Texas State Fair food we’d try before Texas-Oklahoma Red River Shootout

The Red River Rivalry is back, as this weekend No. 1 Texas will square off with No. 18 Oklahoma in one of the weekend’s most fascinating games on the college football slate.

However, the real battle at Red River this week might not take place on the field, but at the State Fair of Texas itself, as attendees will tackle some of the incredible items on this year’s menu.

What would the staff members here at SB Nation be most excited to try? Let’s find out.

And if anyone is headed to the State Fair of Texas this weekend and tries any of these, please let us know how it went!

Look, there is a lot on this menu that terrifies me. As one of the ... older members of the staff here at SB Nation there are several items on this menu that have me worried about, well, survival.

For example, the “Dickel’s Triple Meat Big Back Snack” is likely to end with a visit to a disapproving cardiologist.

One item, however, that I simply have to try at some point is the “Fat Bacon Pickle Fries,” courtesy of Isaac Rousso of Taste of Cuba LLC. From the description:

“These deliciously perfect slivers of dill pickles are battered and fried until golden brown. They are lightly dusted in a spicy ranch pepper seasoning. Lastly, they are ladled with the perfect blend of queso with just a hint of heat. As if it wasn’t perfect enough, this masterpiece is topped with thick-cut maple caramelized bacon chunks, sour cream, jalapeños, and chives for an explosion of flavor.”

You had me at the “ladled with the perfect blend of queso with just a hint of heat,” but you kept me with the “thick-cut maple caramelized bacon chunks.”

Sign me up.

Look, there is a lot on this menu that excites me to no end. As barely younger than Mark, I have no doubt that much of it would push me over the edge into diabetes but the levels of amazing to it cannot be beat.

Somehow, despite all the sweet treat deliciousness, I kept coming back to the Island Rumble. Why? Because, unlike other bowls, the Rumble has a base of Mac and Cheese. Not rice. Not noodles. Not acai. Not lettuce of some kind.

Mac and Cheese.

On top of that:

juicy flame, grilled to perfection jerk chicken that is marinated in a special pineapple rum jerk marinade. Garnished with a tangy homemade pineapple pico salsa and a flavorful spicy jerk crema, each bite is a tropical getaway for your taste buds!

It makes me feel slightly healthy that I am choosing a protein-rich option but I also know that I will need that energy to get around the rest of the fair. Thankfully, I will be so full that I won’t want to eat any of the other things that I will miss out on by choosing to take on the Island Rumble.

If I can only pick one thing, I am going meal item rather than dessert. That’s just how I roll. I’m a big fan of a lot of the meats on the menu, but for some reason, the plantains on this spoke to me. Crisp pork belly and the varying textures throughout this dish really intrigue me. As someone from New York, swinging toward the Mexican food makes sense, too.

I’m generally not a big sweets guy and would normally aim for something savory, but this thing is just calling my name. My all-time favorite dessert is an affogato, which is a shockingly simple scoop of high-quality vanilla ice cream with a shot of espresso. You get your post-dinner coffee hit, there’s the hot-cold thing going on and it’s perfect.

This Texas State Fair dessert takes it to an entire other level by putting a wad of caramel inside a beignet and giving me a coffee syringe to inject by ball with espresso. I am here for every element of this interactive dessert, and I’ll be honest: I have to be massively caffeinated (or drunk) to deal with the crowds at a state fair.

When I go to any kind of fair, dessert is always high on my mind. I like a good savory option — with meats on sticks always an easy winner — but a quality dessert makes a fair for me. When in doubt I go with some kind of fried dough option. But looking at the Texas State Fair’s menu page, I found seven different desserts containing whipped cream! I enjoy a wide variety of desserts, but whipped cream is always a solid add to any sweet treat.

In this case, I eliminated for because they included caramel. I’ve never been able to get into caramel like some folks. Once I moved through that, the winner was easy. This dessert opened with “a tasty lemon pound cake”, and folks, they had me there. Lemon is far and away my favorite dessert option. You had me at hello.