well-kept family secret.”
They’ll work the county fair circuit across the Midwest, including the Minnesota State Fair, one of the best known across the country for its impressive new school fair foods.
“We’ll end up in Charleston, S.C., in November,” Tapp said. “We live in North Carolina, that’s where the mortgage is.”
Brothers BBQ makes loaded ribbon fries that literally turned heads and had more than a few fellow fairgoers ask me profanely “what the fudge” was the dish.
“We take one whole jumbo russet potato, then it’s spun and deep-fried,” said co-owner Jim Metallo. The ribbon of fries then get loaded with cheddar cheese sauce plus house-made pulled pork and barbecue sauce.
The potato cooks crunchy on the edges but is thicker than a chip, retaining a surprisingly fluffy center. Though served with a fork, the mesmerizing mound is best managed with fingers.
“We make the ribbon fries only at fairs and festivals,” Metallo said. The concession-based catering company will do only six events this year in Lake and McHenry counties. It works out of Sergio’s Pizza in Barrington as its commissary kitchen, where its sauce, ribs, brisket and pulled pork can be found year-round.
Brothers BBQ once had its own restaurant. “We had to close when 2009 hit. A bad time for everyone,” Metallo said. “But we kept the festival part of (the business) because it’s so much fun.
“We do Cary Main Street Fest in September, and then that’s it for us for the year,” he said.
Did someone mention fudge? Helen and Son’s Famous Old Fashion Copper Kettle Butter Fudge has been coming to the Lake County Fair for 53 years. But Helen Potillo, 92 years old, started out selling ironing board pads, said her grandson Victor Townsley.
Plain chocolate and chocolate nut remain best-sellers said Townsley without hesitation, despite there being nearly a dozen flavors including peanut butter and fudge studded with colorful M&M’s. “It’s all homemade with my grandmother’s recipe,” he added. When I noted the copper kettles behind him, he clarified, “I make it on the spot.”
Sweet butter, chocolate and Helen’s secret ingredients transform alchemically to a sturdy yet crumbly taste of nostalgia.
Based out of Canton, Ohio, where Potillo had a store years ago, the nonagenarian didn’t make it to Lake County this year, but she joined the circuit at the Wisconsin State Fair, before traveling down to Illinois to the Boone County Fair, then back up north.
“They’re honoring her in Elkhorn, Wis. (at the Walworth County Fair), because she’s one of the oldest vendors in all the fairs we do,” Townsley said. Helen and Son’s was also the only African-American family food vendor at the Lake County Fair.
Potillo will also be at the Sandwich County Fair, established in 1888, in September.
“When the route ends in November in Jacksonville, Fla., she’ll be there,” her grandson said. “That’s why they call her Famous Helen.”
Have you ever wondered why Cook County doesn’t have a county fair? WBEZ’s Curious City tackled that complicated question a couple of years ago, but a newcomer is one to look out for.
“County Fair Chicago is a two-day event that will debut in September,” said Kelli Wefenstette, executive director of the Six Corners Association in Portage Park. “It’s modeled after a traditional county fair or state fair that happens typically in a more rural community. We will have food, drink, live music and contests.
“The concept of the entire event is to introduce this traditional Americana but with an urban twist,” Wefenstette said. “Everything that we’re doing, we’re adapting in a lighthearted way for a city audience that may have rural roots, or have attended these types of events in their childhood or the past and can now enjoy them in an urban atmosphere.”
“I grew up near Peoria in a town of 1,400 going to the Fulton County Fair,” said Wefenstette when asked about her county fair experience. “It was the highlight of the summer. It’s still magical on the midway with all the lights and energy and food and drink.”
Instead of a cakewalk, there will be a cake doughnut walk. “Winners will go home with a dozen doughnuts instead of a traditional cake,” Wefenstette said. If you, like me, have never done a cakewalk, “it’s like musical chairs.”
However it’s played, Frunchroom restaurant, also in Portage Park, will donate 240 doughnuts.
“We are going to be doing two flavors for the event,” wrote sous chef Patrick McBride in an email. “One is a Cacao Barry dark chocolate glazed with cacao nibs. The second is a raspberry glazed with Cacao Barry dark chocolate drizzle.”
And instead of a pie-eating contest, there will be a pizza pie-eating contest, with stuffed pizza no less.
The three locations of Chicago’s Pizza — in Lakeview, Ravenswood and Old Irving — will make 100 pies, said co-owner Miguel Flores. The restaurants actually make four styles of pizza (thin crust, deep dish, Neapolitan-ish and stuffed), so why serve stuffed?
“That’s what we’re known for,” Flores said. “And if it’s a contest, we wanted to do something really filling and more of a challenge. These stuffed pizzas are no joke.”
While Bo’s Concessions will make corn dogs, funnel cakes, lemon shake-ups and cotton candy, said Wefenstette, there will be no elephant ears.
County Fair Chicago will take place Sept. 8-9, 4901 W. Irving Park Road (Binny’s Portage Park parking lot), 773-685-9300, www.sixcorners.com/countyfairchicago
County fairs: For a list of upcoming county fairs, see the Illinois Department of Agriculture 2018 county fair schedule.
lchu@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @louisachu
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