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Chocolate-covered bacon

It’s the one question your humble Raleigh correspondent is asked more than any other -- more than who will win the next election or what exactly is in a Chelada.

“So, what’s the new food at the state fair?”

Well, I have an answer: chocolate-covered bacon.

Actually, it’s not bad. You don’t get so much a bacon flavor as a hit of saltiness. The chocolate is dark chocolate and is definitely the prevalent note.

But I have a weakness for bacon and chocolate, so I needed a third-party reviewer.

Enter Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler, who confessed to me he hadn’t tried the fair’s newest treat yet.

“Let’s go!” I said.

So we tromped over to the stand showing off the latest fair food to the media and quickly procured a piece.

“It’s actually very good,” Troxler said as several of us scruffy media types and state fair staffers looked on. “It may become one of my favorites.”

And Troxler said there’s actually a deeper message to having the bacon there.

“The reason I’m so excited about this is we’re the No. 2 pork producer in the nation,” he said. “And there happens to be an excess amount of pork out there right now. So it will be my undertaking at the state fair for people to eat all the pork that they can eat – outside of barbecue.”

To be clear, this is not a fried treat. Well, the bacon is fried, but then there’s a lot of chilling and dipping in chocolate and re-chilling. The “Pig Lickers” will be available at the Kerr Scott building and one other location at the fair.

For those seeking a deep-fried fix, the featured item this year is deep fried Ho Hos, a chocolaty cousin of Twinkies. I’m reliably informed that the Ho Hos made an appearance at the fair six or seven years ago but didn’t catch on back then.They'll be at a food stand on the midway.

And after you gas up on all that, you can go ride the new rides at the fair this year, which include a swing that takes you 86 feet up in the air and North America’s “longest portable slide.”

Accompanying Photos

Mark Binker

Photo Caption: Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler eats a piece of chocolate covered bacon at the State Fair media day on Monday, Oct. 12, 2009.